ibis Strasbourg Centre Historique

Breakfast was poor and very average, with the only two items that were meant to be hot served stone cold. The room was tiny, with no facilities and barely space for our luggage. I had to go to the bar for boiling water, and there was nowhere to store my insulin. The bathroom was so narrow I kept knocking down the hairdryer. We only got two small towels, not suitable for adults, maybe for a child. I also had to ask reception for toilet paper because the roll in the bathroom was almost finished when we arrived. Very disappointing. Budget hotels have better rooms.

The buffet breakfast was really good, with an amazing choice of food and teas. The hotel was ideally placed for the Christmas markets, but the room let us down. It was very small, dated and in dire need of an update. The bathroom was neat in size but usable, though the room sometimes smelled, likely from the drains. Once, I couldn’t shower because of a boiler problem. There was ground work outside with diggers, and the room wasn’t soundproof. We had booked well in advance and the travel agent requested a double, but we were given twin beds. Staff did make them up as a double the next day, though it wasn’t quite the same, and the initial problem put a damper on things. There was no tea or coffee in the room. You could get some at the bar, but had to pay. It wasn’t cheap, €24 for two machine hot chocolates with Baileys! It’s a budget hotel, so I guess you get what you pay for, though it felt dated and a bit scruffy.

The room cleaner was very nice and left us two extra towels and toilet paper. The receptionist we spoke with at checkout was also lovely, so maybe we were just unlucky to get one rude person at check-in. Still, this was the worst ibis I’ve stayed in. The room was comically small, the bed too small for two, and the mattress very thin. Anyone with back or spine issues would suffer. We got one large towel each and one small towel total, not even a hand towel for each person or a bath mat. There was only a roll and a half of toilet paper, and no basics like hair conditioner. I don’t know what we were meant to do with that one small towel, split it? Reception was rude, and with zero soundproofing I could hear doors slamming and things being dragged across the floor all night. Even the basic accommodations you expect from a hotel weren’t met.

The young staff were very friendly, especially Mathias. We stayed for four nights in this old hotel by the river. The room was small and a little old, but clean and functional. I even managed to have a visio meeting there without any trouble. There were some issues. The plumbing worried us, but we were reassured the toilet wasn’t blocked and just needed an extra flush, which worked. Don’t leave the window open in the evening, because of the mosquitoes. The hotel could add mosquito netting so guests can get fresh air after returning to a stuffy room. We were there over Halloween weekend, when they held a treasure hunt anyone could win. My niece won a non-alcoholic cocktail, and there were free candies, a chocolate fountain and fruit. Breakfast wasn’t too bad either.