Hotel Marseille Centre Bompard La Corniche, Marseille

Would definitely return. There were...

Liked: A surprising oasis inside the streets of Marseille. Lovely garden. We enjoyed our breakfasts outside and drinks on the deck. A good walk up to the local cathedral.
Disliked: Restaurant menu could be a little more extensive.

Pleasant

Very good

Bad

Exceptional

Good but not mind-blowing

Liked: From the pictures on line, I was expecting to see a 'fancier' place. [Marseilles in general surprised me - lots of graffiti, garbage, and homeless people, plus, 2 girls tried to rob me. My understanding from pretty much everyone I spoke with in Europe (I travelled about 4 weeks) was that the areas where things were rougher (like Marseilles) were dealing with a large influx of migrants for whom they do not have the resources and whose cultural expectations are not those of a western, first-world nation. I am sharing this because this could explain why the hotel was a bit more run down than I would have expected - if you are in an area that is struggling, it's hard to keep up all of the niceties.] The room doors were very confusing to navigate and you are basically captive foodwise. There is nowhere nearby to eat so you have to eat at the hotel. Breakfast was very rushed and no, I was not eating late in the morning. The staff were basically cleaning everything up while I was finishing up and I think, if they could have, they would have moved me somewhere else so they could get the cleaning done. The food was very good though. Most of the staff were very helpful but one woman was clearly annoyed that I existed. And while they advertise the ability to speak English, most of the staff do not have enough English to actually explain anything complex to you. They also do not have a strong understanding of tourist activities - this would be a very helpful skill to add to their repertoire. The room was clean and comfortable.Regardless of the hotel (good or bad), I won't be returning to Marseilles again. It feels like the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver (Canada) (near where I live), although it is not as bad as the DTES in Van. Just not a comfortable feeling place and too much was problematic / wrong for me to really enjoy my time there.
Disliked: The hotel was generally fine - my only issues were around the complexity of the room doors, a rushed breakfast, and a grumpy employee. While there were things I feel like they could improve on (i.e. being better able to explain things to tourists) this wasn't the only city where I had this problem.

Very good

Great

Liked: Huge comfy bed
Disliked: Shower grout needs a bit of a cleaning and sealant needs removing and replacing ( a bit messy€

It would have been ok...

Liked: The room is comfortable enough.
Disliked: As soon as I walked in I notice a strong smell of sewage which didn’t bother me as I just dropped my things and left. When I came back to sleep the smell was even stronger and woke me up several times during the night.

Very good

Liked: Great location, clean and refurbished room, really nice pool, quiet location. The room was small but nice and clean, shower too. Location and outside very quiet. Excellent swimming pool Air Con worked well too. Staff lovely . There is a lovely restaurant on site too, not cheap, but very french style and with a nice ambience. Except for the few issues I have listed below, this is a really lovely hotel. I would stay again however I would not pay 180 euros as a deposit in case I take something from the fridge, which was empty in my case and I also think, this is more 3 star hotel and for that it is quite overpriced. But I did love the pool, country feel, peace and location.
Disliked: I paid in advance, carefully checked the Fine Print on Booking.com - it showed no information about 180 Euro would be held until check out. Upon check in staff requested this amount to be blocked on my credit card. I was not impressed, they claimed it was for any thefts in the room, my room did have a bar fridge but it was empty, so I am not exactly sure what I could steal in this room....I referred them to NO INFO provided on Booking. com and in the end they agreed not to block the amount. So I was very unimpressed by this experience. Cleaning was interesting too, no carpet hoovered, had to ask for tissues and toilet paper to be refilled... Since this hotel uses 4 Star, it should be up to it. Also no slippers and bathrobes in the room. I would also add that the staff could be a little more informative upon check in about what to see, where to go and have a map, nothing like this happened, I had to ask or talk to the locals.