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c_dugg
London, United Kingdom

Disappointing

3.0 of 5 bubblesReviewed 2 May 2023
We found our stay at the Zoologie a little disappointing. The building is beautiful and the location is reasonable, but the service levels at the hotel let it down.

- Spa information is not clearly communicated - guests are not informed that they have to book in advance and the free period is not well communicated upon arrival
- Room service took 40 minutes for a cheese plate + drinks
- Inexplicably, loud music being played at 0300 despite the bar closing at midnight. It took too long after being woken up, phoning the front desk and asking them to stop before it eventually did
- Staff generally could be more helpful. We had requested some help to understand opening times for museums etc but these were never followed up on.

Not the worst, but we certainly wouldn’t hurry back.
Date of stay: April 2023
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
2.0 of 5 bubblesValue
4.0 of 5 bubblesLocation
2.0 of 5 bubblesService
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hotel Zoologie, Service clients/Réception at Hotel La Zoologie, responded to this review
Responded 2 May 2023
Hello sir Duggan,

Thank you for leaving your opinion about our establishment. We fully understand the cause of your dissatisfaction and we hope to have the opportunity to offer you a second opinion of our hotel in the near future.

Best regards,
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
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8 - 13 of 50 reviews
Reviewed 11 September 2022 via mobile

We were greeted with a friendly welcome and drink at bar while we waited for the room. Got to our room and we were very impressed with both the size of the room and the big comfortable bed.  The walk in shower was fantastic and it was great to have the toilet in a room on its own. The maid service was also superb. We were never bothered by knocks on the door and after going for lunch etc, we came back and the room was done. Perfect.

Unfortunately though, music was played all day - sometimes from 8:30 in the morning. This was pretty disturbing when you just want a bit of peace. One day we’d not had breakfast, so around midday, we thought we’d have a bite to eat in the outside garden. We wanted just something light like a baguette etc but this was not available and the options were expensive and distinctly underwhelming - bunging a few flowers and a couple of strawberries on a heap of average quality jambon doesn’t pull the wool over anyone’s eyes.

We decided to have a night cap in the bar one evening. It was an “interesting” experience. The din of the Reggaeton music assault, was interspersed by glasses and all kinds being slammed around and a general atmosphere of malcontent from the clearly fed up staff. I have bad days too, guys, but my valued clients would never be able to tell.

When we checked out on Friday midday, the attitude of the woman on reception was pretty frosty too. No smile dispensed here. In fact when she made a mistake and asked my wife for 800 euros for the room, which was already paid for, no hint of a “my mistake, sorry”.

This stay could have been so much better. Examples: A more consistent attitude from the staff. A simple lunch/snack menu. Maybe not play music that’s audible all day in all parts of the hotel. I am unable to give it more than 3 stars as there are a lot of improvements that are needed.

Date of stay: September 2022
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
1  Thank encona37
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Solène MAKARA, Service clients/Réception at Hotel La Zoologie, responded to this reviewResponded 25 September 2022

Thank you for taking the time to give us such constructive feedback following your stay in our establishment.
We are delighted that you enjoyed your room and will pass on your compliments to our housekeeping staff who will be delighted.
Our restaurant does not offer snacks or light meals in the middle of the day other than the menu offered. However, we do offer a large list of restaurants/bakeries/tapas bars in the neighborhood to help our guests discover the city of Bordeaux and its many culinary offerings.
We are very sorry to read that you did not enjoy our bar. Our staff are always happy to adapt the atmosphere of the bar to suit everyone's taste, so please feel free to ask them for a style of music you like.
A point will be made with our staff in order not to repeat these mistakes. It is indeed unthinkable for us that our dear customers feel the moods of the team (good mood only!) and we apologize, although with a little delay, for the mistake made during your check-out.

Every review is an opportunity for us to improve in order to offer a better service to our visitors so we thank you again for taking the time to detail your feelings.

Warmly,
The Reception

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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Reviewed 7 September 2022 via mobile

Congratulations to the owners for turning this old Bordeaux university building into a fabulous hotel. It is a truly awesome place and a wonderful example of how to repurpose somewhere with love care and stunning attention to detail. Loved the welcome, the decor, the ambiance and the beautifully enthusiastic team. I promise you will not be disappointed and will equally adore Le Zoologie!

Date of stay: August 2022
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Thank Peterpinksocks
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Solène MAKARA, Service clients/Réception at Hotel La Zoologie, responded to this reviewResponded 10 September 2022

Thank you for taking the time to leave us your review and this excellent note following your stay in our establishment. We are delighted that you enjoyed your stay and the beauty of the place. It is with great pleasure that the whole team of La Zoologie will welcome you again
Regards
La Zoologie

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Reviewed 5 June 2022 via mobile

Incredibly friendly staff! We arrived at midnight and the lady at the front desk was incredibly sweet and helpful, she even walked us up to our room and made sure we were happy with everything.

The hotel was is incredibly clean and well maintained, and the decor is stylish and very unique.

Breakfast was quite satisfactory—my husband and I loved the fresh cheeses, eggs, sausages and the vegetables dish with zucchini’s. There was even fresh honey. The coffee did come from a machine, but I’m a tea drinker so no offence there.

When we came back to our room every evening, we could tell the day cleaning was super attentive!

The only negative was when we went down to the bar before dinner. The cocktails were delicious but took over half an hour to make, and that was after we waited for a while to have someone take our order. Perhaps the bar was just short staffed that day?

Otherwise, we’d definitely come back.

Room tip: There’s no ironing board in the room, or a mini fridge. But they’ll have a board and iron sent to your room.
Date of stay: June 2022
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Thank katerinasP2599KQ
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Solène MAKARA, Service clients/Réception at Hotel La Zoologie, responded to this reviewResponded 24 June 2022

Thank you for taking the time to leave us such a kind review after your stay at our establishment. We are committed to offering a personalized and quality service and are delighted that you felt welcome at your arrival. We are sorry for the wait experienced at the bar, be assured that we are doing our best to make your experience the best possible. We will convey all your beautiful compliments to our staff who will be very touched and hapy to welcome you again soon.
Best regards
The Front Office Team

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Reviewed 22 May 2022 via mobile

We stayed in the hotel for 2 nights over a weekend. We found that the check in time is a bit late at 4 pm. If you want to check in between 2 and 4 pm you have to pay €25 extra.

We were really disappointed with the spa. The hotel’s website is available in French and English. In french the website states “En libre accès (clients hôtel) : 20h-22h” and in English “Free access (hotel guests): 8 pm-10pm”. As we did not read the french version of the website we believed that the spa was free (no charge for hotel guests) after 8 pm. When we arrived and were asked about spa access we stated that we just want to go to the free access between 8 and 10 pm. The receptionist told me that we still must pay to use the spa at this time but do not need to make a reservation.

I showed her and explained that the English version of the website is very misleading and translates as accès gratuit… the hotel staff agreed with me when I raised this with them but told me that there was nothing they could do, it also seemed that there was no manager present. It was very disappointing as believing that the hotel had a free spa was a big selling point and made this hotel more attractive than other options. There was another spa hotel in a much more central Bordeaux location with a similarly priced spa access for hotel guests which we compared this hotel with and in hindsight the other hotel would have been a better option. Now I am posting this review 3 months after my stay and they still haven’t modified the website to rectify the problem.

Secondly, we had two problems with our first room where we stayed for one night. The hotel was on the first floor on the street side and there was a lot of noise coming from the road (even with the shutters and windows shut). Secondly the toilet flush was so powerful that it would spray the contents of the toilet outside of the toilet and all over the seat which was quite disgusting (see photo)

Therefore we asked to move rooms and were given a room facing the garden.

The breakfast was a bit disappointing, we went in the last hour that the breakfast was served and it was clear that the ingredients (in particular the hot items such as sausages and eggs) were not very fresh, maybe they had been prepared at 6 am that morning… it was not worth the €19 price tag. We sat watching the chefs prepare fresh scallops for lunch which looked amazing, it was hard to watch them putting so much effort into the lunch menu when we were sat there eating a below average breakfast.

Last issue - a cleaner entered my room without knocking when I was half naked…

I would not choose to stay here again given the extra hidden costs which push the price up and non ideal location

Date of stay: March 2022
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
2  Thank bens590
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Solène MAKARA, Service clients/Réception at Hotel La Zoologie, responded to this reviewResponded 5 June 2022

Dear bens590,

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a thorough feedback.

We give our best to create the best experience we possibly can for our clients and we apologise for the moments that were less than that during your stay.

We are still working on growing and improving on as many points as possible, so we truly appreciate the information you shared, as we will be able to search for better solutions.

We have settled on this check-in hour to make sure that the clients that need to leave later have this possibility, while giving our cleaning team enough time to make sure the rooms are in their best shape for the arrivals.

We will search for a better way to describe the spa access conditions for our English version of the website as well as for other communication platforms in order to avoid similar confusions for our foreign clients in the future.

We are sorry that your initial room was not up to your expectations, however we do hope that you enjoyed the room you were offered as soon as we learned about the situation.

Regarding the breakfast, our team always puts care and effort in the preparation of all our meals and remains at the disposal of our clients to fulfill on-site requests at any time.

We are deeply sorry about the cleaning team entry in your room and we assure you that it is not something habitual. Given your feedback, we will do a check-in with our cleaning team to make sure this will not repeat itself.

We do hope that you might give us the chance to redeem ourselves and give you the beautiful experience we always strive to offer our clients. We are a "young" hotel of only one year and we are learning from each step we take, so we hope to be able o improve on all the points you so kindly shared.

Wishing you a lovely summer,
The Front Office

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Reviewed 12 May 2022 via mobile

I spent a night for professional purposes. When I came at 11pm to check in, the hotel told me that there was a water damage and my room’was no longer available. The reception who was not even friendly proposed me to spend the night in a room for 2 people . I ended up sharing a room with a work colleague! I have never seen this anywhere !
In addition, I slept in a couch which was noisy. I couldn’t sleep the whole night.

I do not recommend this hotel! The price does not match the service
I will never come back

Room tip: Check with them if the room’is still available after booking! You may end up sharing your room
Date of stay: May 2022
Trip type: Travelled on business
1  Thank sarahVil
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Solène MAKARA, Service clients/Réception at Hotel La Zoologie, responded to this reviewResponded 20 May 2022

Dear sarahVil,

Thank you for your time to share your feedback.
We do apologize for this inconvenient event out of our control. Hotel was fully booked and the only arrivals we get this day was the group you were part of. We've well warned our group contact about this incident as fast as we could once we knew about the water damage so she could tell guests this information and so we could find an appropriate solution.
In order to apologise, we offered a free spa access. Also, the room has been complimentary.

We still hope you had a safe way back.

Warmly,
Front Office

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