Hôtel Le Pastel

The location is ideal, near both the bus and train stations and a good starting point for exploring the city. I could also leave my bags there because I had a late bus to catch. But this was the smallest room ever. Once I opened my suitcase, there was nowhere to stand on the floor. The bathroom was tiny, plastic, and fitted in, like a camper bathroom. The bed had a wheel and kept moving. For one night it was okay, but it was too noisy for me. I could hear the door constantly and people walking around, and the room cleaning was very loud in the morning.

The room door was the biggest problem. It wouldn’t lock from inside or outside. We contacted reception several times, but no one came to help. One night, someone tried to enter, which left us feeling very unsafe. Our belongings were unsecured during the day too. After five unanswered calls, we went down to reception and eventually got a receptionist to come up. He slammed the door over and over for 5-10 minutes without saying a word, then walked off looking disdainful, as if it was our fault for not slamming it hard enough. We got it to lock once, but it clearly wasn’t fixed. We didn’t want to deal with another rude and unhelpful staff member. The initial receptionist who helped us switch rooms was understanding and helpful, which we appreciated. But he was also the person we called about the door, and despite saying he would come, he didn’t after two calls. We assume the staff member recognized our number and chose not to answer when we called many times at different hours over two days. My brother and I had a deeply disappointing stay. The first twin room smelled of urine, dog, and mold, and the bathroom, including its door, was covered in black mold. We switched to an apartment, which was better, but still had black mold in the bathroom and barely working air conditioning. During a 40-degree heatwave in Toulouse, the weak fan only reached us when we slept at the very end of the bed. The first room had working air conditioning. The hotel was awful value for money, regardless of the cheap price. Between the unsanitary rooms, broken amenities, safety problems, and rude staff, we absolutely cannot recommend it.

The room had visible black mold, smelled strongly of cigarettes despite being listed as non-smoking, and the fire alarm was broken and sitting on the nightstand instead of installed. Late at night, another guest knocked asking for a lighter, and the hotel smelled of marijuana during our stay. Staff were unhelpful and at times rude. When we asked about the breakfast advertised on the wall, the answer was just “No,” with no explanation. We felt unsafe and wouldn’t stay again. It was nothing like the description.

I’ve never stayed anywhere this bad, and don’t plan to. The room I was eventually given in the hotel was small but usable, though the floor, toilet, shower and sink were shockingly dirty. At night, creaking stairs and slamming doors kept me awake. Around 11 pm the next night, the fire alarm went off. I went down to reception, where the receptionist sat with earphones in and looked at me as if I were crazy for asking what was happening. There was no customer service at all. Getting there was awful too. At check-in, the receptionist took my ID, then gestured for me to wait while he checked in the French people behind me. He said my room wasn’t ready and sent me on an eight-minute walk to a different apartment building. As soon as I entered that room, the cigarette smell was overwhelming and I could barely breathe. Opening the windows made it worse because people downstairs were smoking. I went back and said I couldn’t stay there, and he gave me a key card for a room in the hotel I’d actually booked. My clothes still smell of the room’s mix of smoke, damp and filth. There’s much more I can’t fit here. Do not stay here, avoid it!