I prefer to write upbeat reviews, and can generally find some positive things to say. The staff of this hotel was pleasant, and there was a convenient parking area. It is down hill from there.

This hotel looks tired, inside and out, and seems to survive on tour groups. Nothing wrong with tour groups, but the property seems to be past the point where a coat of paint and a few new fixtures will turn it around. The surroundings included some dreary apartment complexes, businesses that couldn't clean up the trash in front of their storefronts and a busy commercial road that only began to have some urban and urbane flare half a mile mor more towards the core. The hotel was clean, but somewhat threadbare.

Ajaccio is the largest city in Corsica, and the only one we found to be dirty and run down. That is surprising since it is a provincial capital, and one can imagine a lot of government money must come in. While Bastia was bustling and cheerful, Ajaccio was unkempt and listless.

This hotel had two small elevators, which would be inadequate under normal circumstances. One became inoperative, about the time a tour bus arrrived, and lots of exasperated people were walking up a number of flights of stairs.

The hotel is literally just above the Mercure in a fairly dreary part of town, north and a good half hour walk into the center. It seems that some of the nicer hotels are on the southwest road to les Sanguinnaires. That area is supposedly a decent beach community.

We were quite disappointed. A 26 year Navy veteran, I have always liked seaport cities, and I don't mind a little raffishness if it is combined with real character. We walked the older parts of town, but unlike Cagliari, Genoa, Savona and many other harbor towns, this one didn't sing to us. We never felt in danger. It just seemed there were a lot of unhappy people who didn't care. The rest of Corsica was basically immaculate. But not here.