Novotel Rouen Centre Cathédrale

Conveniently located near attractions, the accommodation offers friendly staff, spacious modern rooms, and a good breakfast selection. However, some guests found the prices exorbitant compared to the quality of services.

This Novotel recently opened in Rouen. I'm adding an English review since there are fairly few here as opposed to French. Built over the building of the old Chamber of Commerce de Rouen, this isn't your typical Novotel, as it has an elegant, certainly more upscale lobby than one would normally expect from this Accor brand. Think more timeless elegance with a touch of contemporary flair rather than the usual very modern, cheap-looking Novotel décor that they have to redo every 5-6 years to stay current. The rooms, however modern they may be, are basic and use cheap-looking IKEA-esque furniture, as do all Novotels. It's a contrast with the lobby. The mattress is some sort of memory foam and it's on the firm side, it isn't plush by any means, but will do if you are tired and have walked the sights all day. The pillows are synthetic and cheap. There are no other options available if you ask. I did and I was told that they only had the one type. It isn't a terrible bed, but Novotel (and Accor as a group in general) just keeps trying to compete with their equivalent American or British counterparts (Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG) and it just doesn't measure up for a "4-star" hotel or to competing brands, who offer better in-room amenities and especially, much better bedding. There's neither a phone or a fridge in the rooms. You can't request either. If you have an issue, you have to go down to the front desk or call from your mobile phone. Luckily, I had a roaming package on my phone, but not all foreigners do. That also means no wake up calls available. I will say their staff was unequivocally welcoming, nice and helpful, and that's a great asset. Their parking was full when we arrived and we were redirected to the adjacent parking lot, which actually turned out to be cheaper anyway. The elevator or stairs from that adjacent parking exit right onto the sidewalk, at the front door of the hotel, so it's just as good of an option as their own. Expensive breaksfast at 21 Euros pp. There's a nice restaurant about 10 minutes away on foot that did a great brunch named Café Crème. Consider it as an alternative if you want a good brunch, while you'll also encourage a local business. Great location in the middle of Rouen, with all the main sights easily walkalble from the hotel. Overall, not a bad choice, but the only reason why Accor/Novotel succeeds so well in medium cities across France such as Rouen is because they have a huge footprint of hotels across the country. If looking for a larger, full-service hotel and an alternative of the abovementioned hotel groups is available, I recommend choosing them over this location. Accor needs to stop removing amenities from "4-star" hotels while continuning to brand and price them as such, all in the name of "we've made changes for the environment". It's all greenwashing in the name of cost-cutting for owners of the franchises.