The BEST Citéa. I have stayed at Citéas in Bordeaux, Paris (Citéa Port-de-Charenton — the worst by far), Divonne-les-Bains (Geneva area) and NIce. Citéa Strasbourg was the best. The (quiet) tram is right there to bring you into the center of Strasbourg. There is a LARGE shopping area (excellent take-out and large grocery store) within walking distance. Free parking. Clean and modern. If you're on a road trip with a car, you can't beat the Strasbourg Citéa.

I almost gave up on finding a nice and modern budget hotel in Strasbourg, before Citea popped up on my screen. They had a great offer, a studio with a dobble bed for only 42 euro and free parking. Ok so this hotel is not right in the centre, but it's only a 5 min drive away, and the tram goes literally right outside from the hotel every 6 min! The room was clean, modern and bright with a little kitchen area. It is simple, but for those on a budget i think that this is way better than to end up in something that looks like a bordell. The only negative things I can think of is that the bed was a bit hard and small, the woman in the reception was not there when we came and we had to call for her many times before she arrived and she didn't even excuse herself (later she was very friendly...), and the parking is on the back of the hotell and you need to go all around to get to the entrance.

Really, just what we were looking for: a decent place to sleep that was close to public transportation. They don't try to pretend to be anything else. A queensized double en suite for €74 per weekday night is hard to beat in Strasbourg. The room while jammed with the large bed was comfortable. Bathroom was modern. We had no need of the kitchen appliances, but did use the coffee pot and microwave which were nice to have (and rare to see in European hotels of this class). The girl at reception gave us a 1.5 L bottle of water to make our hot choclate in the evening and coffee in the mornings with. (We had to supply the hot choclate and coffee.) At the time of our stay there was a musical festival going on in Strasbourg and all but the more expensive (+250 E) were booked, making the Citea an even better deal.

Our room was on the ground floor, facing the tram tracks just on the other side of the sidewalk. I was sure that the noise would keep us up all night, but with the double paned windows closed and the steel shutter down we did not hear a thing. Staff at the reception and cleaning staff were pleasant enough and provided us with a city map. We skipped the 7.50€ breakfast, opting to eat in town instead. On departure, the staff secured our luggage behind reception until we came back that afternoon to pick it up.

The only dislike I had of the hotel was that the exhaust fan in our bathroom was not working. In the morning there was a very slight odor of sewer gas in the bath, and in the hall outside of the room. Hardly noticable, but I feel I should mention it. It was not nearly as bad as the order coming form Firenze's streets early in the morning.

In short, a good night's sleep with excellent transportation connections at a very reasonable price.

There are only a few good things I can say about this Citéa. There's free parking, air conditioning in the rooms, and a tram stop is literally right outside the front door so it is really easy to get into Strasbourg.

The things I did not like include:

My friend and I were sick with colds when we made it to Strasbourg and so we just wanted to get a lot of sleep, but the cleaning staff woke us up at 10 AM wanting to clean our room when we had arrived at 8 PM the night before. I couldn't believe it. What hotel starts cleaning occupied rooms that early in the morning?? And there is no "Do Not Disturb" sign to put on the door either.

The kitchenette was tiny with no extra shelves for storage, there was nothing to wash the dishes, and we had a coffee maker but no coffee pot so we couldn't actually use it. Later I noticed a sign in the elevator (written only in French) advertising a cleaning kit for 3€ that included dishwashing soap, a sponge and towel. I had already gone to Auchan and bought my own soap and sponge though. I often stay in hotels with kitchenettes and this was the only one that did not provide dishwashing soap for free. Why provide dishes if you're not going to provide something to clean them?

There is free parking in the lot behind the building, or you can pay 6€ a day to park in the underground garage. However, the back door connected to the lot is locked and you cannot use it to enter the building, so you always have to walk around to the front after parking.

We did not have a bathtub in our bathroom (perhaps this is only for rooms with a large bed, and not two beds as we had) and we almost ran out of toilet paper because the cleaning staff never replaced it. There was free soap and body wash in the bathroom at least, but no hairdryer.

The internet connection is ethernet only in the rooms, and you need a username and password, so make sure to ask the receptionist when checking in because it is not included in the information packet in the room. There is wifi in the lobby only.

The internet was painfully slow, especially in the evenings. The last two days I was there it did not work at all. The connection is through Swisscom so the reception can't do anything to help you.

Reception closes at 9 pm during the week and 6 pm on weekends/holidays so make sure to notify them if you are arriving late.

I will not be returning to this hotel and now I'm not so sure if I want to try other Citéas.