We drove to this hotel and planned to take buses whilst spending 2 days in Strasbourg so the free and enclosed parking was a bonus for us. Also the hotel was in a great location for buses into Strasbourg and for getting to the Zenith stadium where we had booked tickets for a concert. The taxi ride back from the stadium at midnight was also very short and cheap. The hotel was a great price and the buffet breakfast was excellent. On the negative side I feel that no matter how few stars a hotel has it should always be clean. This was not the case with our room, the carpet was covered in hair, the bedcover was grubby, the shower had long black hairs in it and the taps were leaking. I feel some direction from the management is needed in this hotel to bring it up to an appropriate standard. We arrived at 4:30 and were told that our room had not yet been cleaned so were given another, which also hadn't been cleaned very well!

I found review of Navytowntravlr most precise and should have listened to her opinion.

+
* Cheap.
* Friendly and English speaking receptionist
* Clean. This was a nice surprise. And the cleaning person came every day.

-
* The advertised free WiFi was almost non-existent. It seemed to work for 10 seconds every 5 or so minutes (I'm not kidding) and the speed was around 128Kb/s (well below modern standard). I stayed there for 4 nights and had to do work related staff. Thank god I had internet access elsewhere, because this was not useable. This especially annoyed me and made opinion negative, because the hotel advertised free WiFi. If I would know that it won't work, I would have opted for another one.
* Location totally inapropriate if you are on foot. You can get to the center by bus 4 (stop Rue Charmille), however the rides takes from 5 to 20 minutes in rush hour. If you have to get to some other location outside center, the time wasted is considerable, taking into account that the hotel is only 1,8km from the city center. To walk it takes about 30minutes of brisk action.
* I'm not sure how the other rooms are, but I was put on ground floor in a room that seemed to have been a garage before. Depressing, because the only light that comes in is from the about 1,5m wide door. However I had the curtains closed mostly for privacy reasons - didn't want other guests to see what I'm doing in the room.
* Cable TV had only 5 channels, only 1 English. To add to my negative attitudes, on the last day the cable TV had severe disturbance - the "white" snow all over the picture.

Basically, do stay here if money is a real issue. I see no other reason.

After looking at many different hotels in the Strasbourg area, and being astounded by the very high prices, we were left with little choice but to explore the more 'budget' type hotel that was very few and far between in this area of the Alsace.
Our sat nav found the Arc very easily, and it is situated in a very quaint, quintessentially French street, with residential housing and an excellent Patisserie. From the outside the window boxes make the hotel look very attractive, however, sadly the same cannot be said for the inside.
The receptionist was friendly, however, her English was as limited as my French, but between us we manged to make ourselves understood.
There is no lift/elevator, and the corridors are dark and poorly lit. I had great trouble opening the door for the whole of our stay, and always had to wait for my husband who acquired the 'knack' of opening the door! The room's walls are painted candy pink (!) and the doors and wood work are dark navy blue (!) The room was, overall, clean, and the bathroom was clean too, however, there were no toiletries to speak of and the towels were minimal and of poor thin quality. There was no hospitality tray, but a great flat screen tv with satellite tv, and free wi-fi if you went to reception and asked for an access code.
It was the kind of place you got used to after a day or two- would we stay there again? probably, as it was cheap, clean, fairly comfortable and in a quiet area- one or two simple decorative cosmetic alterations could really elevate this hotel to a better standard.

I came across this place when looking for a search on a cheap hotel in Strasbourg and I discovered the Arc en Ciel. I was not expecting much from the description and I left the hotel neutral about my decision. The hotel brochure stated that it has a restaurant but I must have come at a time when the hotel was under renovation as the main restaurant and club was closed. The hotel has a zebra/African theme, but I do not know if this is part of the current ownership or left over from the previous owners.

I took a single room on the first floor and the room itself was small (even by European standards) and moderately clean (the rooms do not have air conditioning and must have an open window for air circulation; thus, some dust is going to get into the room from the outside). For colder months, the room is equipped for heat. The rooms are not that soundproof as I could hear my neighbors come in during the night – an “earplugs a must” location. As far as the bathrooms, they only have soap, so you must bring all other toiletries.

The rooms also had phones and television (Canal+, the French satellite network is offered so this will feature a variety of US, British, and French programming). Free wireless internet is also promoted in the brochure. A “buffet breakfast” is also offered but in my opinion, the limited selection of 1 ham, 1 cheese, breads, yogurts, fruit, and coffee is not worth the €8 price (equaling $12-13 USD at the time). The hotel has secure parking but there is no attendant at the front desk so you will be given a daily code to enter. Some members of the staff speak English (but limited) so I was lucky my friend was able to speak French.

My primary disappointment with this hotel was the difficulty in finding the location. This was my first time to Strasbourg and the hotel was difficult to find when coming from Germany (it has direction on how to arrive from Paris or Colmar, but not Germany (and my GPS had problems picking it up). So, if you are coming from Germany, take the 28 crossing into Strasbourg, then follow the N4 to the Route des Romains, then turn left on the Rue de la Tour.

Price was a primary factor in my decision (about €50 for the stay) and in the end, I feel I did get what I paid for. The area itself was a bit questionable and I would not recommend this area for women travelling alone. However, this hotel was only 2 km from the city center and once I overcame the navigation issues in the city, this place provided a good rest area for heading back into the city. As I mentioned earlier, I am completely neutral about my stay at this hotel. Had the restaurant and lounge been up and running, perhaps my opinion of the stay would have gone up a few points. If I returned to Strasbourg for a weekend, and needed a budget place to stay, I would still peruse the internet to find a good deal, but would return here if I did not see anything that appealed to me. However, if I was bringing my family, I would steer clear of this hotel in favor of others perhaps closer to town. This is still a good place for a weekend get away to Strasbourg, but take into account the meaning of the word “budget” when choosing this hotel.