Hôtel Marso

The room smelled of cigarettes, the alarm kept going off, and the electricity kept tripping, so I had to dry my hair in the corridor. The room was never cleaned, and breakfast was awful. Staff couldn't even be bothered to switch on the water so guests could boil eggs. They were rude and unhelpful throughout. At checkout they tried to charge the full room cost again, even though we'd booked through booking.com, paid in full the day before arrival, and showed proof. They also wanted another 120 euros for breakfast, including a day before we'd even arrived. A dreadful experience from start to finish. We'll never return!

The rooms are simple, clean and have comfortable beds, and in summer it's nice to have a balcony. The front desk staff were friendly and very helpful. I recommend the breakfast, a delicious spread of pastries, cheeses, bread and jams. At €15 per person, it's not bad at all. It was my first stay, and the hotel suited my needs well: close to my client, reasonably near both the airport and the city, and not expensive.

The area is nice, with some handy restaurants, though the hotel is a little way off the motorway. Rooms are spacious and quiet, with large balconies. There's a safe and coffee-making gear in the room, but no iron or ironing board, and no fridge. Everything was very clean, the carpets looked new, and the TV entertainment was good. Breakfast was okay, but the selection was a bit limited when we came down at 9:15 am. I'd have been happy to stay a few days, since there are plenty of attractions nearby. The only real issue was that there was no hot water when we got up.

For one night, the missing fridge wasn't a problem. The room was a good size, with a nice balcony, a separate shower room and toilet room, a large wardrobe, and tea. This was the best budget hotel I stayed at during my trip in France. I'd have given it five stars if not for the night receptionist's lack of training. I booked about 45 minutes before arriving and called to let them know. She took around 15 minutes to find another guest's reservation, then another 10 to hand me my room key. Even though I'd paid through Expedia and showed my booking reference, she charged me again. Breakfast was included, and I arrived at almost 2:00 AM, too tired to make the breakfast deadline. I asked if she could arrange a takeaway box with the restaurant, but she acted as though I was asking her to solve world hunger. I was too tired to argue and went to my room. In the morning, when I called reception, they seemed more concerned with reminding me about checkout time than helping. I asked again about the breakfast while the restaurant was still open, but they didn't bother to arrange it. They told me to come to reception about the duplicate payment. I said I wasn't going to waste more time and asked them to have the money ready for when I came down. They did, and I got my refund in cash. Without these problems, I would have rated the hotel five stars.