Hotel de la Cite Carcassonne

Attended a conference here in a centre next to main hotel. Location in the fortified medieval town is interesting and it is next to the main church. The old town is car-, bus- and taxi-free (you only get taken to the gates in the medieval walls), although people staying at Hotel de la Cite can use a special hotel taxi. Good facilities: 4 rooms for ~50 people each, 3 rooms can be opened up together for a plenary session (150 people). Entrance hall for reception desk/displays/posters. Light refreshments were served in a marquee outside the main building. We enjoyed a lunch in the main hotel. The evening dinner for 150 was held in the conference centre turned into a restaurant. Unisex toilets (not enough for a mainly female group).i

This hotel does not qualify as a 5* in many ways. The location and the grounds are beautiful and it is indeed in the best location to stay in the Cité. Unfortunately, this is the end of the praise: the room is ok, but not amazing, breakfast is ok, but not great. The coffee lacks quality and consistency. The worst is the service. All staff members barely smile and I would even go that far to say there is no service at all. The car park is an extra €30,- per night which is ridiculous and the shuttle service expects a tip, which we refused to give, especially when the shuttle is a dirty and dusty car. If you want a drink you have to go and look for someone to serve you, noone is clearing the table. If it weren't for the location, this would range around 3*.

As has been said before, location is superb and beautiful historic building. But I wouldn’t class it as 5 star. Our request for a walk in shower made several weeks in advance seemed to cause a problem but was quickly sorted by Sophie and we were given a junior suite. As it wasn’t ready, we went to garden and ordered a drink at the bar. 30 minutes later still no sign of drinks and had to go back in and collect them ourselves. Husband used the pool each day but no cushions on any of the loungers round the pool and no one to ask for any. Breakfast was excellent but no one told us we could order omelettes etc until our last day. Rooms are a bit tired and need a refresh. Handle to bathroom broke and I was stuck there for over half an hour while maintenance men tried to get me out! All very amusing but dread to think what would have happened in a fire. I would have thought that management might have followed this up to see I was ok but no! I did enjoy my stay here but it wasn’t without issues

This is an excellent hotel in a great location. Staff was friendly and helpful. We booked a Junior Suite. Although not really a suite (just a large room) the room was well done with a large balcony. I have a couple of reasons for taking off a star. First, I could hear the people in the room above walking and the room next door talking. This is a pet-peeve as when I want to sleep, I need quiet and not muffled conversation and laughter in the room next door. Second is the balcony smoking policy. Along with being up late talking, they also sat on the balcony and smoked which blew directly into our balcony and room if the window was open. This meant that unless I wanted to sit and smell smoke, the balcony was useless to me. I understand that I'm not the only guest, I just shouldn't be able to hear or smell the others when in my room.

Stayed here due to the perfect location for our 2 night stay but we were disappointed with our room (305). Albeit that it was in the same style as the pictures on the website, the room was really small, had no kettle (which we had to ask twice to get it replaced), no comfortable armchairs as advertised and only 2 bath towels (further towels were produced later on). Although there was a built in hanger / wardrobe unit there were no drawers anywhere so we literally had to live out of our suitcase - which we most certainly didn’t expect to do at the price we paid. But, there was a table with an uncomfortable old chair in front of it - but no mirror or power sockets etc so other than popping the kettle on there it didn’t really serve a purpose. We had to stand the kettle on the floor to plug in and boil. Not ideal ! We were offered to have our room changed the following day, but felt that was rather too late and too much of a hassle. Strangely, we had a dog bowl in the bathroom. It felt like we had been moved around for the benefit of someone else yet we had booked this nearly a year in advance. The inside bar was also not available in the evenings which seemed a bit bizarre The staff were pleasant enough and our pick up transfer driver was delightful - and the location was perfect. We did try to contact the hotel to give our feedback privately but had no response - so felt there was no alternative other than to complete this review here. And would like add that we have never done a negative review on here either - that’s not the way we operate. Would definitely recommend that anyone staying there checks the amenities etc in their room.