Adonis Arc Hôtel Aix

The hotel isn't especially close to the city, though you can park near it. For the price, the service is good. The rooms are small but clean, the bathroom is nice, and breakfast is continental with freshly baked pastries.

I had a really bad experience, especially with the service. I speak French very well and lived in Paris for several years, but I'm not French. Before booking for just two days, I called to ask how easy it was to reach the center of Aix en Provence by public transport, since the hotel seemed a bit far away. They told me there was a bus stop 100 metres away, which is true, but left out that there are no buses after 21:00. I wasn't expected to know that. The director acted as though I should have, and asked why I hadn't looked up transport online. I called the hotel because I wanted information from reception and was worried online details might be wrong. Today the director suggested it was a language misunderstanding. It wasn't. If I don't understand something in French, I ask again and say so. She also said people have different points of view and offered to refund tonight if I wanted to leave for another hotel. I'd asked for that yesterday, but they refused. So I was stuck in a remote area, isolated, having to pay for a taxi to walk around the city center and get back. She said all their clients walk back, but I'm not all clients. People have different needs. I don't want to walk late at night through a dark, remote, unfamiliar area with nobody around. Yesterday Booking had availability and a good offer for a hotel in the center, at a better price than Adonis, but not today. She also told me I had to leave by 11:00 if I decided to go, since that was checkout. Unprofessional behavior, at the very least.

The staff were very polite, but the renovation to the ceiling in the reception and restaurant areas was unfortunate during our stay. The hotel is between busy roads, with no amenities around, and the restaurant closes at about 11, after which you can't even sit there. Our room was very small, with dated furniture and bathroom. There were no power points by the bed or in the bathroom, no fridge or kettle, and only one small towel per person. The tub couldn't be used because its plug was missing, and the shower soaked the whole bathroom floor. Toiletries were very limited, with no shampoo, so I had to wash my hair with soap or shower gel.

The receptionist was friendly, the bed very comfortable, and the French breakfast good value. The rooms look much nicer inside than the building does from outside.