I didn't really enjoy my stay at this hotel, probably because I was there at a peak time.

1. Apart from the newly renovated rooms and the club floor rooms, rooms are just not to Sofitel standards. They are old and in need of renovation. If you book a Superior Room as a Plat, they may only give you a Luxury Room (which are the old ones). I complained about this and got a Club Floor room for the last few nights, which was much better.

2. The lounge snacks were the best I've soon BUT it was just too crowded. They even had to set up tall tables to stand at as there were no seats. A quieter period will be OK.

3. I didn't like the rules you had to sign at reception. They also informed me of late check out prices etc even though I'm a Plat.

4. I tried Spiral for breakfast and it was CRAZY. Too many people and almost impossible to order a coffee. Not my idea of a relaxing break.

5. I tried Spiral for dinner and the prices are really high compared with local prices. The food wasn't that good.

6. The pool - yes it's nice but 1) there was nowhere to sit and when I asked for a glass of water, the service wasn't friendly at all.

So avoid public holidays as the hotel will be at full capacity with locals on a 'staycation' and your experience will be the opposite of the above review. Next time, I'll be going back to the new Novotel Aranata Centre - loads of shopping and food options around, brand new rooms and facilities and an Executive lounge (which wasn't open when I was there but I could order snacks from the a la carte menu and any drinks - it was amazing). And this is at about 40% of the Sofitel price. Recommended!