Hôtel Bois des Espeisses

The welcome and service were excellent. I wasn’t disappointed with my stay.

I certainly won’t be back. There was virtually no reception, just five or six words exchanged, and unsettling people were hanging around the lobby at all hours. The hotel is far from the city centre, beside a fairly busy road, with noise late into the night. Maybe it’s a last-minute, last-chance option, but at 90 euros a night it feels like highway robbery. The walls are so thin you can talk to the next room. There’s mold everywhere, faulty electrical outlets, and some are even installed backwards. The TV is only for show, and a stale food smell fills the whole place. There’s no fire alarm in the rooms, and the bathroom looks straight out of a horror movie.

Hakim gave us a very warm welcome, which made up for how run-down the place is. It’s a simple hotel residence, and I stayed in a 20 m2 studio. It’s quiet and surrounded by nature if you avoid a room facing the road to Alès. There’s also a 5 kilometer fitness trail through nature that starts 100 meters from the hotel.

I booked at the last minute and made the mistake of not checking the reviews first. In my opinion, the building looks like it’s waiting to be demolished. Next door, the Formule 1 hotel is a four-star by comparison. Still, urban exploration fans might enjoy it. Quite the experience of a lifetime.