Don't waste your money staying here. We were here two nights in June 2011 and it was one of the worst hotel experiences I've had in over 20 years of traveling. The hotel might have been nice 50 years ago but no longer. The rooms are shabby and dirty, the carpet makes you want to never take your shoes off, the service is abysmal, the air conditioning does not work, and while the location is convenient to the train station, you have quite a hike to the old city of Carcasonne. You could not pay me to stay here again.
We were given the wrong room when we checked in. Mistakes happen, so that by itself was not such an issue. But when we got to our room, we found that one bed had no sheets. The other one had sheets but the pillowcase was used or dirty or both. We had to walk downstairs, get our sheets and towels and then make our own beds. Apparently housekeeping doesn't work in the afternoon. Our second day we had no towels. Once again, we had to walk downstairs and get towels. Apparently, this wasn't out of the ordinary because the desk clerk had a stack of towels right there!
The bathroom was old and dirty and we saw several insects during our stay. There was mold on the walls in our room.
The front desk staff were sullen and rude no matter who we spoke to or what we asked for. Even a request as simple as a map to the old city was too much. When we asked for a second key so that we could each come and go as we pleased, the staff informed us that they didn't have any more keys. The hotel uses plastic key cards, so the notion that they don't "have any more" seemed utterly ridiculous. But what was worse was that the one key we did have didn't work so we were constantly running back to the front desk to get the key "recharged."
I am not the type of ugly American who expects everyone to speak English, but I was amazed that a hotel by the train station in a town that has no industry other than tourism didn't have a single person on staff who spoke English. My suspicion is that some of the staff do speak English but use language as an excuse to not understand what your problem is. I have traveled to France for both work and pleasure and while the French can be a little aloof, I generally find them to be helpful and gracious. Not the staff at this hotel! Their attitude towards guests is what gives French hospitality a bad name.
Just don't stay here.
- Du Soleil Le Terminus Hotel
