Monaco firefighters were called out early on Wednesday evening after reports of a burning smell at the Hotel Métropole.
Traffic on avenue des Spelugues was held up for some time as several firefighters arrived on the scene. No fire was found.
The burning smell was traced to an over-heated electric meter. Meanwhile, at around the same time, the Integrated Centre for Mobility Management had to close the access barrier to the tunnel connecting Monaco to France because of a broken-down car inside the tunnel, causing considerable tailbacks for traffic heading from the Principality.