Hôtel De France

We had doubts about the air conditioning after reading some comments, but ours worked perfectly. The room was comfortable, and the view was of espariat street and its fountain. We were there with family and found the receptionist really nice. They spoke fluent English and booked us a table at a very tasty Lebanese restaurant in Aix en Provence. Breakfast was wonderful, with charcuterie, croissants, milk, and juice in a well air-conditioned restaurant-style space. It was about 35 degrees outside. We definitely recommend it.

The breakfast was fine, though the milk was awful, and the breakfast staff were lovely. We stayed two nights. When the room was made up, towels were taken away and not fully replaced, leaving us with one hand towel and one bath towel. The bottled water wasn’t replaced either. The room was tiny and airless, with a broken fridge and nowhere to put our things. The air conditioning didn’t work properly. I reported it twice, then gave up because they clearly weren’t going to help. Previous reviews suggest this has been going on for months or even years, which makes the management’s failure to fix it feel cynical. The fan in the room also suggests it’s an ongoing problem. I was really uncomfortable and dehydrated at night. The room looked nothing like the photos on Booking.com, which felt deceptive. At reception, one graceless, unprofessional man couldn’t hide his impatience when I was slow to give my name, even though I handed him a printed confirmation with all my details and he ignored it. There was also a small group with laptops in a corner of the breakfast room, apparently having a marketing meeting. If only they’d asked me about my stay. My advice is to look elsewhere. Consistently welcoming service, comfortable temperatures in extreme heat, and rooms that match the online photos would matter far more than building an online presence with platitudes about being delighted to welcome guests. The receptionist was anything but welcoming. Train all front-of-house staff to provide a more consistent and happier guest experience. I suspect management is mainly interested in one-off visits.

The guy at reception was very friendly and gave us a map and great directions. We stayed with our small Maltese dog and enjoyed ourselves. The hotel is right in the center, with plenty of bars and restaurants all around. Perfect location. Many thanks.

We left the same night and had to find somewhere else to stay. The manager then refused our request for a refund for the services we didn’t get. The front desk staff were kind and helpful, but the manager was inflexible and unprofessional. The room didn’t look like the photos online, and the air conditioning wasn’t working. When we asked the manager to switch it on, since it was listed as a feature, he said hotel policy was to save electricity. Opening the windows wasn’t really an option with two noisy bars right below us, so we couldn’t sleep. Hôtel de France has a great spot in the heart of Aix-en-Provence, but that was the only good part of our stay. Very disappointing, and not what we expected from Aix-en-Provence.