We took a chance and booked this hotel in advance for our 12-night stay in Bordeaux and turned out to be a fairly good choice. We booked a room with a balcony: it was one of the few – if only – such room, located on the fifth floor of the building facing Cours de la Somme. That balcony was actually a huge terrace: 500 square feet or 46 square metres. Much larger than the room itself! Everything was very clean. Even the kitchen, the fridge, the dishes, and the pots and pans.

For the first few days, the elevator worked but unfortunately, it didn’t for the rest of our stay but management made up to us for that technical glitch. The bed was really comfortable and there was really only one thing (besides the elevator) that we could have used: hot water in the kitchen and the bathroom sink. Fortunately – and mysteriously – there was plenty of hot water in the bath/ shower, although actually taking a shower was something of a challenge because the shower wand didn’t have much extension beyond one’s torso. Oh yes, we could have used a bit more space for the contents of our suitcases but that’s usually the case in Europe, from our experience.

The room didn’t have a lock box for our passports and other important documents but security at the hotel was like Fort Knox: there were codes for every main door that changed every Sunday, so our belongings were actually quite safe in our room. Between the two hotel buildings, they have a parking lot for a number of guest vehicles.

Michel, the head of reception was friendly and efficient, and had empathy for any problems we reported. The maids were all very friendly as well, and provided us with changes of sheets, towels and dishcloths whenever we needed them. We really felt sorry for these hardworking people on those days when the elevator was out and they appreciated our concern.

Despite being outside the downtown core, the location is really good. The train station is a 20-minute walk away (you could see the station from our rooftop perch). Groceries can be had within a 10-minute walk up or down Cours de la Somme. A further five-minute walk south of the U grocery store, you’ll find a couple of bar/brasseries, a great bakery and across from that a smoke shop (a.k.a. Tabac), where we bought mass transit passes.

Four bus routes pass up and down in front of the hotel and one, the number 15, will take you all the way north to the Bordeaux Lac shopping mall, one of the biggest in the region.

In all, we were happy to stay here and we were really glad the room heater worked very well because for most days, the weather was rainy and cold. We hope that won’t be the case during our next visit!