For anyone considering staying at this hotel, I strongly recommend you look elsewhere. It's dirty, very noisy all night (both from outside and inside), has poor facilities and is too expensive.

I hope this review helps other travellers avoid my experience.

1. Don't trust Expedia on price

If you fancy your luck and decide after reading this review to stay at the Agora hotel, you should check prices on the hotel's own website (www.hotel-agora.com) rather than relying on services such as Expedia.

When I booked online, Expedia offered a "special rate" -- a reduction from the "standard price" of 160 euro to the discounted price of 80 euro. A good deal, I thought, and it must be a great hotel if it's rack rate is 160 euro! Because this was a special rate, too, Expedia demanded payment in full at the time of making the booking.

Needless to say, when I arrived at the hotel I was horrified to see that the year-round annual rack rate for my room was only 74 euro -- not 160, as Expedia advertised. What a rip-off!

2. The room was dirty, poorly cleaned and maintained, and badly designed

Although the hotel's lobby is really modern pretty, the rooms aren't. My "non-smoking room" had:
- dirty walls, in dire need of a new paint job (not really acceptable for a 3 star hotel)
- cigarette burns in all of the furniture including the bedside tables (really tasteful!)
- ugly bright yellow and blue decor (not that it really matters)
- the curtain over the exterior window didn't even cover the whole window (oops?)

3. The shower is filthy and inadequate

When I opened the bathroom, I was surprised to find:
- black and pink mould on the shower tiles (yuck!)
- pink mould on the bottom foot of the shower curtain, which was otherwise all white (yuck again!)

Apart from the shower being unclean, it's also hard to have a frustration-free shower, because:
- the water temperature changes from hot to cold and vice versa whenever anyone else on the same floor uses the taps in their room
- the single light in the bathroom is so poor it's hard to even do your hair!

4. The noise levels are appalling

Although the exterior window is double glazed, it didn't seal properly and as such every time a motor-scooter went past, its sound penetrated the room with ease. But that was the least of my worries...

All night (by this I mean, from 7pm, then again at 10pm, midnight, 2am and again in the morning) a range of noises penetrated my room from the roof above (I was only on the second floor) and the adjoining wall. Plumbing noises were very noticeable every time a neighbouring room flushed the toilet or ran their taps. But the worst thing was a loud grating noise, like someone moving heavy furniture over a tiled floor, coming through the roof. I couldn't for the life of me work out what this was -- perhaps it was the heating pipes in the building creaking or groaning; I don't know; all I know is that it made it near impossible to sleep. I slept better on the TGV back to Paris.

5. The bed is comfortable -- if you wear ear muffs

To be fair, I should say that the bed was really comfortable. Firm but soft, with a really nice doona/duvet and good supportive pillows. If the hotel had proper soundproofing and plumbing, I think anyone would have a good night's sleep in this bed.

Myself and about 20 colleagues arecurrently staying there, to attend a convention in Aix. We sampled an array of rooms, and all come to the same conclusion.
Don't even stay slose to this place.
Looks ok from the outside. The lobby has been refurbished, and would induce that this a an updated mid-range hotel, would not it be for a reeking smell of bleachy fish.
The room is dates back to the 80s. Awful. No aircon. Don't even think to open you windows, even staying in the upper floor. Once the folks have finished drinking at the café on the opposite side of the street, you will grab a couple hours sleep, and then be awakened to the noise of traffic.
The bed id good, though.
The cleaning staff is in dire need of thorough training. I would not dare walking barefoot on the carpet, and am glad I brought some sleepers. One of my colleagues found a leftover pizza (?!?) in the cupboard.
Make yourself a favor and stay anywhere else, like Novotel or something similar.

We stayed in this hotel in May 2007 and had no complaints whatsoever. The staff were friendly and helpful, the parking was safe and reasonable and the room was clean and pleasant.

Aix-les-Bains itself is a wonderful town. There is a warm atmosphere and laid back attitude. Both the town centre and the lake are extremely pretty. I look forward to returning to the town and the Agrora again in the future.

Thought I'd write a review to give this hotel a bit of a push. I first stayed here back in 1997 while backpacking around Europe, it was a little treat in between staying in hostels...so when I returned to the area in 2004, I couldn't resist staying in the same place (not the same room though!)

Bedrooms are great - quite spacious, decor is nice and the bathroom is very luxurious with a big tub. Facilities at the hotel are good with a pool down in the basement, nice dining area and so on. If you can, book a room with a balcony as it's nice to sit outside in the evening and take in the pure mountain air.

Last time I visited I was given a smaller room with very limited view which wasn't as good but I was only there for 2 nights so it didn't make much difference.

The hotel hadn't changed very much in between my two visits - the staff were just as friendly, location is great in the town (not too many steep hills to get there!) and it was just a 5 minute walk down to the station to get the fast train back to Paris.

And Aix Les Bains - well, I only really found it by accident back in 97 but it made an impression and I'm sure to visit again. It's a sedate type of place, mainly retired folk and families around..so not for someone who wants a buzzing nightlife. But the scenery is beautiful, atmosphere is relaxing...restaurants too are to be recommended.