Relax'Otel & Spa, Le Barcarès

Nice place, though in the off-season the whole area felt kind of empty and odd.

The room was spacious and reasonably clean, and the staff were friendly and ready to help. Free parking was a real plus, and it’s only a five-minute drive to the Village de Noel. But the lobby smell followed through the carpets and hallways. The old towels smelled bad, the bed wasn’t very comfortable, and the blanket felt itchy. I had to use the air conditioning to warm the room. There’s not much nearby for restaurants or attractions, apart from a McDonald's.

We only stayed one night, but had a great time. Everyone on the staff was friendly, especially the pool maintenance guy, who was so cheerful and clearly happy to be there. We nearly went to McDonald's for breakfast, but I’m glad we didn’t. The hotel breakfast was delicious, and the lattes too.

The reply I got from the hotel is why I’ve given it one star here, even though I rated the same place five stars on Booking.com. We liked the staff and the room terrace, but the room smelled really bad and the bathroom was tiny. Breakfast had nothing hot except eggs you could boil. On Booking.com they wrote to me, “Aren't you a bit stupid?” I asked why, and got no answer. Later they replied to my review by saying France doesn’t have a warm breakfast culture. Fine, but I still missed having warm food and mentioned it, even though it was a small, last point. They never addressed the bad smell, which bothered us most. We travelled around Europe with our family and stayed in lots of hotels. This was the worst, and their response only made our impression worse.