Having looked at the pictures on the internet, we were expecting a family run property that had been relatively recently updated. We made a last minute reservation for a room in the main building, as we were only here for a single night didn't think we needed a larger room. On entering the property, it is very apparent that it is old fashioned, but old fashioned can mean charming and the best of hospitality, but that definitely wasn't the case here. We were shown to the room by the receptionist which was on the 2nd floor, with access to the 1st floor by lift and then something of a wander through a rabbit warren of corridors to reach the room. The decor of the room could best be described as unusual, although it would have been fine for one night. We then looked at the bathroom which was at best 1980s vintage, and not a good one at that! This is just the thing I try to avoid in hotels. We quickly hotfooted it back down to reception to try and change room. We ended up being offered one of their pavilion rooms. The full supplement was charged for this and at EUR 255 including breakfast doesn't exactly represent great value. This room is located in a newer building (everything is relative), although it has also clearly seen better days. As the name attests, it is pavillion like in nature, and the interior has some nice interior design touches such as solid shutters that fold back flush into the walls, as well as some not so nice ones such as the Jackson Pollock inspired (and I use this description very loosely) painting on the headboard above the bed. The worst thing, the tired decor aside, was that the room was cold. It is late November, although relatively mild for this time of year, with no frost on the ground, so it certainly is not exceptional weather. Even with the heating on full blast, and the heating is from fan heaters, so it is noisy, like having a hairdryer on, the room didn't really get that warm. When it came to trying to sleep, we had to choose between the room being cold or trying to sleep downdraft of a jet engine so we chose the former. The bathroom, with the small towel rail on max, never got warm either. In full on winter, make sure you bring your skiwear! The best thing about the hotel was the breakfast, which was all homemade from high quality produce. It was a great start to the day. The whole ethos of this place feels stuck in the past, perhaps the best example of this is this little vignette. On the day of departure we were heading to Calais, and because of timings, wanted to leave at 11.30. Check-out is at 11, again a charming relic of the past, so we asked if we could have the room for an extra half hour. The response was ”check-out is at 11”, although they did extend it for us by 30 minutes. If you want to experience all that was bad about hospitality in the 20th century, then this place is almost a perfectly preserved time capusle of that era, both physically and in the style of the service. Unless you are str
Very Good
8 Reviews