Hotels near Natural History Museum, Rouen

Environment: It can't be better, Health: excellent Service: Thoughtful young lady, introducing the attractions. Without her, she missed the light show.

Positives. Easy to find. In good location, 5-10 minute walk from historic centre. Secure parking available. Relatively cheap. Reception staff were lovely and helpful. Bed Linen seemed clean. From there on its pretty negative. Parking is tight and limited. (i saw two people scrape their cars on walls and ceilings within 15 mins). Inconveniently placed concrete curbs and bollards make it tricky to get in and out with anything larger than a hatchback. Also had to block the entrance for everyone else whilst my wife got the access key from reception as there isn't a waiting bay for new arrivals outside the hotel. Hotel interior was dated and scruffy. Carpets dirty, reception smells of stale cigarettes. Overflowing cigarette ashtrays in the garden/terrace (which is basically the dead space between buildings filled with garden furniture. Room was small, dated decor, and lots of things were broken. Bed had a massive dip in it where springs had broken. Bath had black mould around. Light fixtures and telephone was handing off the wall. Hairdryer in bathroom was broken. Curtain didn’t pull far enough so room was bathed in light from 5:00. Walls paper thin. Unusual layout for hotel room, bathroom next to main bed. Toilet literally 1 metre from your bedside table (not much privacy). Had to sit on toilet at an angle because I could fit my knees in otherwise. Unfortunately there was a lack of care given to cleaning. Dust and hair under beds. We had used tea making kit still in the tray, and the toilet roll (which is housed in a black box rather than being lose) hadn’t been checked meaning we ran out after two sheets. Black mould around the bath. We were only given two towels despite them knowing we were three. Given shower gel to use as hand soap. Only 1 pillow each. Great location if you want to walk into town easily. Only 5 mins from historical centre. Although I would add that its right next to a massive busy road. Our room was at the back of the building on a working night so this didn’t affect us. (back of the room overlooks the smoking garden so it could be noisy if there were people out there). Reception staff really lovely, spoke very good English, and were accommodating of our terrible attempts at French. Breakfast was basic (continental style). Toast, jams, low quality patisseries. Sweaty jambon and fromage in a fridge cabinet, cereal, hot dogs ??? Yogurts and juice. Coffee machine. Tea making facility. Tubs of varying quality fruit salad. Most of the residents on the Wednesday morning that we attended seemed to be preparing for work. I assume that this hotel stays afloat by doing as little as possible but keeping things cheap so that they appeal to businesses trying to minimise cost. All in all it was a convenient place to stay for one night on our way through. But I wouldn’t stay here again even if it was half the price. Plenty of better options unless you are last minute desperate.

The hotel is located in the centre of Rouen and is convenient to visit.

We are frequent European travellers, used to comparing and contrasting. A nice little hotel and good value too. Nothing was too much trouble for the staff, food, alcohol or anything else. The room was clean and comfortable (interesting colour scheme but not unacceptable) and there were eateries available in the shopping centre across the road. The centre was but a short tram ride away. My wife was not so keen onthe location but I was content overall. A nice little hotel.

Good points - clean, comfortable rooms (great pillows!) excellent wifi and friendly charming staff. BUT we had asked for a hotel with secure parking, a restaurant and double bed. This hotel said it had all three. The hotel did have a car park but it had a height restriction of 2m - same as our car so we couldn't use it. Our fault for having a high car but we would not have chosen that hotel had we known. I mentioned this (nicely) in a review and they said it was on the website no it is not, the website says ”secure covered parking”. We were lucky to grab a parking spot in a dark side road as someone was just leaving. Did not feel comfortable leaving our packed car there but had no choice. The hotel did have a restaurant but only for breakfast. Not mentioned before. Obviously couldn't drive anywhere so the friendly receptionist gave us a map to a local shopping mall 10/15 minutes walk away apparently the only place to eat around there. The roads were dark, mainly deserted and there were a lot of graffiti covered buildings. It didn't feel safe but we had no choice. I am sure in the summer and daylight it will be fine but in the dark winter, not a great experience. The shopping mall had a good selection of fast food outlets. We had one night in France, with all due respect to KFC that's not exactly what we had been hoping for. Our fault but I am guessing others may too have greater expectations of French food. Double room was twin beds. One night, no problem, but just added to the overall unpleasant experience. Did have a great bottle of wine in the hotel bar when we got back!

Ibis Styles Rouen Centre Rive Gauche is easy to find and has plenty of private parking, both at ground level and underground. Check in was friendly and efficient. The hotel is a fair walk from the town centre but there is a very convenient bus service running past the hotel every 8 minutes or so. It is the T4 and you buy your ticket at the machine at the bus stop. It is one ticket per journey and you validate it when you board the bus. The most convenient stop for the old town is Vieux Marche and, coming back, the stop for the hotel is Chartreux. Our room is is modern but with the very limited storage space that you expect with Ibis, i.e. some open shelving and hanging racks instead of drawers and wardrobe. To be fair, it’s what I expected and it’s ok for a short stay. Other facilities include a large, wall mounted television and modern bedside lamps that you feel obliged to swing out of the way so that you don’t injure yourself getting out of bed. Talking of which, it is a large, very comfortable double bed for two people - but only one of us gets a bedside table - which I assume isn’t deliberate policy, so it’s just missing. Oh - and there’s a small table in the room, but no chair. There’s either some serious stupidity here or junior management need to have a look at all rooms to ensure all appropriate furnishings are present. On the mega plus side - the smart en-suite bathroom contained just about the best shower I’ve ever used. The buffet breakfast was fine, with the continental staples of fresh fruits, juice, yogurts etc with main items being the ubiquitous ham and cheese. You can also boil yourselves some eggs if you like (I was hoping for some scrambled!). A main problem was people having to queue for coffee from the single, working coffee machine, and for some reason they put the breads etc right behind where the coffee queue will be, so you need to break through the line to grab some bread or cake. Again, this should be an easy fix by (a) getting a second coffee machine up and running and (b) making sure that the coffee machine doesn’t hinder access to other areas. Taking the package as a whole, the price and facilities here are good for a near city centre hotel with parking. And here’s a little tip if you like a beer and don’t want to go into the city centre - La Civette des Chartreux is a splendid local bar just between the hotel and the bus stop. The bottom line is that this made a good base for a short visit to this fabulous city, and we would happily stay here again.

We stayed here for a long weekend in April, it is a lovely hotel, clean, comfortable and in a very quiet location. It is a short drive from the centre of Rouen or a very easy ride on the bus, which is free on Saturdays! The restaurant is very nice and very reasonably priced for a set 2 course dinner. Breakfast was lovely with plenty of choice too. The staff were very friendly and helpful, Karen in particularly went above and beyond to help us with information for the buses and the new low emission zone stickers that are now required for Rouen. Private parking which was ideal for our motorbikes and a lovely garden to sit in if the weather is nice. Highly recommended.

The hotel is very comfortable and quiet. The household is a day and the wallpapers are changed. The possibility of warming a microwave dish, making a coffee and drink distributor. It could be improved at the level of the dishes offered, but it is depleting.