I stayed at this hotel 2 nights at the beginning Easter 2009, with my husband
Style: the hotel is new and in the average of other Holiday Inns. The hall is big and modern with tables, seats and armchairs.
Location: on the Avenue du Prado, next to Blue Line Metro, 15 minutes walking from Vieux Port and Canebière.
Rooms: my room was a standard one, but quite large, about 27sq. metres. It has been recently renewed: modern furniture with all Holyday Inns comforts, tea and coffee maker, ironing board included. Table and armchairs to relax, watching tv. Satellite Tv, but mostly French speaking channels. The bathroom was good with a large shower.
Did not have breakfast at the hotel, it was € 25p.p. (too expensive). Better deals in the surrounding brasseries.
The staff was very attentive and kind.
The good: mostly everything
Price: we enjoyed a last minute offer: € 115 per night a double standard room.
Final comments: This hotel tries (and succeeds) to meet all guests expectations: good for businessmen and tourists. If in Marseille, I will surely come back again.

This hotel is on the Avenue Prado in Marseille. I had a room overlooking the busy Avenue, it was hot, it has aircon but at the end of March it is not turned on. This is a common problem in Europe, as the aircon is not normally turned on until the end of May or sometimes in June. This is even though it can get up into the 20’s or the 30’s or if the windows get strong sunshine for much of the day.
This is a very mediocre hotel, Avenue Prado is a very busy street and the noise from the traffic was very load at night and in the early morning. Because of the traffic noise I slept very badly and when I complained about the sound proofing on check-out, I was told that I should have complained earlier and they would have moved me. Yes my fault, like I am going to want to move rooms at 2 or 3am. Like everything else these days, nobody takes responsibility for anything, it’s just a shame they didn’t bother to sound proof the building in the first place. I guess it must be my fault, as I chose to stay there. The furnishings were very basic and it is nothing more than a bad 3 star hotel. If you do intend staying here, ask for a room away from the Avenue and don’t expect too much.

Price/quality not OK, certainly no 4****rating worth. Noisy street, not one restaurant,(coffee) bar, shop in the direct neighbourhood. Business area. Oldfashioned furniture, old blanket, bath tub could not be emptied night's at 23.30h, got stuck (emotionles reaction of reception next morning: you should have called us), airco hardly working. Bar hotel closed early evening. Maybe OK for business people, but as a tourist: don't go there.

The Holiday Inn Reception staff were always helpful and friendly, despite having to refresh my girlfriends room card at least twice a day, every day because she wouldn’t listen to them and kept putting it with her mobile phone and wiping it.

Bar staff were first class, although be warned! Drinks can sometimes be tricky to get hold of after 11pm or during a fag break!! Although only 33.3 % of the bar staff seemed to be guilty of that evil habit.

Unfortunately Kronenberg is not called Kronenberg in France so you have to order it by working out what 1664 is in French. Having not spoken any since about 13 years of age this took me about 5 days to master. Although I have just noticed that it is spelt on the label so you can add "Seize Cent Soixante Quatre" to your vocab book before you leave. Oh and don’t wait till the 5th day in the hotel bar, charging drinks to your room, before working out that 0.5 Lt (~1 Pint) costs 9 Euros (~£7.17). Out of interest you can find establishments around Castlelane (5-10 mins walk taking a right out of reception) that charge half the price, although you won’t get the air conditioning.

Now, air conditioning in reception and the bar is good, in my room it was rubbish. I left it on full all the time by putting a tube ticket in the power slot and the room could only cool to 26'C during sunlight hours, according to the switching of the thermostat. Trusted-ish colleagues staying in rooms away from the Avenue side and hence out of the sun claimed to enjoy a perfect climate. So I'd recommend asking for a room on that side when you check in. Rooms were big enough, although stank of fags. I did get used to this remarkably quickly though even as a non-smoker. The bed sheets were rough and uncomfortable. You do get a choice of pillows if you can be bothered though!

Look out for the white-gloved dancer who does a 2 hour routine on a Saturday night outside the hotel. We noticed him from another of my colleague’s window at about 10:30pm; he had the curvy corner room to the south. He also had a great view of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde from the other window. A taxi there will cost about 14 Euros and offers great views of the city.

My main complaint of the hotel would be that the cleaning staff kept turning the chairs outside the lifts away from the natural sitting position a person would adopt whilst waiting for the lift.