Hôtel le Nid

We booked five nights at le Nid and left after just two days, without a refund. The room wasn't cleaned during those two days, the sheets and towels weren't changed even though we asked, and we found the place dated and not very clean. Some lamps didn't work, the cabinets were broken, and the towels were old. We also felt the website photos looked much nicer than the hotel, and there weren't photos of our actual room. We had checked what we booked, but hadn't heard of a hotel star system, and we should have read more reviews because then we wouldn't have booked. The manager's attitude was the hardest part. After a six-hour drive, my partner asked to use the bathroom in the room and was refused, with no other toilets available. We were told to pay the full amount before we could even see the room. The owner spoke loudly and in an agitated way, saying she could lose her job and have her salary reduced, which seemed odd since she owns the place. She said she had to protect herself, couldn't leave the desk, and that some guests leave after seeing their room. When asked for ID cards, we handed them over and never refused. She kept pointing to the rules instead of trying to work out a solution with us. In her replies to bad reviews, she often stresses that it's a 2-star hotel, not a 4- or 5-star one, and says what guests should have read. That feels like blaming customers instead of taking responsibility. Being eco-friendly shouldn't mean having uncomfortable or unclean towels and bedding, or a room that feels out of date. We've stayed in plenty of unstarred places that were lovely. Hospitality means being friendly and helpful whatever the rating, and I wouldn't recommend this hotel. I'm sure she'll reply with her side of things, but that doesn't change our experience. Looking at the many bad reviews from recent months, it seems we weren't the only ones with problems with the hotel and its management.