The title here is really the most important thing you will get from this review or the other reviews. I wish I had researched this place more carefully myself. The hotel is in the midst of renovations. Some rooms have been completely renovated, as shown in the nice photos here and on the hotel website. There are lots of positive reviews from guests that stayed in those rooms. But the hotel also has old rooms that have only had the most basic of updates to comply with the hotel's new three-star rating. For those not familiar with the French hotel rating system, the ratings are based on objective criteria that look at, for instance, the size of the room, the configuration of the lighting (really), presence of a hairdryer (really), and many other practical and some odd things. They are not subjective reviews of the quality of the hotel. So while apparently the old rooms already meet the 3-star criteria, they are in my opinion far worse that several other 2-star hotels where I've stayed in France. My room was in poor repair. The ceiling light looked ready to fall from the ceiling (see posted photo). The carpet had a stain just inside that door that must have had an unsavory origin (see photo). The shower was moldy with cracked tiles (see photo). The room was also simply old and outdated with gaudy furnishings (see photo). Simply put, it desperately needed renovation.
The positives were the employees and the breakfast. As others have noted, the employees are all very polite, helpful and speak flawless English. The location is just ok. It's near the train station, which was convenient for me. But it is a bit of a seedy neighborhood.
I should have done more research myself. But I feel deceived by the 3-star rating that the hotel website shows. The website does show the old, un-renovated "club" rooms. But they appear much nicer in the photos than in real life. They look old and charming instead of just old. At a 110 Euros, I really felt like I had rented a 60 Euro room and contributed another 50 Euros to their renovation fund. It was an uncomfortable, unpleasant stay.
Once fully renovated, I think Hotel Riquet might be a safe choice. Though the rates on the renovated rooms are far higher. But I can only rate the room I had, which was very poor for a 3-star hotel and even quite bad for a 2-star hotel.
- Riquet Hotel Toulouse
