Hôtel Régence

We had a comfortable room and were greeted by welcoming, friendly staff. The hotel is in a perfect spot near the river, in the fascinating town of Arles. Some rooms look out over the river. Many thanks, and we hope to come back.

Eric was kind and helpful, with suggestions for places to eat and things to see. We enjoyed the hotel breakfast, which was early enough for us to head out and explore. Our room overlooked the Rhône, and though it wasn't large, it was comfortable, with a good-sized bathroom and plenty of shelves. We stayed Oct 17-19 and had reserved parking right at the hotel. Whenever we needed the car, Eric opened the private garage for us.

I had booked three nights but checked out the first morning and moved to another hotel because Hotel Regence had too many small and medium-sized problems. One or two might have been manageable. The shower never got hot, even after running it for several minutes. The refrigerator was locked when reception closed in the late afternoon, so I couldn't store food or chill drinks overnight. The room's power outlets shut off unless the only key card was in its slot, which meant I couldn't charge things like camera batteries while I was out and had to take the card with me. The AC was weak, and the room took hours to stop feeling humid. I checked in after hours, and the note left with my key didn't include the wi-fi details. They were in an unlabelled booklet I didn't find. I left the next morning, then later noticed I'd been charged in advance for all three nights. I emailed several times asking for a partial refund. They'd replied to several emails before I arrived, but ignored every message I sent after leaving and never wrote back.

The river view from my room was lovely, and the hotel is handy for the railway station, nearby restaurants, and places to visit. My room was clean, the bed was comfortable, and the shower had plenty of hot water. The owners were friendly and helpful, and breakfast was nice. I really enjoyed staying here and would come back. One small thing: cushions on the dining room chairs would be nice. Otherwise, everything was perfect.