hotelF1 Perpignan Sud

There were cigarette butts all around outside the hotel, and the first room I was given smelled strongly of smoke. I asked to change rooms and they did it immediately. The receptionist was very kind and polite.

The location is a little way from the centre, but a 30-minute walk is fine if you know about it ahead of time. I was welcomed nicely, though only in French, and managed with my very rusty French. The room was small and clean. I did have to ask reception once before the door would open. I haven't used the toilet or shower, so I can't comment on them. A perfectly valid place for one night. The reviews seem gruesome for no reason.

We paid £70 for a double room with a private bathroom and breakfast, but the breakfast choices weren't good. Breakfast cost £5 per person, and the amount I paid in advance for all four of us couldn't be refunded. I'd suggest checking the options at breakfast time before buying it, rather than paying ahead. You also have to buy a towel for 2.50 euros. The hotel feels like a prison when you walk in. In the middle of the night, two people started fighting badly outside my girls' room, and the hotel called the police, who arrested two men. It wasn't a good experience.

The bathroom soap dispenser was broken, and the checkout was supposed to be at 12. Yet at 10, when I went to shower, my code had stopped working. The receptionist's suggestion was to put a piece of paper in the door if I needed to step out and load my car. On arrival, the two young receptionists were incredibly rude. They kept chatting to each other about what they'd wear to a party that night during check-in, and didn't even look at me.