Best Western Plus Le Picardy Hotel & Spa

For a recent family overnight stay we had 3 double rooms, one of which was made up with an extra bed for 3 young adults. All of the rooms were slightly different and the check-in staff v pleasant and efficient. My big and comfortable room didn't have a mini-bar fridge but that didn't matter as my sister's did, and they all had a kettle. The aircon was thankfully efficient and my shower was great. The hotel doesn't have a restaurant, we recommend l'Annexe which is very close. Where this hotel fell down was the breakfast, we felt very sorry for the one person trying to serve breakfast and run check out at the same time. The « hot » part of the buffet was bacon (which set off the fire alarm) and scrambled eggs. For 6 of us there was enough bacon for one sandwich and by 09H30 all the viennoiseries were gone. So for me I consider breakfast was an expensive tea for the road, and I brought my own teabags! When you book on Best Western website it's called hotel & spa but there's no spa at the moment.

On arrival I was given the code for the car park which is directly opposite the hotel, so easy to locate. However, having a right hand drive car, by the time I had keyed in the code and saw the barrier rise - I dashed round to the drivers door - and started to drive in, only to hear a loud bang on my roof, which was the barrier coming down. There is clearly no sensor on the barrier, so anyone in a right hand drive vehicle will risk damage. A word of warning for those who prebook parking like we did. Several hours before arriving at this hotel, I got an e mail telling me that the car park fee had been taken from my bank account. At check in the sole staff member tried to charge me for parking and only I had retained the e mail, he was quite insistent. He appeared surprised when I showed him the e mail showing the payment extraction. We were given a large bedroom on the 3rd floor by the only staff member visible in the entire hotel. The mattress was much narrower than the bed. Heating controls in the room just did not work. The bathroom had a towel rail, with a thermostat alongside, but that would not work either so on a cold November night, showering in an ice cold bathroom was no fun. After the initial experience, I thought a drink might be appropriate, so the same person who had dealt with check in, poured me a glass of Calvados and a tiny glass of champagne which was lacking any bubbles. Interestingly, the Calvados came with 5 small dead flies in it, so either the glass had not been checked or drinks are not sealed properly. When I highlighted the protein in the Calvados, I was not able to get another from another bottle, as this was the last bottle in the hotel, so I accepted an alternative drink, which to be fair, I was not charged for. Getting out of the hotel was an interesting experience as all interior handles on the external doors are missing - presumably broken and not replaced. The plant holders which line three floors in the open area outside the lift - had lots of stale dried compost still in them, which may have helped cause the numerous cobwebs around them. Clearly no cleaning at all in this public area. Breakfast is apparently available from 6.30 to 10.00. It has no service whatever - we came down just before 09.00 to find cold bacon, cold sausages, lukewarm eggs, the worst selection of cheap supermarket bread and croissants and smoked salmon that tasted strongly of disinfectant. The special house coffee pods disintegrated when inserted into the machine and what came out eventually was undrinkable. It certainly did not taste of coffee. This hotel should be ashamed of their breakfast offering. The worst we have experienced in many French hotels, including some with 3 star ratings. No staff appeared in the restaurant at any time, so nothing is refreshed or heated and of course there was no interest in whether we required anything other than the rubbish food sitting around. Check out revealed again one other staff member who demonstrated a couldn't care less attitude. Overall this hotel showed all the signs of gross mismanagement and a total disinterest in customer service. How it has a Best Western Plus affiliation is beyond me.

I feel that I need to write a review of this lovely hotel having been shocked to read a couple of the previous reviews. I find it hard to believe that we stayed in the same hotel! The decor in this hotel is in the art decor style and it is wonderful! It is NOT dated! Our room was extremely spacious with a nice enough view towards the square. We had robes, a fridge and a safe. (Often not provided!). Admittedly I think we may have paid more. But that's how it works - you get what you pay for! Admittedly the air conditioning was noisy but it did work. We just left it on until we went to bed by which time the room had cooled down enough to get us through the night. We had a kettle in our room! This has never been normal practice on the continent, and although it is becoming increasingly common, it has to be regarded as an extra. There are no supplies of tea/ coffee but you just have to ask at reception. Having to ask for things seems to have become normal practice. I do find it a bit annoying but we have stayed in some very up market hotels where this has been the case. These days I just take all my toiletries with me but I'm sure that the hotel would have provided them if asked. Secure parking was a priority for us and the hotel did not disappoint. There is a gated area opposite the hotel which is monitored in reception. We were a bit disappointed that the restaurant was closed but the receptionist booked as a table at a restaurant called Le Huit which was a stones throw away and lovely. We did have breakfast which was a good continental spread with some hot items. This is France. You cannot expect a full English! The bar was lovely- again in the art deco style. And the drinks were very reasonably priced. €7.50 for a cocktail for example. I do sympathise with the writer of the last review with regard to the hot water. But these things happen! All I can do is to reassure people that there was lots of hot water when we were there so this was clearly not a normal situation. If the hotel agreed to a refund I am sure it will be given eventually. Anyway, our experience was all good and we will definitely be using this hotel again!

AVOID AT ALL COSTS - One of the worst hotels I've ever stayed at. We checked in to our city view room and found out there was no hot water or no city view. They never addressed the city view, but said they didn't know when the hot water would be back on. We asked for a refund and booked into another hotel. They never gave a refund there and then and made some excuse up as to why they could not do it, but promised to do so. The money never arrived. The ‘city view' room looked out to another building. The room was dated and jaded. The manager hid in the office and let the receptionist do all the apologising. If you want a stress free hotel, then don't stay here, it's a joke and a con. I've never stayed in a hotel without hot water before. Please read the other reviews too of the bad experiences other guests have had to face!

Excellent value hotel. Attractive art deco building with spacious bedroom and attentive service from friendly staff who were keen to engage in conversation with us. Good choice of restaurants close by (relevant on Sunday evening when hotel restaurant was closed). Secure parking.

We stayed at Le Picardy hotel for one night on the way back from Strasbourg and it was below expectations. Following is the summary of the good and not so good points of the hotel/apartments. The good: 1) The staff were extremely good and helpful. From the team at reception to the staff at the restaurant, everyone was customer oriented and ready to help. 2) The parking was conveniently located across the street in front of the hotel. 3) On site restaurant for a convenient meal especially if you've had a long day. The food was ok too. 4) Pet friendly rooms and public areas. The not so good: 1) The rooms and bathroom was extremely dated. The lighting was not sufficient and didn't cover enough of the areas in the room. 2) The air conditioner was noisy like an old truck and kept stopping in the middle of the night even after we put it to max speed leaving the room warm. 3) Breakfast was abysmal. Don't understand how they justify charging €12 each for just bread, croissants and eggs (no sausages, bacon or any hot meats). The coffee machine dispensing the a single type of coffee and juices from a box. 4) Think the room was prepared in a hurry as there was no toilet tissue, no hand wash or a soap to clean hands. The kettle doesn't switch on so no hot water for a coffee in the morning. 5) We booked a room with City view and the city view was someone else's living room. 6) Believe the star system for hotels is not working properly in this case as the room was not fit even for a 2 star but the hotel is rated 4 star per the plaque in front. Think the bad points go above the good service by the staff here so can only give a one star.

What can one say? It's a perfectly acceptable, modernised city hotel with friendly staff and a car park opposite! The aircon system, in the room we had, was right next to the bed at about waist height and despite having it blasting away all night it made very little impression on the temperature of the room. Its noise, on the other hand, made quite an impression on one's ability to sleep through it! We got the distinct impression we should have had breakfast earlier than 9:30 because there was very little left in the cold cabinet and the scrambled eggs, in the heater, looked to be fried to the base of the container. To give them their due they did get some made freshly for us.