Chic Cocoon

I’d paid for the booking in full, but when I arrived during the official check-in hours there was no reception, no staff, and no sign that the property was open. I rang the doorbell several times and waited around 30 minutes without anyone responding. I had to urgently find another hotel and pay for it myself. A very disappointing and stressful experience. TRAVELERS SHOULD BE CAUTIOUS!

The room was filthy, and I found what looked like bedbug feces along the mattress seams. We’d booked our September stay earlier, then saw a review posted after our booking from a couple who had stayed in the same room a few days before and said they’d been eaten alive. We read it the night we arrived, checked the mattress, and left within hours to find somewhere else. This was the room with a city view and an external bathroom. The bedding had gross stains, partly hidden under a throw blanket, and clearly hadn’t been washed. The bathroom towels were crusty and hard. The description promised two sofa beds and complimentary toiletries, but those weren’t there, apart from a drab body wash bottle tucked into a mildew-y shower curtain. I was there for two hours and it was miserable, just like the owner’s hospitality. The photos in the listing don’t reflect the actual state of the facilities, especially for the inflated price. This “guest house” felt like an overpriced fleabag motel, and several other bad reviews describe similar experiences. It doesn’t seem like an isolated problem. The owner was rude and argumentative when dealing with the situation. He’ll probably reply with “mensonges!” like he has to half the reviews on the chic cocoon google review page. What kind of host does that? A smart business would try to find a resolution and be accommodating, but that wasn’t my experience. I was able to settle things with Booking.com after sending photos and explaining what happened, since the host wasn’t helpful. Booking.com considered the photos legitimate enough to offer support and a credit. In his response, he made up the group size, claiming there were four of us. We were a group of two, and only in the room for three hours. He wasn’t there in person, and no employees were there to confirm the number. He also said the late hour gave him no time to prepare, but he never told us that. We arrived for 3 pm check-in, and confirmed that arrival two months ahead when we made the reservation. There was time to prepare the room. He did this in another review response too. Almost HALF the reviews here are NEGATIVE and say the same thing, Patrick. Look at other businesses’ reviews and you don’t see this on their accounts. The truth is in the power of many voices 💪🏼 The receipts are in other guests’ reviews over the years, with pretty much the same account. It’s 2.6/5 on Trip advisor, 3.6/5, 3.5/5 on google. Please stay at another hotel, like the Scott just down the street, which is MUCH nicer for the same price and has more welcoming, lovely staff. Don’t put up with combative hospitality and a drab, unkempt house being sold as “lodging.”

The house had thin walls, and you could hear every step on the very creaky stairs. The blanket was stained and the bedding wasn’t great. The dark bed sheet seemed a bit suspicious. Bathrooms smelled so bad that the whole house smelled like a bathroom. My husband booked based on a site description that led us to expect a large, spacious room with a big ensuite bathroom, but the bathroom was shared and outside the room. If you go in expecting more of a hostel, it might be okay. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re looking for a mid-level hostel.

There was no one from the hotel around to speak with about problems, and there was no fire safety. The hygiene was bad, there were bed bugs, and the bathroom was out in the hall with a very bad lock. It smelled really bad, and the thin walls let every noise through. Things were so bad that we didn’t stay and booked another hotel. See the pictures for details.