We stayed here Sept. 14 –17 during a business trip, our second stay at this hotel (previous stay was in Sept. 2010). We booked a Superior Room and were actually given the exact same room (#204) that we had last year. We paid 180 E/night, which was the non-restricted rate on the hotel’s website. I did post a review in Oct. 2010 with photos, but I feel the need to downgrade my review from the last time simply because this hotel does not seem to be making any effort to improve. It is the highest rated hotel in Besançon in the 2011 Michelin Red Guide, and if this is the best hotel in this lovely city, I am afraid to even try the other hotels. There are a few good things about this hotel: the location, the amiable front desk staff, free Internet, and free parking. However, this hotel is in great need of renovation. The wood trim and pressboard furniture are badly banged up in both the public areas and in the rooms. It does not seem to have been retouched with paint or stain since our last visit. The hotel is old, tired, and funny smelling. It was not only I who was put off by this smell, but another couple who traveled with us complained that they could not stand the strange smell in the hotel.

In Room 204, the laminated pressboard furniture is missing some lamination, so the pressboard is showing. The lighting is very poor – dim and dark. Although there is a large desk in the room, most of the surface is taken up by promotional material, a large Malongo coffeemaker, a small tray of coffee & tea supplies, and a lamp. (We used the round table instead as our desk). The coffee maker had been left unclean from a previous guest. The machine was filled with water and an old, used coffee pod remained in the receptacle (how long has it been there?). The coffeemaker was never cleaned during our 3-night stay.

On a positive note, the front desk staff was very welcoming, pleasant and helpful. The housekeeping needs to improve (clean that coffeemaker!!). The lobby bar service is really slow because there is no one there permanently. You get service only if someone happens to come out from the restaurant to check if customers are there – or you walk back to the restaurant asking for bar service. One morning I waited 20 minutes for someone to come out to get a coffee. (I did not have breakfast or other meals in the hotel restaurant and cannot comment on that).

Bottom line: This hotel needs a top to bottom renovation. (Maybe they will change the color, too. For a hotel that caters mostly to businessmen, we couldn't figure out why it is decorated in pink)! The old furniture, carpets, drapes and upholstery need to be changed to get rid of that awful smell that permeates the whole hotel. Maybe it is old smoke; maybe it is new smoke (the 5th floor is still a smoking floor); maybe it is something else. Whatever it is, it is quite unpleasant. The hotel is in a wonderful location, next to the Casino, across from the beautiful river walk along the Doubs River, and a stone’s throw from the old town. If this is the best there is in this city, we don’t know where we will stay the next time we need to go to Besançon.