Hotel terbaik di Villers-Cotterets

Wow, talk about sad and neglected 'faded glory'. We did not stay at Hotel De'Abbaye as planned last night as it is nothing like represented by the pictures on the Priceline site. The internet website is helping to promote a facility that simply no longer exists in reality. The place is very clearly uncared for, unmaintained and, in truth, is a complete shambles. The building badly smells of damp, the bedrooms are dark, very small and decidedly grim and the decor/furniture/facilities are so old and tired as to at the point of no return. The restaurant was not open even though this was a Saturday evening and the host (who actually came across as being a rather deluded but pleasant and nice enough man) didn't seem to have any idea about the fact that the hotel he is running has become no more than a dump. There was a French couple who arrived very smartly dressed for a wedding in the village. They both entered the hotel looking happy and presumably had booked in for the evening, but came out wearing face masks and looking very annoyed. They drove away. It is simply not good enough (and very probably deceptive) for this hotel to be representing itself in the way that they are doing so online. The pictures are very deceptive and very obviously from about 2017/2018 when this premises was apparently very well run by the previous managers. We had to unnecessarily fork out for other (very nice) accommodation fairly nearby. I will be suggesting to Priceline (which I am doing separately) that someone urgently pays an unannounced visit so that they can see that this is a distinct misrepresentation of what is now available and see the grim truth with their own eyes.

We stayed by chance at this north of Paris Kyriad. It was recently refurbished and it’s certainly much more roomy and pleasant than many Kyriad hotels. We dined in the excellent restaurant next door, but I’m not sure if the ownership is the same. Breakfast in the hotel was poor, even by Kyriad standards. Most concerning is an obvious lack of staff training for receptionists. I speak French, but neither the evening or morning receptionist spoke any English, which is poor for the hospitality industry. The morning receptionist presented no smile and exuded the attitude of ‘why are you here?’. Such a pity.