Hotel Le Marechal - Les Collectionneurs

Good
Traveller Type: group
  : The so-called 2-bedroom apartment was spacious enough for 3 people. It was clean. The beds were fairly comfortable, the bedding crispy clean, pretty good pillows and plenty of them. There was an electric kettle to make coffee and tea provided by the hotel but we didn’t care for the tea flavors. There was also a small refrigerator in the room with some drinks and some snacks on top, everything for an extra charge. For the price we paid per night, complimentary water should have been provided. The bathroom was also spacious with double sinks, and a good size shower. Towels were fairly big and especially bath towels and good quality. As to toiletries only one dispenser was provided in the shower containing hair and body wash all in one and no hair conditioner, no bar soap only liquid by the sinks. I don’t like that. The stairs to the apartment could be a bit of a problem with carrying the luggage or if you have mobility issues. A tiny receptionist, who took us to the apartment, offered some help with the luggage but there should have been someone stronger. Poor lighting on the bottom of the stairway. The location was great, in the Little Venice and very close to all the attractions. We had a beautiful view of the canal and the bridges from the living room and bathroom. We could watch the barges floating through the canal. The main lobby and the restaurant have a lovely, old-fashioned ambiance. The hotel offered a breakfast buffet but you had to order it in advance, very unusual and there was even confusion with that. The kitchen was not informed that we ordered and paid for 3 breakfasts on the day of our departure. There was rather a modest amount of some items on the buffet and poor selection overall. However, the staff serving breakfast was very nice and especially the hostess who spoke not only French but also English and German, which we greatly appreciated. Also, a good feature is that the hotel is pet friendly and that was one of the reasons we selected it.
  : First of all, the description of this particular apartment as a 2-bedroom apartment is misleading to me. A 2-bedroom apartment, by the standards I know, means that you have 2 separate bedrooms and a living room. This apartment had only 1 bedroom with 2 twin beds and a living room with a double bed, which means it was a 1 bedroom suite with so many beds accommodating 3-4 people. Granted, it was spacious enough for 3 of us but it didn’t have 2 bedrooms. Secondly, we were given only 1 set of 3 old-fashioned keys, definitely not convenient for 3 people with a dog doing different activities at various times. The apartment was in the hotel annex so we had a wooden gate to the courtyard and then we had to open 2 sets of doors and at times even a third door in the middle, which was supposed to stay open but it was closed twice. We asked for at least one additional set of keys and were told that they didn’t have and later that they would see what could be done but ultimately we never got it. There was no intercom so if you went out and one of us stayed in, upon return you had to call to ask for the person to come down and open the door, very inconvenient. Even 1 extra key for the ground floor door would be great. We had a problem using a coffee maker and twice arrangements were made for someone to come and check on it but no one did. Finally, we figured it out. The instructions how to operate a safe were very confusing so I couldn’t set a code, which has never been a problem for me before. You were supposed to press some button inside the safe, that I couldn’t find and so on. There was an issue with paying for the parking. The reception didn’t inform us that you need to get a ticket from the ticket machine, which we didn’t see around and we asked several times about it. The hotel sells discounted tickets for the museum so we purchased 2 on Tuesday to find out that museums are closed on Tuesdays. The reception didn’t know that?? However, we did get a refund.