La Maison Des Livres

I would not recommend this property, especially for women. This was one of the worst and least safe places I’ve stayed, and the listing was seriously misleading. It advertised two extra-large beds and two bunk beds, but we were given just one double bed, which completely changed our sleeping arrangements. There were several serious safety and health problems. I had disclosed my citrus allergy in advance, yet I was served food containing citrus. The breakfast was dry, stale, plastic-wrapped “bread” more like a biscuit, fruit I couldn’t eat despite the allergy warning, and a vending-machine pastry that was stale and also had citrus in it without being labeled or disclosed. There were exposed electrical wires next to the bed. The hot water kept failing, and nobody had told us we needed to turn it on and off. Even after we sent multiple messages, we were never told this. Management, I assume, came into our bedroom to check we weren’t lying. We were made to feel as though we were inventing the problem, and for 24 hours we had to shower in ice-cold water. After one repair, the whole property smelled strongly of gas, and we breathed the fumes overnight. We felt lightheaded in the morning. The cleanliness was appalling, with ants in the room, including in our bed. When we raised these concerns, the owner was rude and dismissive. I was spoken to like a stupid child about the bedroom. He also accused me of not closing the front door and said the area was unsafe, something the listing had not mentioned. I travel frequently and know to close doors when I leave, but instead of discussing it, he blamed me. He made me leave my room to talk about it away from my travel companion, which made me very uncomfortable. After we raised the problems with our travel agency, we checked our messages with the landlord and manager again and found they had deleted all the messages between us. This place is grossly misrepresented and fundamentally unsafe. Incredibly disappointing, and I would NOT recommend it.