Hotel di Faubourg Blanchot

Clean hotel in the heart of Baie des Citrons, with plenty of restaurants in walking distance. (Would like to rate as 3 1/2 stars but not possible.) Staff were friendly and efficient, booking airport transport with ‘Arc en Ciel’ before our arrival. (Rental cars have street parking near the hotel, and we always found a spot.). The only ocean swimming allowed in Noumea currently is in a small roped-off area across the street. Lagoon View rooms, some with balconies, look great but are quite noisy unless you are a nightclubber yourself. After three nights of hearing the nearby club music until 3.30 am, as well as cars racing past and people yelling on the beach and footpath ALL night long, we moved into a garden room which was perfect for us. Management were quite helpful facilitating this changeover. Babar below the hotel had good food, and there are plenty of other dining options nearby.

This was the second time staying at the Ramada (we stayed for 12 nights) - and I think we finally found the perfect room for us. We had the one bedroom apartment, which has an amazing view over the sea. The apartment has a massive deck (with table and chairs) that expands from the bedroom to the lounge - perfect for sitting outside for breakfast, or watching the sun setting. We really enjoyed having the kitchen, giving us the option of cooking dinner, rather than dining out every night. There is a wonderful fish/vege market a short bus ride away, so we did enjoy just doing our own thing in the kitchen. We bought basic cooking supplies from the local four square, which is next to the bakery. Oils, jams, butter, cheese etc. We were told on arrival that our room wouldn't be serviced for 4 or 5 days, but that we could ask for fresh towels or coffee/tea bags when ever we liked. So this wasn't a problem for us, and we found the staff to be very obliging in accommodating this for us. We enjoyed visiting the local bakery which is down the road and around the corner most mornings for fresh croissants/baguettes etc. We also found a wonderful wine bar/restaurant just down the road. We spent a wonderful New Year's Eve there. Amazing, friendly staff with the most delicious food and wine. The local Anse Vata beach has had a bit of a revamp in the last couple of years, and it looks like they are working on another part of the beach in front of the main shops, which will give wonderful access. The water was soo warm and clear - 27 degrees!! All in all we had a wonderful time at the Ramada and are looking forward to our next stay.

2nd visit to Noumea after staying at Hilton Le Promenade approx 4 yrs ago Originally staying in a standard one bedroom we upgraded to a full ocean view room. Standard one bedrooms just aren't worth it view wise, gotta ask the point of them really. Hotel is nice and clean, rooms are ok and the beds are quite hard, it's good they are self contained, a convenience shop on site would be really good given the self contained nature. There was only one full time English tv channel (BBC World) Internet was very limited in the one bedroom apartment (256mb a day) and then it cost, 30gb in the ocean view. Was unable to swim due to recent shark attacks closing beaches and pool seemed to be cooled, was way to cold to stay in any longer then 5 to 7 mins which was really disappointing given the beach was off limits. We also dropped the daily breakfast as compared to Fiji it was incredibly disappointing Tried the spa next door at additional cost and was good as was the massage. Room service was very good and could be requested daily if needed. Staff at front desk very helpful, shout out to Juliette who was always courteous and nice and tried to help. There was a real lack of cooperation and coordination with tourist activities and suppliers especially when there was no swimming. Many had cut back days they operated If you wonder why a lovely pool is empty on a tropical island... it's because it's so cold. The front desk could really do with a tourism desk and offer services like they do in Fiji with hotel pick up etc... there really did seem to be no interest in this area and new caledonia tourism arm needs to realise the other pacific countries are way better at this than them. With the beach shut and the pool cold it made for a bit of disappointment really Staff were nice and rooms clean, beautiful view from room 420. Stayed 7 days