Novotel Le Havre Centre Gare

Good value for money, with a nice, clean room and a good breakfast. The staff were friendly, especially the woman at check-in and check-out, Britany, I think.

The reception team were friendly, and our room was clean, nice, and spacious. The bar staff tried their best to communicate with us about our order, but that was where the good service ended. The breakfast waitresses were rude. I left three shirts behind and contacted the hotel by phone and email as soon as we checked out. I got very little help, just a vague response that they were fixing it. When I followed up the other day, the shirts still hadn’t been found. I’d expect a place to keep lost property for a while. Each shirt is worth about 115 euro, so be careful not to leave anything behind. Getting it returned is difficult.

The room was just okay and had some stains on the carpet. What really disappointed me was the lack of compassion from the reception staff. I badly injured my knee and needed bed rest, a brace, and crutches. After 10 hours in the hospital emergency room, an ambulance brought me back to the hotel at 2 in the morning. I asked for a late checkout so I could catch the 15.30 train home, since it’s a complimentary benefit for ALL Gold tier members. I was given only until 13.00. The receptionist said there was no further availability in our room category for that night and wouldn’t discuss it. While waiting in the lobby, I checked the ALL website and other sites and took screenshots. They showed the hotel and our room category were still available for the night. This was 30 minutes after staff had very punctually called us to leave the room, despite knowing I had mobility issues. I was extremely disappointed that, in those circumstances, reception wouldn’t compromise or extend checkout by even another hour or so. I’ve been an ALL Gold tier member for 3 years and had never had a hospitality problem until this hotel, where I really needed empathy and got none. I’d look elsewhere if I stayed in the city again. It feels like this hotel cares only about profit and has forgotten it’s in hospitality. It definitely doesn’t meet Accor group’s 4-star hotel standards.

The location is good, but the hotel’s standard, especially the room cleanliness, didn’t feel like 4 stars. Parking is 9€ per day on a first-come, first-served basis. If there’s no space left, they don’t refund you, and you have to find somewhere else to park.