B&B HOTEL Chambéry La Cassine

The room windows face a noisy motorway, and there was no air conditioning on a 28°C day in early May. Still, the location is excellent for the train station and car rental, the rooms are spacious and clean, and the service was top notch. I thought it was worth what we paid.

The location was awful. There’s a lot of trash, including empty bottles, scattered around the adjacent lot, and traffic from the nearby A-road was clearly audible in my bedroom. The hotel itself was clean, but there’s no lift. Staff were very professional and keen to make my one-night stay as enjoyable as possible.

Good breakfast, helpful staff, and my room was clean apart from a shower curtain covered in black dirt spots. The place is handy if you’re passing through, right off the motorway, but there’s nothing nearby and the city centre is 1.5 km away. The common areas need attention: the stair carpet was torn and dirty, and the outside window recesses had cobwebs and dirt, as if they hadn’t been wiped in months. There’s no lift, and we were on the fourth floor. The drinks machine didn’t work, and on a 38° day they didn’t have any ice when we asked. It may have been classed as a two star hotel when it opened, but it didn’t feel like one now.

It took nearly an hour from arriving to reaching my room. The gate was stuck for guests trying to leave, and a staff member was struggling with codes on his phone. He seemed to be in pain, with bandages on both legs, and showed a picture to another guest. Once I’d parked, reception was shut, so I tried the self check-in machine. It said my room wasn’t ready, even though it was 11 pm. I had to use the intercom three times over 15 minutes before anyone helped. The staff member eventually came back, sucking air through his teeth, and said I hadn’t paid. Then how had I received a booking reference by email? After more huffing and puffing, he sent my access code by email. I was hungry, tired, and upset by then. It was too late to get food, so I went to bed. I was glad to leave in the morning, without even turning back to say good day. A really bad stay. The group should have senior management review and update the hotel, and staff attitude needs to improve.