Mer du Mer

Mer du Mer is a five-star hotel and resort in Les Issambres, with the sea close by and the town centre only a short walk away. You get the useful combination of a proper place to eat, a bar for an unhurried drink and practical facilities for settling in after a day out.

English is spoken by the hotel team, alongside French, German and Dutch. That makes the first conversation about arrival, breakfast or the room refreshingly straightforward, particularly when you are travelling with dive luggage and have little patience left for interpretive charades.

The setting suits a stay built around the coast rather than a packed resort timetable. There is a garden, terrace and outdoor furniture for taking the pace down, with Wi-Fi throughout the hotel when you need to deal with the outside world.

The address is 34 Avenue de la Gaillarde in Les Issambres, on the French Mediterranean coast. The hotel sits in a seaside setting, with the sandy beach around 200 metres away and beach chairs and parasols available there.

A small shop and restaurants are close to the beach, while the centre of Les Issambres is within walking distance. The location also puts you within reach of the wider Côte d’Azur: Cannes and the Palais des Festivals are listed among the surrounding places to explore.

For drivers, free parking is available at the hotel, with additional parking nearby. The distance from Nice Airport is around 70 kilometres, and Marseille Airport is around 110 kilometres away.

The room choice is mainly about how you want the evening to feel. Couples can choose a double room with a sea view, or one with a balcony where stepping outside matters more than adding another item to the itinerary. Twin-bed rooms suit two friends travelling together, while a single room with a balcony keeps things simple for solo travellers.

Standard and superior double rooms come with air conditioning, a private bathroom, television and a hairdryer. The sea-view categories are the obvious choice if you want the coast to remain part of the day even after you have changed out of your wet gear. Some balcony categories list a private bathroom without the same equipment details, so check the individual room card before booking rather than assuming every category is identical.

A minibar is listed among the room facilities, useful for keeping water cold when you return tired, and the rooms are described as warmly decorated. The hotel also has family rooms and a villa, giving larger bookings a different format from the standard double-room set-up. Free Wi-Fi continues into the rooms, so downloading the next day’s plans does not require a trip to reception.

Breakfast is available as a buffet, with a choice between room-only accommodation and a package including breakfast. That gives you a clean decision at booking: organise your first meal at the hotel, or keep the morning flexible for an early start along the coast.

There is a restaurant for a proper meal and a bar for drinks, as well as a shared kitchen and kitchen facilities. The kitchen option lets you sort out something uncomplicated yourself after a long day.

Room service is listed among the hotel facilities, adding another way to keep the evening low-effort when the legs have had enough. Bottled water is available, and the outdoor areas include a terrace and barbecue facilities for time spent eating outside.

The outdoor pool is filled with salt water and can be heated or cooled, which is a more useful detail than a generic promise of leisure when you are deciding whether to swim or simply sit beside it. The pool is open from April to October. There is also an indoor pool, an outdoor pool and a water park listed among the hotel facilities, while the official description focuses on the heated salt-water outdoor pool.

The spa gives you several ways to unknot after a day on your feet: massage, facial treatments, a hammam, sauna and jacuzzi are available. The jacuzzi accommodates three people, and the sauna is described as a small grotto-style sauna. In other words, this is the part of the hotel for slowing down rather than collecting another activity.

When you do want to leave the sun lounger, the hotel can arrange or support excursions including boat trips, island visits, waterfalls, markets and snorkelling. Cultural excursions are also available. A golf course is around 3 kilometres away, and the hotel has a games room for children, so travelling companions have something to occupy them while you take the sensible option of doing very little.

A paid airport transfer is available, with Nice Airport around 70 kilometres away and Marseille Airport around 110 kilometres away. The hotel also provides free parking, making it a practical base if you are driving along the coast. A 24-hour reception, concierge service and private check-in and check-out are listed among the facilities.

Check-in is set for 20:00 and check-out for 12:00. Early check-in and late check-out can be requested, which may help when your travel plans refuse to line up neatly with hotel timings. Breakfast details depend on the booking arrangement, so check whether it is included when you choose the room.

Pets are welcome. The hotel has a lift to the upper floors, but it is not wheelchair accessible, so mobility requirements deserve checking before you reserve. Cash, Visa and Mastercard are accepted, and free Wi-Fi is available throughout the hotel.

The hotel invests in renewable energy through heat pumps. The outdoor pool uses salt water and can be heated or cooled, bringing a practical environmental measure into one of the hotel’s main leisure facilities rather than leaving sustainability as a slogan on the wall.

No named environmental certification is attached to the hotel, but the heat-pump system is a concrete part of its energy approach.