My 3 friends and I originally booked "Citadines Marseille Centre", and they confirmed it. However we gave them a call a day before we arrived just to be sure, and we were shocked to hear that they didn't receive our booking! We were told their rooms were all fully booked. We argued with them since it was too late to book another hotel (we were in St. Emilion in Bordeaux by then), and they said if we faxed them our hotel confirmation they can give us a room in their other hotel in the same chain - Citadines Marseille Castellane. We had no other choice, and luckily the owner of a wine shop was kind enough to help us fax the email confirmation, free of charge.

Besides from the expensive roaming mobile phone fees (from London) we weren't that concerned, since Citadines Marseille Castellane was cheaper anyway.

We arrived to find our appartment with a living room and two sofa beds, and another room with a double bed. There was a shower and a separate bathroom. There was a balcony which we used to air our shoes at night. The kitchenette was very convenient, we didn't cook but used it to prepare simple breakfasts.
The location was pretty convenient from the Metro and we felt the neighbourhood was safe enough.

We stayed for a week at Citadines Castellane at the beginning of August 2008.

We initially chose self-catering because we thought it would be good to have some cooking facilities. However, even though the local supermarkets were well stocked and reasonably priced, we decided NOT to add to the strong odours of everybody else's cooking in the complex.

We had a 2 'bedded' studio which was actually a big sofa bed with a sliding bed underneath which you have to open out everynight. Linen, pillows & towels are provided & changed once during your stay (more if you are there for longer than a week, I assume).

The unit was clean and tidy, but the carpets definitely needed replacing. I suggest tiles would be a better option than carpets in a self-catering pad on the Med.

We arrived at midnight and the night porter was on duty, and swiftly checked us in - but I suggest e-mailing in advance to let them know if you are arriving between 2200-0700.

The place is just a short walk from Castellane & Perier Metro stations, and two short bus rides from Prado beach. There are 3 supermarkets within 10 mins walk - one of which opens untill 2000 on a Sunday. Plenty of bread & cake shops nearby, and a wide range of restaurants & fast food cafes - so you won't go hungry!

After trying the Vieux Port for eating out a couple of nights, we decided to stay nearer Place Castellane because the quality and prices were better.

Marseille is not a very late night city, as far as we could tell, and I had forgotten how expensive France can be compared to Spain and Italy for eating and drinking - so maybe the self catering option would be good for those on a strict budget.

To summarise: If you really don't need cooking facilities, then choose a hotel and maybe pay a little less, but it WAS nice to have breakfast on our own balcony and to leave a bottle of wine chilling in the fridge whilst we were out all day!

We stayed here for 3 weeks in June 2008. We had the one bedroom apt. There is plenty of space, the bathroom is nice and the kitchen is well equipped. There is a balcony which overlooks a garden. The room is a litlle faded, for example there were stains on the carpet. Would have liked a kettle - had to use a saucepan to boil water to make coffee.
Staff was friendly and helpful and efficient.
Coffee and tea are available all day in the breakfast room. We didn't have their breakfasts, as we ate it in our room.

It is not close to the centre, i.e. the Vieux Port, but the nearby Place Castellane has a few restaurants, shops, cinemas, and cafes.
No real complaints, except for the lack of air conditioning. Even with the balcony door open, there was poor air circulation, and the room was very hot. I had trouble sleeping at night, I was so uncomfortable.
I would not stay here again in summer, but maybe in winter it would be OK.

Stayed here for two nights in July. Booked it through expedia. the room cost only £130 for two people for two nights so was very cheap. It is very handy to the Metro Station Castallene and then you are just two stops away from the vieux port. The area where the hotel is situated seems quite residential and not much happens after dark, so we travelled by the metro which stops running at 12.30 so we were back in the hotel well before that time every night so we could make sure we could get home by the underground system.
the rooms were small, but clean. good bathroom size and very clean. however no air conditioning, the rooms were roasting hot both day and night.