ibis Beaune La Ferme Aux Vins

We had a clean room and a good breakfast, and parking was free. The bed was made a bit messily, though. In winter, at least, the area felt a little out of the way. It’s a 20-minute walk from the city centre, or 15 if you walk faster. The route felt safe, but it wasn’t pretty like the centre.

The bed was very comfortable, the shower was good, and the air conditioning worked effectively. It was quiet, too. The lift wasn’t working during our visit, though that’s probably unusual. The breakfast buffet was a bit chaotic, but it was a main holiday period toward the end of summer.

We had a great stop on the way to our skiing holiday. I also worked for a couple of hours there, which was perfectly doable. There’s a Carrefour close by, though the dishes at the hotel restaurant looked quite good too.

I’ve stayed here many times and always rated it highly, so this review is about a real letdown on my latest visit. I don’t know whether the hotel has changed hands, but the standards and service had dropped a lot. Staff barely communicated and seemed completely inattentive. What looked like the Manager berated two people behind the bar in full view of customers. The menu had been cut down considerably, with just one vegetarian option. At breakfast, the coffee machine ran out of milk, and there wasn’t a staff member available to ask for help. Our room, 119, had badly stained ceiling tiles from what appeared to be a leaking air conditioning unit, and the wall beside the bed was badly scraped. I’ve never had anything but praise for this place before, so the decline was a real disappointment. They need to get back on top of things and restore the original standards.