ibis budget Saint Maximin la Sainte Baume

For the price, the room was excellent value, clean, quiet and roomy enough unless you’re carrying lots of luggage. The beds were comfortable too. I’d suggest booking ahead and asking for a room on the side away from the autoroute. We happened to get that side without knowing, but there may be more road noise on the other side.

“Maybe it isn’t written in Spanish. It must be Occitan...,” my son joked. We’d booked a room for three and still had to make our own bed, so what language was that instruction in? The bathroom condition could frankly be better, and the room looked little or nothing like the photos on Booking. Ibis/Accor, this is not good.

The room was pretty bad, honestly. There wasn’t a real bathroom, just a small room with a toilet, while the shower was in the bedroom with the beds. We had to take turns leaving so someone else could shower in private. There was hair on the beds, probably left by other tourists, and they smelled bad. The towels were stained and had white spots, and I don’t even want to think about what caused them. The A/C worked okay, and the shower always had hot water, but the price was far too high for what we got.

The family room is absolutely disgusting, with an exposed shower, so my 9 and 13 year old can’t shower or change in privacy. The room feels cold and unwelcoming, sterile and bland. Can Ibis & Accor sink any lower? I keep staying at their hotels and regret it every time. Let’s hope Premier Inn gets a chance to enter the market.