The way the hotels are awarded their stars has always been a mystery to me. I used to stay at excellent 2star spots (also in France), whereby this establishment, that hardly deserves to be called "hotel", corresponds in no way to them.
The first impression was really scary. As I entered the hotel building, I found a long narrow corridor ending with a staircase, leading up to what I hoped should be the hotel's reception in the 1st floor. Instead, I found there... a locked door. Some information (in French only) seemed to have indicated to the guests what to do further, however, as my French is very limited, I just stood there and kept ringing the bell until it got open by one of the hotel employees. What I saw inside looked like a storage room, cellar or something of that kind (I suppose there is no reception at this hotel at all) - another scary sight. The guy asked me to leave the luggage there and come back in a few hours for there was no one who could give me the keys to my room. After I had refused (apart from the fact that it was already afternoon hence normal check-in time, it was quite cold outside and raining!), he got the key for me and I could move in.
The room was very basic: just a bed and a place to hang your clothes. Nothing else. Obviously, up there in the corner, there was also one of those funny small TVs that you find in cheap hotels and that hardly ever work properly.
The bathroom was another surprise. There were no toiletries in there (no soap, no bath gel), just the towels. But the biggest surprise was the the light. It was placed above the mirror and the way it worked (it lit up) was a mystery in itself. Sometimes it went on (rarely), sometimes it did not (more often), and to get it go on you usually had to use the button placed... outside the bathroom at the entrance door, but pressed together with another button for the room light, or do something similarly stupid (I don't remember exactly).
Despite the fact that I asked for a quiet room, my room went onto a busy street near the main train station (by the way, ignoring guests remarks made in the reservation form seems a solid tradition in France) and there was no chance to get the sleep without the window closed.
All in all - quite a disappointment and no way 2star spot. I suppose this hotel is rather at the level of a youth hostel, or of a one-star spot, at best.
The only good thing about this place was its proximity to the railway station (1-2 min. walk) and its central location (some 10 min. walk to the main attraction of Nancy - the Place Stanislas).
