Première Classe Lille Sud - Henin Beaumont

The staff were fantastic, very polite, and spoke English. For a short stay and the price, the room is passable, but it's incredibly basic and worn out. The heater was falling apart and barely working, the shower leaked all night, and the power socket seemed unsafe. Cheap or not, safety matters.

There isn't much to do nearby, so I'd check the area suits you before booking. A few restaurants are next to the hotel, but some families in our group couldn't use them because they wouldn't cater for us after a certain time. Mcdonalds is a 10-15 minute walk away, with a great supermarket and shopping centre just behind it. There's also a small town about an 8-minute drive away with a Dominoes Pizza and kebab shops, though that's not walkable. We stayed here for a long weekend in France during a children's rugby tour, and after reading the reviews beforehand, we were skeptical. We ended up pleasantly surprised. The rooms are small and basic but clean and comfortable. The bathroom is small too, but clean, and the shower was always hot and powerful. Breakfast had a nice range of choices. For what we needed, it was fine and good value.

Our room smelled really bad. A total rubbish place. Definitely stay away.

The blanket had holes from cigars, and even though the room was supposed to be non-smoking, it reeked of cigars. Compared with other places I've stayed, this wasn't a good experience.