Hotel des Bains

The location is great, the staff are friendly, and the price is good. But the rooms are incredibly basic and get really hot, even in May. The streets nearby stay noisy into the early hours, and we woke several times to people shouting outside.

The staff were really friendly, and the location is spot on. The rooms are old but perfectly okay, and at least they don't have the slight smell the hotel itself does. Parking is the catch: nothing is free nearby, so for more than one night you'd have to park farther away or keep paying for a ticket every two hours. The town itself wasn't much to our taste.

We had a lovely beach view from a comfortable room, with extra chairs, a minibar, and tea and coffee with water. Ours wasn't a standard room. The bath had a handheld shower, and there’s a small lift to the residential floors. There’s no air-con, so with the windows open we could hear some evening noise from below. Parking is limited and very expensive, so we dropped off our bags and drove to the quayside, where we found free parking, about a 10-minute walk back. The receptionist wasn't especially friendly or helpful. Breakfast was pricey, and the adjoining restaurant was fully booked for dinner even when we tried to reserve early that morning, so we ate at nearby cafés and restaurants instead. There’s a busy English Victorian-style pub close by, and plenty more food and drink options within a 10-15 minute walk.

That was my favourite room of our three weeks travelling around Europe. The hotel has an elegant old-fashioned feel and wasn't expensive. It was 32° outside, and our sunny, street-facing room got hot. Air conditioning might have helped, but would have made the stay much more expensive. We took off the duvet and the plastic mattress cover. The breakfast room was nice. I'd give it six stars if I could.