This hotel is not merely a dump, it is a firetrap and I believe that if there were a fire nobody would get out alive.
It was the last day of a delightful walking tour of the Burgundy vineyards. The previous hotels arranged by the tour company had been fine and the weather was good. However, on the last day it was cold and raining so we decided instead of walking to go with the luggage to Beaune and see the town. When we arrived at the Hotel des Remparts, we figured it was only for one night so we overlooked the generally dirty, seedy, tatty air of the exterior and reception area and the dead cockroaches on the floor. We were told that our room on the ground floor was ready but our second room in the “fourteenth century wing” and on the “third floor – no lift” was not, so we put the luggage in the ground floor room. This was below-ground, windowless with the same dirty and unattractive appearance, and smelling of mould. But, as I say, we were in a good mood and it was only for one night. Walking up three flights of stairs would not be a problem.
We then left and had a pleasant day in Beaune, returning about 4pm, and received the key of the second room. It was not, as I had thought, up three flights of stairs: it was up a seemingly interminable enclosed spiral staircase of narrow, uneven and ill-lit stone stairs, followed by several flights of narrow, uneven, ill-lit and splintery wooden stairs. There was no exit, no natural light and, if there were fire alarms, extinguishers or sprinklers, I did not see them. Frankly I was horrified at the thought of what would become of people trapped up there if those tinder dry wooden stairs and mangy “antiques” caught fire.
I did not examine the room closely, although it seemed to be as seedy as the rest of the place. It was an attic room that smelt of damp and mould and there seemed a good chance of bashing one’s head on the rafters. It would have been impossible to get the luggage up there and the dodgy stairs were scarily unsafe in themselves.
We went down to reception to ask about getting a different room. They refused and appeared to find our dissatisfaction highly amusing. They refused a refund or any assistance in finding another hotel or even a taxi. A very unpleasant argument ensued during which the proprietors were rude and offensive and the male physically assaulted my daughter. We left and found a decent hotel at our expense.
Just because it’s old and decrepit and French and a garret does not make it “romantic” or “quaint” or “charming” – just nasty, inconvenient and unsafe. This hotel is a squalid place and the people running it go against all the French traditions of quality and hospitality we had become familiar with.
- Des Remparts Hotel
- Des Remparts Beaune
