This Relais Mercure is situated in a "Zone Hotelliere" to the north of Angouleme clustered with an Ibis and Formule 1. I was worried it might be by the airport itself given the address, but although it was by a busy junction just off the main road to Paris and close to a Geant hypermarket complex, it was quiet. To visit Angouleme it is necessary to drive - we never made it sadly as we were too tired from travelling across the country.

The reception area features lots of original cartoon artwork (Angouleme is the original home of French cartoon strips - or "bandes dessinees"). This makes arriving in the hotel feel a bit less formulaic.

The corridors need a bit of attention though - room numbers are big plastic stick ons that look temporary, and I noticed that the power socket the carpet cleaner was plugged into was falling out of the wall.

Our room was pleasant and clean - but definitely the lower end of the Mercure range - it did not have a minibar for example (although there was an empty storage carcase for one). The TV had no English channels - although the room guide suggested it did. Nice toiletries and towels, and plenty of hot water with a decent shower. AC worked and was v quiet. The beds were comfortable.

Large bottles of chilled branded water could be purchased from the bar at a reasonable price, which made up somewhat for the lack of minibar.

The hotel has no leisure features to speak of, although there are sun loungers in a quite corner of the lawns, and a pleasant outside patio to eat on if the weather is good. The bar is also comfy and serves a good range of hot and cold drinks from 5pm onwards. The bar has a large flat screen TV showing the sports channel (also available in the rooms) which was popular.

Parking is not secure as far as we could tell, but is ample and shady

The very pleasant surprise was the evening meal. We were too tired to go out after a long journey so this was a real bonus. My daughter had one of the best pieces of steak she had ever had and which was cooked to perfection followed by the most enormous (and good quality) ice cream, and my meal (I selected the dishes of the day all the way through), was accompanied by an absolutely intense and delicious glass of red Bordeaux. One of the nicest meals we had all holiday as the restaurant was also comfortable, and the service efficient - plus the food great quality

Breakfast was also good - although let down by powdered scrambled egg, which we had also encountered at a Novotel and another more upmarket Mercure. It included hot and cold buffet, juices, water, cereal, fruits, yoghurts and an interesting range of general and specialist breads and pastries.

The staff were very helpful and positive throughout our stay.

This hotel needs some money spending on upgrading the accommodation areas, but was redeemed by the staff, the entrance decor and the good food and drink (other than the scrambled egg)