I booked this hotel online as I believed their claim to be a few minutes from the 2 trainstations and as I would arrive at one and depart from the other this seemed very convenient. I walked and walked and walked to the hotel from Flandres station and eventually found it behind some apartments (a louer) and construction. My relief at finding it was soon replaced with frustration as I had asked a friend to book for me through a third party site (hotels.com) and received the details by text message. I did not scroll to the final line of the text which informs of the need to call at least 24 hours in advance of arrival to get an access code. I did not have this code and tried calling the phone number which they advertise on the door of the premises but was on hold for ages and was calling with a UK mobile to a French number and did not want to pay extortionate roaming charges. Eventually I gave up and went elsewhere, leaving another frustrated guest trying to get in. I went to the other hotel on the same street which was nice, clean and basic and took the metro back to the centre of Lille to meet colleagues for dinner.

I would not recommend this place unless you can arrive during the very limited opening times and will not need any advice or assistance from a receptionist. I clicked one star for everything above as I could not figure out how to click on not applicable or no stars!

I had agreed with the hotel manager of a procedure for getting my key when arriving after the reception closes (7 pm). There was a key waiting for me, but of a kind physically impossible to fit into the relevant lock. I had to spend almost 2 hours waiting, calling (with roaming) a number from which help was supposed to be got if one cannot access one's room outside the opening hours of the reception. I called the number 4 times while waiting, speaking with two different people and being hung up once. I was told not to worry and to wait. It all depended on these people getting hold of the manager. In 2 hours they apparently succeeded. When I pointed out that my problem is not that I'm worried but that I have other things to do than to wait, I was told that I could do those other things! (Well, I couldn't: starting to work, resting, or cooking the food I had just bought just aren't things one can do waiting in an empty hotel lobby.)

In two hours the manager called and had found a solution to the problem.

Anyone wishing to enter this apart'hotel after 7 pm, beware of a difficult procedure of whose success there is no guarantee.

I had stayed once earlier in this apart'hotel, in a room of type T1bis. That time the surprise was the sink below the shower which didn't function, but allowed the water to enter the living room as well.

Otherwise the apart'hotel is quite good, at least the goal has clearly been to create a serious chain of apart'hotels of good quality and OK price. I suppose in France one could easily encounter also less serious attempts to similar effect.

It took us 1 1/2 hours to find this place. It is not in Hoover avenue, but at the bottom end of a new development. the roads have no name of course, however the hotel is 10 mins away on foot to the nearest metro. Not many close shops neither. The aparthotel has modern rooms and come with a kitchenette. Breakfast is included. Make sure that you write down the code for the external key entry as the administration leaves at 5pm and you will be left outside. I f you want a budget accomodation and do not mind the metro, this is ok. Parking is available but street parking is also an option.

I've stayed in hotel rooms that are bigger than the apartment. If you are under 6ft you will be unable to reach the plates in the kitchen cupboard. The hot water was rationed and none was available after 10am. Callers were not given our apartment direct number and were spoken to rudely by members of staff when they were put through. We were locked out of our apartment for one hour because the management made a mistake with our booking and recharged our key so it wouldn't fit in the lock so we had to call the emergency number and wait for a member of staff to turn up. The manager is extremely rude and arrogant. When we complained he shouted at us and made a big scene in the reception area. He made it sound like he was doing us a big favour
by coming back to the building at 8pm (after making us wait for an hour) to give us a new key when it was in fact his mistake. He told us
that we were using too much hot water. There were two of us and we could only have a one minute shower once a day. I couldn't wash my hair or have a shower in the evening after a long day in the town. He slammed his office door in our face and refused to call us a taxi to the station forcing my 60yr old mother to carry her suitcase.

It totally ruined our Christmas and it doesn't even feel like we have been on holiday - we need another holiday to recover!