Grand Hotel

We had an extra large double bed which was very comfortable. The room was a good size and shower good. That is the full extent of my positive comments. We had driven all day and were looking forward to a quiet drink and relaxing dinner. This was not to be found. The bar area was quite sterile and lacking in atmosphere. The barman was very pleasant and helpful and bothered to say good evening and he informed us of the hours of service in the restaurant. Having been in the car for several hours we thought we would eat out. We went to the town only a short walk away. What a dive ! There were many people loitering around and the place felt menacing. We visited two restaurants and they couldn’t accommodate us. There was an abundance of fast food restaurants that looked very well attended but not attractive.What I saw of DAX did not invite further investigation. We returned to the hotel and went to the bar and asked if we could still eat. The barman said yes and offered to show us to the restaurant. On arriving at the restaurant a man raised an eye whilst looking in our direction . No words were spoken. We asked if we could eat. He strutted off and said that we were out of service hours. He sat us at a table and asked for our room number, wrote something on a pad and said write your name and sign. We were given two menus with starters ,mains and pudding. The mains were a fish fillet or rabbit. I had a small quiche for a starter, husband had gravlax and both had fish. Starters okay but mains pretty dire. Whilst eating the staff were sweeping up around us and setting up for breakfast. The dishes were placed in front of us in a hostile manner with no conversation. I didn’t eat my main and nobody asked why. We decided to have cheese for pudding and we thought we would take this to our room to escape the belligerent staff and brooms. At least this request brought about a response. The waiter had a glimmer of a smile and arrived at the table with a tray and some butter at a pace Usain Boult would have been proud of. The cheese was eaten in our room and was actually quite nice. The “ Grand “ hotel is anything but that. It fails abysmally to care and interact with its clients. DAX itself appears rundown and depressing. The hotel boasts a restaurant but is little more than a low market cafe . If you are desperate then stay here but if almost any other option is available try that and don’t waste your hard earned money. I almost forgot to say that checkout time is midday but you get an unsolicited early morning wake up call that is the sound of furniture being dragged over the floor and vacuum cleaners ! Before 8am. The pits.