Review - Le Manoir de Provence
Note this hotel has moved, new SLURL
Le Manoir de Provence is a French themed and owned hotel, with largely French speaking guests and residents. It's in two chateau type buildings, with gardens, a small beach promenade and extensive facilities, which are open to the public.
Especially considering what you get, it's super cheap, with rooms at 125L a week. As a result, it was almost completely full when my partner Camille Milos (Flickr and blog) and myself went to visit.
Overall look and feel
As mentioned, the hotel is in two buildings, with a small outdoor swimming pool separating the two wings. It has a fairly authentic feel about it, with the signs being in both French and English, and the interior does a good job of mimicking a small French hotel.
The facilities in each building are on the ground floor, and the rooms are then on the floor above that.
The hotel makes use both of mesh people and what I first thought were bots in the public areas. That is until I noticed that they had vanished in the morning when the owner had logged off.
Instead, they seem to be alts that are logged in every day and placed in various points of the hotel such as the kitchen and bar.
That's quite unusual, and it's the first time I've seen this done. It would surely be better (and less hassle) to create bots who can both give the place a bit of personality, be there 24/7, and interact with guests in doing things like providing drinks.
However, the hotel is far from deserted. There were usually people in the public areas, and there are regular events that cater to group members. As a result, it does have a community feel to it.
Outside the hotel you'll find a chapel, a car park with 1970s style European cars, and a street with French shop fronts (these are facades only).
Next to the hotel there's also the 'Chateau Beaumont.' This appears to be the residence of the owners, but if you are a hotel guest and have the group tag you can visit it. The extensive grounds and gardens in particular are worth a look.
Overall - 4/5
The rooms
The rooms are pretty simple, with a double bed, a chair and sofa, and a TV. However, there's also a working bar in the room, which given the low price (125 a week) was a surprise.
The rooms do have two downsides. The bathroom looks as if a shower and WC have just been placed randomly inside, with a lot of empty space between each.
Also, our room was just above the bar, and the group tag and name of the barman would float through the ceiling at random intervals.
Note that you get 25 prims if you want to rez a few basic things such as poses.
Overall - 3/5
The facilities
The features and facilities are really impressive. These include a restaurant and bar with an outdoor terrace This is one of the best hotel bars I've seen in Second Life, and I'll be including it in an upcoming round up.
Then there is both a small outdoor pool, and an indoor spa. The spa area overall looks good but the use of static and visible pose balls if you want to swim, is dated. In contrast, the next door villa has a USDesigns Marbella pool, which is much newer (and doesn’t use pose balls). It might be an idea for this to be introduced in the hotel as well.
Outside of the hotel you'll find a tennis court, a gym, a laundry room, a petanque court, and a small beach promenade with an ice cream stand. The owner is clearly a car enthusiast, as a TP point takes you up to a race track and car show room, where there are 20 or so cars of different shapes and sizes on sale.
Finally, there's a large art gallery near the outdoor pool, which you seem to be able to rent out.
Overall - 4/5
The animations
Our room had a West Village Clinton Bed, which caters for MF, MM and FF couples. I would rate it higher than the Ruckus or RaWage bed you get in most Second Life Hotels.
Neither this, nor the animations in the public areas took much adjusting. As mentioned, the swim anims are pose balls.
Overall - 4.5 /5
Other considerations
Is the hotel adult? Yes
Privacy? Not so much, the rooms are placed quite close to the public areas, and you can zoom in. They do have security orbs to stop people walking in
Lag - Very little
Prices - 125 a week, 25 prims included. The facilities, with the exception of the next door Chateau, are open to everyone
Overall
Other than a few small glitches here and there, I liked the hotel a lot. The facilities are great, it has a nice community feel about it, and the room price is very low. I recommend it both for a stay and for a visit.
