This hotel is situated in a bleak Industrial Zone south of the town and, as we found out, is one of a major chain of budget hotels in France. I would say it’s broadly equivalent to Travelodge in the UK. We got a map of Chambery from the reception and asked the receptionist to mark where we were – the hotel is off the map, so no chance of a stroll into town. The room was spotlessly clean, but very small. There was barely room to walk around the bed. There was one small window overlooking the unattractive lorry parking area. No matter, thought we, at least we can close the window and enjoy a peaceful air-conditioned night. Sadly, not so. Although there was an air conditioning unit in the room, it was not working. According to the receptionist, none of the rooms are air-conditioned (which seems to be borne out by the hotel literature, though I can’t understand why the units are installed). With temperatures around 30°C, the room was sweltering, even with the window wide open. The spin-off of this was that we heard everything that was going on outside. In the early hours of the morning, there was a real commotion coming from somewhere near the hotel, with people shouting loudly and angrily, dogs barking and car alarms wailing. And then, a bit later, the lorries made an early start away. Peaceful, it was not.
The only redeeming feature was a half-decent buffet breakfast, with good, fresh bread and croissants.
It is described as a 2-star hotel, so maybe one should not expect too much. Maybe we should have done a little more homework to find out just where it was located. Too late now – we won’t be staying again.