Hotel Du Centre

Reunion is expensive, so it’s nice to have a budget hotel and keep more money for beer and other things. St. Denis is small enough that you can walk pretty much everywhere. The hotel is in a run down part of town, though it has plenty of character. In my backpacking days I’d have called it an upmarket treat. The WiFi is a hotspot !!!

At 9 pm I was given an unkempt room on a take it or leave it basis by a very rude receptionist. It was full of mosquitoes, and I had to beg for repellent. I checked in on May 21 during an emergency stop in Reunion, after the airport information desk called the hotel. They said they had rooms and told me I didn’t need to reserve. I’ve never felt so cheated.

The staff were friendly and the location in the north end of town is good, but the rooms were really untidy, with moisture everywhere. There’s nothing to see or do near the hotel. With some cleaning it could make a decent budget option, although right now it feels more like a hostel.

People talked outside late into the night, then staff started setting up the terrace for breakfast at 5 am, so there was no proper sleep. My room was small and opened onto the terrace, without a proper window, which made it noisy and gave me very little privacy. Bad experience, and much too expensive for what it was.