Hôtel de l'Europe

We paid Hotels.com for a room at Hotel de L'Europe, Corbigny for 31st May, but it turned out that the room didn't exist, so we're asking them for a refund. The owner was helpful, though, and found us a room at Hotel de France in Chatillon en Bazois for that night. While at reception, we booked room 6 at Hotel de L'Europe for 1st and 2nd June. The beds had plastic mattress protectors, so I took them off and remade the beds myself. The hairdryer fell apart into three pieces and wouldn't stay switched on. The receptionist came up and tried to put it back together, but it still didn't work. The shower and bath water was cool, not even warm. The outside shutters wouldn't close. Their holders had been fitted over the shutters, so they clearly hadn't worked for some time. The curtains did little to block the streetlight, and it woke us during both nights and again in the morning. We understood that Saturday 1st June would be busy and noisy because of the holiday, and had good earplugs. We don't eat breakfast, but wanted tea or coffee. The young waitress, apparently working alone and struggling with a full breakfast room, greeted us with a bad-tempered shrug. There should have been more staff. When we returned the next evening, the restaurant was closed, which we could understand after how busy it had been the previous night. But that same young staff member was also closing the hotel, locking doors and turning off lights. The place was deserted, and we couldn't even refill our drinking water bottle. I believe we were the only guests there on Sunday 2nd June. Around 9am the next morning, there was still nobody around, no lights on and no access to the breakfast room or even a cup of coffee. We packed, and the same young woman arrived to take payment. In my broken French, I made it clear that management had put her under too much pressure. She didn't speak English, but I got through to her. I understand it was a national holiday weekend, but a hotel needs staff available at all times, or it shouldn't let guests stay while it's closed. I asked for a printed bill and was appalled that it came on a torn piece of a poster for "Les Voix de Jerusalem 13-15 September" instead of hotel letterhead. That was nearly the last straw. I was furious and felt I had to say how badly this hotel is run. We paid 151.08 euros cash for two nights in this horrible place. We would never recommend it to anyone, quite the opposite.

The €122 charged for two people was far too much for what we got, especially the meagre breakfast, the poorest I've had in many years of travelling in France. Check-in was by phone because no staff were available, and they gave us the wrong room. There also seemed to be nobody on site in case of an emergency. Future travellers should avoid it.

The food was just okay, and the prices were far too high for what you get.

The beds were too short, and the Wi-Fi was poor.