Hyatt Place Rouen

This hotel is beautifully renovated, and newly opened when we visited. It’s situated a short way outside Rouen, but the city is easily accessible by bus (outside the hotel) or taxi. Rooms are comfortable and well appointed, and any shortcomings will no doubt be sorted as time goes on eg nowhere to put the soap by the sink. We had two main issues during our stay. Firstly, the staff were not trained sufficiently. We had problems in paying for a drink at the bar because there had been a staff change. And there was no-one to welcome us, nor in charge at breakfast. We had to go to Reception to get someone to look at the toaster which hadn’t been set up for use and to get tongs for handling bread, pastries etc. Not acceptable in a hotel of this class. There were also two false fire alarms during our stay - one around 5am and another two hours later at 7am. The first alarm was handled well - we all got up & mustered outside whilst the (sole) staff member on duty sorted things out. At the second alarm, we got up again, and headed for the fire muster point only to find the hotel operating as though nothing had happened. We asked at Reception, who told us it was another false alarm. Could they not have let us know in some way, and at least apologise? All in all, a very nice hotel but not a good experience.

This very new (couple of weeks in operation) hotel is not quite ready for prime time. The problems all relate to inadequate staff/training and I would expect them to resolve over time. This hotel was built on the bones of a former training school/facility. The architecture is generally striking but it's actually a little confusing navigating your way through the facility. Rooms are attractive, well laid out and bed was comfortable. The hotel struck me as best suited for business use. It's close to the train station and has ample parking (if ridiculously narrow parking spaces in the European/French manner). But we were there for pleasure and the hotel was a bit far away from the parts of the city tourists like to visit (like the Cathedral). It's a pretty decent walk (about 1.8 km) to do several times a day. I do have to comment on one critical factor. We have not encountered toilet paper like what we found in the hotel since we first started visiting France in the late 70's/early 80's. Let's say it builds "character." Absolutely inappropriate for a 4-star Hyatt. Restaurant also needs some work both in staff training and in some of the dishes offered.