HOTEL DES PHARES (2 stars), 29 rue du Gal de Gaulle, Ste Adresse - Le Havre, France

We stayed at the Hotel des Phares (27 rooms) in Le Havre Saint Adresse for 3 nights in room 2 (April 2007). This is a two star hotel which we would expect to provide a relatively good service in France. When we arrived we noticed that the building was old and seemed to have “character”.

We had chosen this hotel on the advice of the tourist office as we had asked for a quiet hotel. When booking we asked for a quiet room but in fact our room faced on to a fairly busy street (rue du Gal de Gaulle) with quite a lot of traffic. That being said we were within walking distance of the pebbly beach and its very nice promenade. We were also in a very nice area called Saint Adresse (a close suburb of Le Havre) with many old buildings which were not bombed during the World War II.

Our room was small with a tiny bathroom. We were told it had been renovated. But it still seemed bland. There was a double bed but there were no bedside tables or shelves. Moreover the light over the bed could only be turned on from one side of the bed so in fact the second person had no direct access from the bed to a light switch. The wardrobes were very shallow and were not very good for storing our things. There was also a desk and one chair in the room. The main
lamp in the room was designed to take three light bulbs. One was missing, one was working and the third one was on the blink.

The bathroom was tiny with a very small wash-hand basin, a shower (a very high step from the floor with a narrow corner access) and a toilet that refused to flush. The toilet seat was not attached to the toilet and kept falling off. We reported the problem with the toilet and the electric light bulb and when we came back the second night, we were able to flush the toilet once. After that we had to fill the plastic bin with water from the shower in order to flush the loo manually. There was no ventilation in the bathroom. However, the white towels were clean.

The breakfast was minimalist for this day and age in France with no plates provided (as was the tradition 20/30 years ago) with no choice
whatsoever except for tea or coffee. There was a glass of orange juice, coffee or tea and baguette and croissants (the margarine variety), nice butter but the jam was of poor quality. We asked for milk with our tea and coffee and we were provided grudgingly with a small amount. We were not offered extra helpings of tea or coffee. At breakfast time, some people had to wait for at least 20 minutes in the reception area as there were not enough tables available in the dining room.

The stairs leading to our room was small and winding and depending on your perspective “full of character” or “a fire hazard” as how everyone in the main building could get out in case of a fire is difficult to understand. There are in fact three separate buildings with separate entrances so we do not know the quality of the other rooms.

The owner of the hotel proudly said that his hotel was the only one in Le Havre to have a car park (which could take about four or five cars). We managed to get parking on the street.

We were not offered any reduction despite the fact that the toilet did not flush during most of our stay. We paid 59 euros for the room per night and 6 euros per person for breakfast. We wonder what the rooms which have not been renovated must be like.

All in all very disappointing. Very bad value for money. We will have
to try out other hotels to see which one is good value for money.