L'hote Boutique Hotel

The continental breakfast was basic, with cereal, toast, croissants and a big bowl of mixed fruit. Getting back after a day out was the harder part: it's just over a mile from the edge of Canterbury city centre, but the uphill walk with our purchases felt endless. One evening we gave up on walking back in for dinner and picked up a sandwich at the Sainsbury's across the road. Room No1 was clean and had a comfy bed, though the mattress dips where people have slept and seems likely to get worse. The room was very compact, and the bathroom was so tiny I could have used the toilet, showered and brushed my teeth at once.

We had a tasty breakfast with some healthy choices, and Sainsbury extra across the road, open until 11, was handy. The centre is about a 25-minute walk away. Our room faced the quieter side of the road, so we woke to birds singing. The one snag was the coffee machine. We couldn't find anyone to refill it with hot water, and saw other guests looking for the person in charge of breakfast too, but nobody turned up.

Be careful, this is a HOSTEL, and a very bad one for service. There are no ground-floor rooms, only rooms on the first and second floors, reached by stairs. Good luck getting up there with crutches or a wheelchair. It isn't disabled friendly at all. The breakfast is only cereal and juice, though they charge for it like a hotel breakfast with hot food. Staff work only until 3pm, so after that guests are stuck. Proper hostel!!!

The room was fairly large, and everything in the shower area felt high quality. There wasn't a bathtub, and it took a while for the hot water to come through. We loved how clean the hotel was, and the room, especially the bathroom, smelled nice. The bed was just right, neither too soft nor too firm, and we slept really well. Breakfast was included and we enjoyed it. A kind woman promptly topped up anything that ran out. The free car park holds 4 cars, and ours was the only one there when we visited.