I stayed at the City Residence for over 1 month while I was conducting research for my Master's thesis. City Residences was a great hotel that made my stay in southern France even better. I am a graduate student with a very limited budget, and staying at City Residence allowed me to stay on (or at least very close to) my budget. My room was simple, a bed with a table/desk to work at, a tv with CNN International and 14 other channels in French, German, and Italian, a bathroom with the toilet separate, and a little kitchen area with mini-fridge, 2 electric hotplates/range, and a microwave, and closet/drawer. It seemed that the longer I stayed in southern France the cheaper the rate became on a per day basis. Its conveniently located ~20 min. walk from the west of the center of Aix, but across the street from the #6 bus stop that seemed to run every 10-15 min. The staff was very kind and could speak english very well (I have a very limited French vocabulary) and they were always at the reception desk when open and they closed at 8 pm and were only open for a few hours on Sunday. I had friends from Aix over and they told me that the hotel room layout was identical to their apartments, so it was more like I was actually living in a standard southern France apartment for a month as opposed to a hotel. The internet was 35 euros for 1 month because I am a student and I got a very strong signal during my stay. My only complaint is that the pillow was a little thinner then I am accustomed to. This is a great place to stay at a great rate if you have an extended stay in Aix; I recommend this hotel and I will be using it again if I have to go back for another research trip.

Having read some pretty scathing reviews about this place I wasn't expecting much. The main thing to know is that the rooms (at least the cheapest one I found on Hotel.com) have sofa beds instead of a normal bed. To be fair, this is mentioned in the description of the room, on Hotel.com at least. My wife and I stayed two nights. I'm extremely tall (6'7", 2.02 metres) and although the bed is short for me I didn't have any back problems after sleeping, despite some worrying reviews. If you are susceptible to backache then maybe you shouldn't risk booking a room here with a sofa bed. Having only one thin pillow per person on the bed wasn't great (I like having 2 big pillows at home) but I wasn't so bothered as to ask reception if I could get more.

Aix-en-Provence is an expensive place to stay, judging by my searches for hotels in the city on many travel websites, and this hotel is comparatively cheap in a very expensive city. As usual, you get what you pay for.

Everything was fine though: the room was clean, the bedding was clean, the kitchen area and the plates & cutlery were clean, the toilet and bathroom were clean (although the shower head is positioned really low on the wall, even for a person of average height, but this is because the ceiling is very low for a few inches along the back wall of the bathroom). There were rips in the curtains but the blackout curtain behind it was in perfect condition and it did its job well. There were towels in the bathroom along with some generic hair+body wash and a small bar of soap.

The room was quiet but, unlike some other comments, we never felt unsafe in the area of the main road by the hotel, although we never returned by foot or bus to the hotel late at night (a friend who lives in Aix dropped us back by car). There seem to many comments about the hotel being at least a 15 minute walk to the city centre but there is a bus stop on the main road outside the hotel, with buses running every 10 to 15 minutes, that took both of us to the centre for 2.20 euros (ie 1.10 euro per person).

Overall, the hotel isn't fantastic and it's not a bargain but it's quite good value for money if you want to stay in Aix cheaply.

Apartments - reminded me of student halls. They were clean and compact without being tiny but not exactly luxurious! We had a pull-out bed and 2 of the tiniest pillows I have ever seen which made for an uncomfortable night.

Location - a good 15-20 mins walk to the Cours Mirabeau (the main street where the restaurants are). On a quiet street of a major busy road so not a nice walk in to town either.

Difficult to find - tucked away behind the Kyriad but directions weren't good.

Parking - free street parking right outside the apartments was a good money saver.

Aix-en-Provence - was OK. Much, much preferred Avignon for culture/architecture and restaurants. Aix is very expensive. I thought the Cours Mirabeau was over rated. More of a nightlife than Avignon though as is bigger.

Overall - probably wouldn't go back but was good value for the money if you're trying to save a Euro or 2.

I was surprised when there wasn't an actual bed but a pull out couch, which was EXTREMELY uncomfortable. (So uncomfortable that my friend and I had back pains for a day or two after sleeping there for 3 nights.) However, the shower was great with amazing water pressure. The kitchen was also a plus that helped save on some food costs.

As for location, the hotel is tucked behind the Kyriad Prestige and hard to find, especially at night. It's a bit out of the way from the city center, but by no means completely remote - a good 15 minute walk every morning.