ibis Le Mans Centre

No Tea or Coffee

We thought that, to mark the end of a 3 week, frugal trip through Spain and France, we'd upgrade to a 'Superior' room on our last night. How disappointed we were to find a basic room awaiting us. We told the receptionist we'd paid for a superior 'comfort' room. She disappeared for several minutes then returned and told us it was now a superior room because she'd put tea and coffee-making equipment in it! We returned to the room and found a tray containing a kettle, tea bags, instant coffee, a bottle of water and paper cups! (See photo.) This, apparently, made it a superior room!! However, the room was clean, the bed linen was crisp and the bed was comfortable. There was no outside noise. (We were in a room around the back.) The hotel was 2 minutes away from the amazing Old Town - just across the river. Breakfast was adequate: fresh fruit salad, fruit drink, yogurts, bread, eggs (toast your own bread and boil your own egg), ham, cheese, croissants, pan au chocolat, cakes and various teas and machine-made coffee. Apart from one friendly young lady who supervised breakfast, no one spoke any English whatsoever so if your French isn't up to much, have Google translate at the ready; it (usually) gets it right! Parking needs to be booked in advance. Messaging was slow so we rang. I've photographed the Ibis garage. It's in Rue de Chene Vert. You need a code to get in. We parked outside the garage and one of us walked round to Reception, a few yards away, to get the code. Thankfully, the parking spaces were easy to access, unlike all the other hotel parking we'd experienced.

We stay regularly at this hote, it's in an excellent position adjacent to the river Sarth and just a short stroll to the mediey old town and Cathedral. The staffing issues that the hotel has been plagued with during much of this year seem to have been overcome, which was pleasing to see. Rooms and public areas are clean and tidy. Staff are friendly and effiency has improved greatly. Breakfast offering is good and the evening meal menu has been improved, but don't expect restaurant service. The hotel has a secure car park available at extra cost. WiFi reception is good. Two niggles that the hotel still needs to address; not a single English news or film channel is available and the plastic mattress covers on the bed cause excessive sweating. Other Ibis hotels don't seem to have the same problem with mattress covers. It's a shame as if these problems were addressed, we'd give them a 10 'extremely satisfied' rating. Overall though, this hotel offers good value for an overnight stay and we'll certainly be returning.

Very disappointed

Good