The hotel is quite hard to find if you are driving, but if you can find the covered market off Ave. Maréchal Foch, you will find the hotel on a small street behind it.
It’s in a four-storey white building on a quiet street and has the feeling of a traditional English seaside family hotel. We were met by the owner and assigned room 22, three floors up (no lift, narrow stairway). The room was small and furnished simply. The bed was fine, but the pillow was a long stuffed sausage which gave me a crick in the neck. Bathroom was a little dated but quite adequate. Everything was spotlessly clean. It was easy to snag a free parking space on the street opposite the hotel. It may not be so easy in season.
The proprietor suggested we visit the basilica in the evening as they were holding the last torchlight procession of the season. She was very helpful and pleasant, mapping out the route for us. It is a 15-minute walk by way of Rue de la Grotte through the blatant commercialism which almost seems like Las Vegas at times. I’m sure Bernadette must be turning in her grave!
We selected the €6 breakfast next morning. It probably wasn’t worth it as we could have done much better at the market just down the street. Nevertheless it was convenient and the sunny breakfast room was a pleasure indeed, almost as if we were back in the sixties.
You can stay closer to the basilica and even pay less, but the hotels closer looked pretty garish and commercial. The Hotel Cazeax is a little dated oasis of peace and quiet in a very busy and noisy city.
One plus is that the hotel is just a few short blocks to Café Leffe, rated No. 4 on the Trip Advisor list of restaurants in Lourdes. I highly recommend this place.
- Cazaux Hotel Lourdes
