The hotel L'IMPERATRICE [www.limperatricehotel.fr] situated in the centre of town is an ideal place to stay. Recently renovated with assistance from European Union Funds, it has been restored to its former majestic self. Its exterior is imposing. The rooms are all elegant with fine mahogany four poster beds and furniture [had a view of the different rooms].Excellent lily white bed clothing. Bathroom clean and tidy with lily white fixtures. The complimentary breakfast is excellent consisting of a continental spead of croissants, baguettes, sliced bread for toasting; fruits melon, bananas etc, fruit juices, cheese, cold meats, tea, coffee, hot chocolate, hot milk. The breakfast is similar to what you would obtain in Paris [I am a regular visitor to Paris] . The food at the hotel is very good. Lots of special lunches and dinners are held at the hotel. The cafe style KIOSK owned by the hotel across the road in the Savane also serves mouth watering snacks and lunches. Cold fruit juices and sodas 2-3 euros per bottle, served with ice in plastic cup. Water is free by just asking at the bar in the hotel, even passers by enter to ask for a cup of water. The Hotel's Bar is a very cosy place to sit for a drink, chat or to use the internet. Chairs are also outside the hotel just as they are in Paris. Complimentary WiFi throughout the hotel. Very helpful and friendly staff - everyone goes out of their way to assist. Fort-de- France is going through a restoration and modernisation with the emphasis being now on Heritage and Cultural tourism in urban places, in addition to the customary Beach tourism -Sun sea, and sand. The sea wall and wide promenade along the sea front gives it a feel of Paris in the tropics. La Savane strip just infront of L'Imperatrice hotel is very impressive with the open air Kiosks. It stretches from the sea front all along rue de la Liberte to the end of la Savane [Central Park], selling delicious foods - full meals as well as snack and drinks. Hotels guests have a wide choice of foods both at the hotel and from L'Imperatrice kiosks as well as all the other kiosks just across the road. La Savane strip becomes alive in the evenings as locals and tourists come out to sit, eat and chill out in the open air [al fresco]. Security is evident as in Paris. Police vans and cars patrol constantly along rue de la Liberte. Police men are also on the beat walking up and down the Savane up to the promenade on the sea front. I particulaly looked for the type of security available aound this uban tourist area and in my estimation it was no different from what I normally observe in Paris. I felt safe sitting at the open air Kiosks eating Creole foods. The vicinity of L'Imperatrice Hotel is naturally beautiful because of the wide expanse of blue sea with beautiful pleasure boats - yachts - moored along the water's edge at the Malecon. Many persons go for walks along the sea front on the wide promenades along Boulevard Alfassa, others just sit on the many benches enjoying the sea breeze; la Savane [the public park] provides a wide green space in the centre of town, for hotel guests to go for a stroll early in the morning or just before sun down. Famous historical sites such as the Cathedral of Saint- Louis and the massive Fort Saint- Louis - a strategic fort on the sea front - are all a few minutes walk from the hotel; Schoelcher Library dismantled from Paris and brought to Fort-de-France is close by. The museum of archeology is a stone throw away from L'Imperatrice hotel [ website: www.limperatricehotel.fr]. [email: hotel.limperatrice@wanadoo.fr] [TEL: 05 96 63 06 82, Fax: 05 96 72 66 30]. I am very pleased with my stay at L'IMPERARICE and am enjoying it tremendously. It was very difficult for me to make contact with the L'Imperatrice hotel as there was no booking page under TripAdvisor or Expedia. I just took the chance and turned up at the hotel as tourists do in Paris and was welcomed. I cannot ask for a better stay and a better introduction to Martinique.
Dr June Evans, Scotland, UK

We stayed at L'Imperatrice for 2 nights when we'd just arrived in Martinique, before going on to explore other parts of the island. The location was good, the rooms small but very nice, and the service jovial. The adjoining bar was very quaint and nice, a pleasant place to sit and relax on a hot afternoon. We were in Fort-de-France during the Antillean Music Festival, and the hotel balcony was a PERFECT place to watch the parade go by! Our one complaint about L'Imperatrice was that over the weekend, the guy working at the hotel also ran the bar, and so it could be hard to catch him between customers and get our room key or ask a question.

After much hemming and hawing about which French island to experience for the first time in our quarter century love affair with the Caribbean, we punted on polluted St. Martins and opted for the oh-so-French outpost of Martinique. This review is about the hotel we vowed to rave about publicly, but we must say... about the island: 13 days is not enough. Oh, the architecture, the food, the beaches, the diving, the Volcano!, the rain forests, the music, the rum plantations....Bill's only complaint was that since I doubted we would ever return, I insisted we explore the 40 mile length and 20 mile width of the entire island. This, contrasted with lolling on the cliffs of Negril, he did not consider a vacation.

But the hotel. Not knowing a soul with real knowledge of Martinique, we had to "suss it out" on the Internet was difficult. Partly because of conflicting reviews. We finally gambled on L'Impératrice as our pied-à-terre upon arrival. No less than the night before departure did we confirm it by e-mail with Mme. Elise herself who, with her mother, manage the establishment as if it were their own home.

I should point out that when we arrived at midnight at FDF airport, our luggage did not. Nor was there any taxi service at that hour (perhaps our discussions about luggage lasted longer than the patience of the few taxi's who came to scoop up the last arrivals of the night). This was the first of many instances confirming that a rudimentary grasp of the French language is essential to a visit to Martinique. Really, you are in France. A kind airport security worker offered to drive us to our hotel, since he lived en ville. He refused to take the 20EU bill we so sincerely offered him.

Robert, the Chef, and a jovial security pal greeted us at the Hotel. After our tale of loss and stranding, we were summarily awarded our first 'Ti-punch ~ a small shot glass christened with brown sugar, filled with vieux rhum, and topped with a wedge of lime: the perfect antidote to our airport arrival. When we entered our room, yet another duet of 'Ti-punches waited upon a flower strewn tray. Swinging the doors of the balcony open we happily surveyed the central park of Martinique below in the perfumed air and had our first glimpse of our hotel's namesake: none other than Empress Josephine, whose family plantation in Martinique led her to lobby her husband Napoleon to continue the slave trade against the growing wisdom of the times. Surviving the justice of the French Revolution, she was belatedly beheaded as a statue in 1991.

The room (#32) was, in fact, very similar to the master bedroom at the Habitacion Clément, a plantation planned in 1868 which we later toured: rich mahogany carved 4 poster bed, white embroidered quilt, damask palm fan throw pillows, elegant lamps. This was the true vieux Martinique. The bathroom was sparkling white tile with a glass shower whose floor was seamless with that of the room. A fine large writing desk made a good home for laptops, cameras, books and maps. Yes, there was WiFi.

But the best part of the room was the balcony: fully 6 feet deep and 20 feet long curving around one of the boat deck corners of the "bateau". The teak chairs and table, we finally realized, provided the ideal spot for viewing Caraval the next week, which (heathens that we are) was a pleasant discovery for us. The room we occupied was unavailable for Mardi Gras: a Japanese reporter living in New York City had reserved it. He was covering Carnaval for the Japanese public, again, this year. So we reserved the second best choice, room 11 one floor down and on the opposite corner.

It should be noted that l'Impératrice has some of the best cuisine on the island. We chanced upon the weekly Thursday Creole brunch. The food was uniquely delighting for us ~ our first taste of many of the ubiquitous dishes on the island: accras, boudin de poissons, poulet de colombo, but there were many others we never tasted again, clearly created by the loving hands of the Creole chef Robert. But even better was the luncheon crowd: the finely dressed black Martinican women on a work day lunch, the bekes families (white colonials) celebrating birthdays, the delightfully mixed race couples, or the table of ladies ~ all apparently old money women of property or class, bekes except for one young beautiful Martiniquan woman, who, remarkably, had difficulty commanding attention at the table.

But the best attribute of the hotel was Elise the manager. She was unfailingly persistent and patient and politic through our pursuit of lost luggage; helpful in all requests for restaurants, maps, phone calls; and dressed to the nines on Carnaval! Her command of English is an added bonus. We felt safe, cared for and warmly welcomed.

For any trip to Martinique, we suggest starting with 2-3 days at L'Impératrice. You can jog the park in the morning and swim in the remarkably clean beach by the harbor. The Schoelcher library constructed at the Tuilleries in Paris and moved board by board to the island is a visual treasure. The craft market, restaurants (Cave au Vin, especially) that rival any in France, buildings blossoming under your eyes (EU investment is huge here), and small scale of the town, make it a gem of discovery to travel entirely on foot. Next trip (!) we will spend 4 days in Ste.-Anne at the spectacular beaches and dive sites, 4 days in St. Pierre in 35EU rooms towering over the ocean at Le Fromagere, 2 days at Mt. Pelée in the lovely chalets, 2 days exploring the Atlantic side at Le Fregate Bleu. Call it a second honeymoon, call it a cheap trip to Paris, call it La vie en Bleu.

I was impressed with the Free wi fi.
And the staff always smiled and went out of their way to provide good service,
Everyone wanted you to have a good time.
And the room were beautifully decorated and very clean.
The breakfast was very good, fruit, cheese, pastry, and coffee.
So there's not a beach nearby. And did I mention that L'Imperatrice is only a short walk from the super market where there's a great selection of rum!