I wasn't sure whether to book this hotel, as it had received such mixed reviews.
In effect the room we stayed in, the Prestige room with terracey, was rather pokey, and when we opened up the sofa bed for our son you literally couldn't move! The toilet was tiny too.
However, the location of the hotel is superb. You can see your kids on the beach from the comfort of the terrace, and all the shops and restaurants are only minutes away, which means you can leave the car in the hotel car park (which looks like something out of the film "Alien" and forget about it. The staff are also extremely nice and the rooms are clean.
So, if you're not bothered about the decor, this hotel is great.

Before booking we read a few reviews on TripAdvisor, and they went from very promising to very negative. Boy, were we excited to see what we had in store...
And staying there 3 nights we could see that they were all correct in their own mind...

1) The staff: All very friendly and helpful. Nothing to comment on them. Have rarely met friendlier people in all of France and this is a great advantage/surprise. Everyone from the cleaning staff to the front desk personnel was extremely friendly.

2) Location: Very good. Situated on the "city beach" (front de la mer) in Arcachon you could hardly ask for more. Supermarket and bakery across the street, practically. No minibar/fridge was a disappointment.

3) The rooms/interior of the hotel: Weeelll... Most of all we felt like staying in a 70ies-setting. Our room was placed not at the seafront or the back of the hotel - facing the "main street" (which would be noisy and not so nice- )but the sidestreet, with no sun - but that was OK as we did not expect to sunbathe at the veranda. It was OK for an afternoon drink, reading and conversation. Good size for a grown couple alone, and private. Interior decoration something in the middle of fancy retro and nasty, dark 70ies- but unfortunately the scale tipped on the nasty part... The retrolook was not intentionally, so a makeover is overdue.
Considering the price, we expected a little more from our room.
But as mentioned, the location is very good, so overall we found it satisfactory.
We did not have breakfast at the hotel and were content with that. The breakfast room seemed claustrophobic and crowded; probably better suited for families with small children - or so it seemed. Would we stay there again ? Yes, but preferably after a makeover. The first impression was rather gloomy.

Arcachon is an attractive and well-located seaside town, with primarily 3-star (or fewer) accommodation. We were a bit worred about staying in a three-star hotel in France as quality can vary widely. However, Hotel Point France was brilliant: The hotel is on one floor only (the flats above are owned) and is run and staffed by very friendly and helpful people. Rooms, though small, were immaculate. Rooms on the beach side where we stayed opened onto a patio running the length of the hotel and offered nice views of the beach. Each room has its own table and chairs outside. The hotel is steps away from the beach and centrally located. It also includes a car park below (at a reasonable cost), which is essential in the summer when the streets are crowded. We stayed with our two young children (6 & 8), and the staff could not have been more helpful. They contacted a babysitting service for us when we wanted an evening alone, and when that didn't work out, one of the staff babysat for us. The hotel also has a breakfast room offering a generous and decent quality selection of bread/croissant/baguette, fresh & dried fruit, meats, yoghurt, hot & cold drinks and for a little extra, eggs cooked to order. Also very generous was free Internet access on a computer in the lobby. For the price, this little hotel has a lot to offer.

We visited Arcachon, France for attending a scientific conference from May 28th to June 3rd 2007. The organizer recommended several hotels close to the venue - the Point France was one of them. We contacted the Hotel by email and were offered a "Sea View" double room for EUR 141 including taxes.

Positive comments first: The staff was very friendly and helpful.

Condition of the building in general and our room, especially in relation to the price, made a less positive impression.

The Point France is labelled as a three star Hotel, which appears to be appropriate for European standards. We found the price inappropriately high for three stars and for the characteristics of our room. The room (#1) was located on the first floor (equivalent to 2nd floor in North America), was located in an inside corner of the building, had only partial sea view, and was relatively dark (see floor plan and photos of room). We recommend asking for rooms 3 to 6 or 29 to 34. These will probably have better views and more light.

The interior of the common areas and our room (see photos) definitely needs an overhaul. Although everything was clean, the furniture was rather old and worn-out, it had red carpets everywhere, which were also well-worn, and the tiles in the shower as well as the shower heads were mouldy. The breakfast area is located in the center of the building without daylight (one reason why we did not use it).

Summary: The hotel has a nice and friendly staff, the buiding is rather old and in need of an overhaul, the style is outdated. We found the price inappropriately high - this might be the result of having bad luck with our room. Check the floor plan and ask for a specific room when booking!