Originally Posted by
SCEflyer
My wife and I were there for two nights last September. We were upgraded to a large king room which was very well furnished. The property has been well restored. Hotel employees were attentive and responsive to our requests. One word of caution if this is important to you; the Platinum breakfast is truly continental, essentially rolls and coffee served in the cocktail lounge.
Finally, the location is great.
A little more color... Platinum breakfast is called the "express breakfast" and is served in the cocktail lounge from 9am-noon (nice for sleeping in). Price is normally 9e and hotel allows you to have a full breakfast in the restaurant at reduced rate: regular price of 22e minus the 9e = 13e cost for Platinums (and likely Golds).
Express breakfast consists of a hot beverage of your choice (including cappuccino), choice of juice (served with a lot of ice so if you don't want ice you must request it neat--note, they say the orange juice is fresh squeezed but it tasted like fresh from a bottle rather than on-site freshly squeezed), and a plate of croissant, pain au chocolate, an apple filled pastry and a hollow pastry. No bread/rolls although if you ask perhaps they will include it. We were 2 people and received 2 of each of above pastries.
They also serve the express breakfast between 7am-9am in the restaurant. We had an early train one morning so ate there and were offered the hot beverage, we could pour our own juice from 4 offered plus apple juice served in a barrel, plus we could choose 3 items total from yogurt, fresh fruit or the french pastries. We preferred those options over the bar options.
Platinum amenity is a small glass of very good wine plus your choice of an appetizer. We chose Normandy cheeses which was a nice size slice of 3 types: camembert, liverot and pont l'eveque. All drinks come with chips and olives which we also received.
I concur with SCEflyer remarks on the hotel itself. We were upgraded to the highest room type and that room included a "Nespresso-type" coffee maker, full tea setup with excellent tea, and a liter bottle of Evian. Large room with a couch. Received turndown (no chocolates).
We had a few problems with the staff and although I would recommend the hotel I'm not sure if I would return. One day we showed up to breakfast at 11:45 and were told by the bartender that there was "no food left." The front desk manager "magically" found some pastries. Beware the manager of the restaurant. We asked to see the wine list, he showed us only a card with several wines listed, all 25euro . Then he showed us a bottle and asked if we would like that wine. We said yes, and when the bill came he charged us 45euro. The front desk rectified both problems but they were unnecessary hassles and do not shed a positive light on a 5 star hotel. Food in restaurant was not very good. I would definitely NOT recommend the restaurant for anything other than breakfast.
Rouen is not the most interesting French city and is easy to see in 1-2 days. Very touristy around the main square. We enjoyed Caen and it's superb D-Day museum more.