Le Relais International de la Jeunesse "Clairvallon"

Dont go here!
just stayed three days at this hostel with my sister! this was not a good experience! the bathrooms were not cleaned the whole three days we were there! only one member of staff was helpful! the others didnt really make us feel welcome! half the time there was no one on reception! me and my sister freaked out because we gave them our passports on the first day (dont do this if they ask you for them just make up an excuse!) and didnt think we were going to get them back on time in order to leave on time for the airport! the location isnt great either -- very far out. oh and the breakfast is a joke! stale bread! finally the security isnt great either! overall i wouldnt stay here there are plenty of other nicer places to stay in nice!

Recharged batteries
Just found this place by asking at tourist information at the train station. What a gem! Located high up the hillside this place is excellent for the backpacker. cheap, and they take no advanced bookings, so managed to get a room in high season. I thinks it's sort of a summer school for French school children. Met some wicked people here, easy to get to know people. The real gem was the swimming pool. Opened limited hours for guests, but well worth it, overlooking some splendid views. memorable time, and a bus ride from town.

I stayed at this hostel for five days during August last year (2006) and I thought it was absolutely fantastic. Me and my boyfriend were on a serious budget, and we were fortunate to get the "best room" in the hostel, a twin room with balcony overlooking the pool and you could just see the sea! The beds were comfortable, the bathroom and bedroom clean and well furnished. The pool was fantastic and spotless, although I wished it was open all the time so if we wanted to stay there all day we could. As we had no money, we walked every day down into Nice and to the beach. It was about an hour's walk to the beach but that made the swim in the sea that much more refreshing! We found a supermarket fairly nearby so could feed ourselves a couple of nights, but we also paid to eat dinner at the hostel, which was delicious, cheap, comforting, and healthy. The breakfast each morning was ideal, sipping bowls of hot chocolate in the warm sunshine is a delicious way to wake up! Beautiful grounds, very friendly and helpful staff (despite me not speaking very much French!), I cannot find fault with the place and cannot recommend it enough! If you're going to Nice on the cheap -- stay here!

We stayed at this hostel during a very busy time in Summer. The rooms have a reasonable amount of space and a wonderful view. However, the bathrooms were unclean, and did not have a fan or window. The pool was kept clean throughout the stay, and was opened for more than the regular two hours, due to the heat. The food was average (two people found hair in their food). In general, the staff were friendly, however, some of the girls attracted unwanted attention from some of the staff.

I stayed at this hostel for three nights in August, and it was the worst hostel I'd ever stayed at during my travels through Europe. Sure it's situated very nicely, and it has a beautiful view. But that is all it has. It is so far from the beach, you have to go by bus for 20 minutes. The staff were far from friendly. They did nothing to help. They were so rude. The lockers and the dryer were broken when I was there. They didn't even care to put up a sign that they were broken, and I had to go through a lot of trouble to get my money back, which I had used in the broken things. It was dirty, they didn't clean the toilets — actually there was no toilet paper for the three days I stayed! It was a horrible experience. And I do not recommend it to anyone.

This is a very strange hostel. You get the feeling that they don't want you there. The food is disgusting, and you get sick by eating it. The rooms and the showers are not cleaned, the pool does not open until five and it's open only until seven. I don't really see the point in having a pool if no one can use it during the day. The people that are working there are really unpleasant, all of them! They're screaming about everything. I made a horrible mistake; I went to the hostel in Antibes, owned by the same people. That was even worse. I have nothing else to say except DON'T GO THERE! The Italian man who works there is totally f***ed up. Do yourself a favor and don't go there.

I paid a 20-euro cab fair to get to the Relais de Jeunesse, as it was a Sunday and the buses stopped running. It's far, far out of town. Never in my life have I been received in a less hospitable manner. I speak French, albeit with an English accent, am respectful and obviously not rich. I didn't matter to the staff. They were rude, tried to take our passports (which one should NEVER EVER part with while traveling anywhere). They spoke about us in French until I let on that I spoke the language. The rooms were very cramped and the lockers do not work. For dinner, the ever-begrudging staff made, for an affordable two euros, a raw meat sandwich. Now I'm not talking sashimi here. This was a large piece of raw meat, beef probably. And thick, very thick. If I had had the ability to run from this place, I would have. But as it is far from any shops I ate this raw meat sandwich, not the meat but the bun and lettuce. They scorned us in the most unforgivable way, two female backpackers, completely vulnerable to their whim. Disgusting. Water pressure, who knows? I didn't have time to take a shower, seeing as we got there after lights out at ten, slept uneasily in my money belt (there are no locks on the doors) and was out for check out at nine o'clock. (Lock out is until five.) If you speak English, don't go here. If you speak French with an English accent, don't go here. If you are French, you'll probably enjoy your stay, but make sure you throw a chair in front of the door before you sleep. It was the worst stay in the two months I spent in Europe.

I've been coming to this hotel in June for 4 years with about 50 children who are about 15 years old. We never had any problem. This place is very secured and quite. If I look at the cheap price I payed, I can only say that this hostel is a very good one (bedroom, food, swimming pool, soccer field,...). All the people who work there and I met there were kind and ready to help in any situation. I always saw happy travelers in this hostel (english speaking or not). To conclude, I would like to remember the spirit of this hotel. It was opened by students living in Nice just after the Second World War who wanted to meet and receive young people of all around the world in a cheap but comfortable place. This spirit is still actual.

Yesterday, I returned from a five-day stay in this hostel and my rating is rather positive. The location is fine. The hostel is located in a rich quarter of Nice and in nearly all rooms you have a nice view over Nice or over some little mountains. There is a pretty villa on the terrain and you can eat outside. The pool is spacious and clean. The food in contrast is average. Each morning there is only a little baguette with some butter and jam, but for a few days that's ok. Concerning dinner, you won't be hungry after having left the table because there is much to eat... not the best food but rather tasty. The crew isn't that friendly, but they're also ok. It's better when you speak French; they appreciate it more than English. The chambers are a bit small and sometimes you have to share one shower with 6 people, which can be a problem before breakfast or going out. The toilets are in the corridor, which shouldn't be a problem. All in all I would recommend this hostel if you want a cheap doss in an expensive region.

Ah ha! I didn't like the people who worked here very much when I checked in. I didn't like how they opened the pool for only a two hour period before dinner (because by the time you take the bus back to this place it's at least 7). I didn't like how they turned off the patio lights when curfew occurred at around 11. I also didn't like it when my digital camera and cell phone were stolen. Who says "It's not our fault, YOU should've had insurance." when a hosteller (me) just got robbed. And they did LESS than nothing about it. In fact, a fellow in my room got his mobile phone swiped right in front of me while I was sleeping, and the kid was allowed to keep staying in the hostel that night, after hours of deliberation to get him to return the stolen phone. This place is a joke.

The rooms were dirty, as were the showers. I seriously thought I was going to contract some terrible infectious disease from the bathroom. The food was also shocking, and what's up with the fact that they are too lazy to even clean up after us and make our beds, even though we're paying for it?

I didn't like this hostel. The rooms were dirty, as was the bathroom, and the food made me ill.

One of the staff was helpful but the rest made our stay pretty miserable. This is not what flexible hostelling is about, but I guess it is a private one.