Much of what I experienced during my stay was similar to other reviews posted on here, but it all comes down to expectation as to whether you see the hotel's unique quirks as a positive or a negative.

Travelling on my own, this was the cheapest option available for my weekend stay, and though it was slightly more than I would have liked to pay, it couldn't be more centrally located if it tried - my room looked straight out onto Gare Lille Flandres and the crescent of bars that face the station, which is the mainline base for all the regional trains that leave the city, including numerous TGV services that travel as far afield as Nice, Perpignan and over into Belgium to places like Bruges and Liege. Gare Lille Europe, the Eurostar station, is less than half a kilometre away, and can be seen from outside the hotel.

Being so central had a couple of downsides - on my first night (a Saturday), this was a very busy area, both in terms of traffic and the noise from those out on the town, which meant for a noisy room with old fashioned single glazed windows, and also a bright room, with lights outside the window shining up over the top of the curtains to keep the room dimly lit throughout - a box round the curtain rail would have prevented this - so it wasn't the most comfortable night's sleep.

However, it's a much quieter city on a Sunday, and there was little noise from outside to disturb on the second night, even in spite of the buses that come and go all night. Luckily the hotel is surprisingly well sound-proofed on the interior in spite of the thin carpets in the corridors and the hard polished floors of the rooms, and the only time I was aware of other residents was when they walked past my door. Even with temperatures below zero outside at night, the rooms were warm throughout.

The slight smell of drainage mentioned by some is evident in the tight, steep twisting stairwell that takes you up to the 3/4 floors of accommodation, but it wasn't noticeable in the rooms or the corridors leading to them. You may be able to avoid much of this by taking the elevator, which looked like something from another era, so I left that option alone. The lights in the various floors are automatic, but are slow to respond, so you are sometimes left scrambling round in the dark waiting for sufficient light to let you continue your ascent/descent in safety.

Check in is an odd process - you simply head to the very left hand end of the bar that takes up the whole of the ground floor and wait to be served by one of the barmen. It almost seemed like the hotel was a secondary priority after the bar itself, but check in was quick and painless nonetheless. I was advised at the time of booking that check-out was at 11.30am, which seemed at odds with the maid's suggestion that I should have been out by 11am as she came to clean my room the day I left, but they didn't seem to mind me leaving at the later time anyway.

Those priorities mean that the rooms themselves don't seem to get any attention in terms of cleaning on a daily basis, but they're very clean on arrival, if slightly worn in appearance. My only gripe was the unusually small amount of toilet roll provided, but there were always plenty of staff available downstairs to have assisted had I needed more! The toilet itself was odd - the flush was under the basin to the side, and gave the impression it was about to overflow when you went to flush it, only to then violently suck everything away in an exciting crescendo of noise. Sufficient toiletaries and towels were provided, and the latter seemed fairly new.

The TV in the room was in an unusually high spot and the batteries in the remote had died, but they offered to change those, and it's unlikely there would be anywhere more suitable for the TV to be sited other than high above the bed on the opposite wall due to the slightly odd shape created by the incorporation of the bathroom (each room appeared to be a different shape due to the hotel being on a corner). Don't expect wonders from the selection of channels; you just get the usual French terrestrial channels and La Une and La Deux from Belgium. Canal+ scrambled prior to each football match, which was a shame for me, but you can watch these downstairs in the bar provided they're happy to show it.

In summary, I wouldn't stay here for an extended break, but as a base for a couple of nights if you're planning to head out and about it is a perfect spot, particularly if you're looking to travel beyond Lille. I can't comment on the food/drink because I didn't opt for their breakfast, nor used the bar. At maybe 5-10 euros less per night as a solo traveller it would have been great; at the price I paid (E40 per night) I'd say it was adequate, and would consider staying there again.

The hotel was dirty and smelly. The room price was similar to two star hotels close by, and the whole place needed re-decoration.

Went for 5 nights at the end of May. We got off The Eurostar knackered! We got to Hotel which is literally 5 minutes from Gare Lille Europe and directly opposite the Gare Lille Flandres. This place couldn't be more central! Staff appeared surprised when we got their it took an hour for us to book in! BUT they where ok their ppeared to be a problem with the room being ready and we weren't the only ones! maybe because it was a sunday? We didn't eat here as we where out every day and had food out But the menu looked good. Staff where always friendly when we saw them and always said Hallo! or Bonjour!
The room was basic no tea or coffee making facilities which was a shame. the sound proofing could have been better. as we heard a lot! LOL But it was a lovely good sized room (floor 4 room 20) it looked over the side road with the buses bendy ones at that!
As a base for a couple of days in Lille its good any longer may be a bit basic But as a first for french Hotels and this one has french oozing out every where! its a good one to go for!