This Relais Mercure is situated in a "Zone Hotelliere" to the north of Angouleme clustered with an Ibis and Formule 1. I was worried it might be by the airport itself given the address, but although it was by a busy junction just off the main road to Paris and close to a Geant hypermarket complex, it was quiet. To visit Angouleme it is necessary to drive - we never made it sadly as we were too tired from travelling across the country.

The reception area features lots of original cartoon artwork (Angouleme is the original home of French cartoon strips - or "bandes dessinees"). This makes arriving in the hotel feel a bit less formulaic.

The corridors need a bit of attention though - room numbers are big plastic stick ons that look temporary, and I noticed that the power socket the carpet cleaner was plugged into was falling out of the wall.

Our room was pleasant and clean - but definitely the lower end of the Mercure range - it did not... more