The hotel is conveniently situated close to the Canebière; the Old Port and the Marseille Tourist Office.
The Reception staff were helpful with directions to restaurants and local attractions.
The check in and check out were very efficient.
The bed was comfortable.
The bathroom has a sit in tub, with a shower extension, but no shower curtain.
Not easy to have a shower standing up without soaking the bathroom floor...
The room looked over the interior yard, and so there was no traffic noise.
As it was cold outside, we weren't bothered by the restaurant extraction smells or the view of the inside yard which has been used as a dumping ground for the last few years.
The windows were single glazed and, because they are at least 50 years old; warped and a little difficult to close.
The last time that any major decoration was made to the hotel must be back in the 60's or 70's.
There was a certain character to the hotel;
The rabbit warren mixture of staircases and passageways between the different buildings;
The tiny lift for one person somehow squeezed into one of the stairwells;
The shabby chic of the solid wood, almost antique, bedroom furniture that looked like it had been bought at many different house clearance auctions.
One surprise was the stink of cigarettes which permeated the place during the day.
This came from what we suppose was the Manager's office just next to the Reception.
Aren't all smokers supposed to smoke outside nowadays?
Isn't there the possibility of being fined for not respecting the no smoking laws, or even having the establisment closed down?
The stench of cigarettes was not so obvious at night, when we came back from dinner. The air always smelled of anti-smoke air freshner....
You get what you pay for:
We wanted somewhere quiet to sleep that was close to the centre and not too expensive.
That's what we got, as well as the character of the place.
