Gare Saint-Jean

The area around Bordeaux Gare Saint-Jean might not be the most attractive part of the city, but it is a convenient place, if one travels by train or uses the Express bus to the airport. In any case there are plenty of restaurants in the area and there are frequent trams from here to the city center (we got return tickets by tram from the hotel, which are included in the price of a superior room, just like the free use of the minibar). The hotel is all modern inside, but located in a typical Bordeaux 18th century building. With the friendly staff at reception check-in is easy. Downstairs are also a dining hall, where breakfast gets served between 7-10.30am with a quite rich choice at the buffet, even with 'canelés de Bordeaux' as well as scrambled eggs, sausages and bacon. The rooms, also the superior rooms, are really small, but we soon found out that everything is so cleverly arranged that we still managed to store all our belongings. The bed was comfortable and it was quiet at night, so we had a good sleep. All works well in the bathroom with toiletries by the French company Algotherm. There is also a narrow balcony with no seating. Bottled water was offered daily in the room, not just at the beginning as elsewhere. It was all in all a pleasant stay here.

Next (about 1 minute of walk) to Bordeaux Saint-Jean train station, close to two the tramway lines, within walking distance from the city center. Nice warm welcoming staff. Breakfast there is generous.

Hotel is convenient for the main station and we were travelling by train. Reception helpful. Room was tiny with very little space to move around. Very small toilet cubicle and the rest of the bathroom semi-open plan to the bedroom. Might be suitable for a business person staying alone but not for a couple. Everything clean and comfy though. Housekeeping totally remade the room the first night, the second night they made the bed but didn't even empty the bins. Tiny 'mini bar' more of a mini cupboard as it didn't provide any cooling. But the free mineral water provided on two out of three nights was welcome. Surprisingly good range of restaurants outside the station where we had breakfast some days. 10-15 minutes walk to St Michel square where there is a good choice of restaurants and bars. About 30 minutes into town. Although it would have been easy enough to take one of the many trams if we'd wanted to.

My husband and I spent 3 nights here on our recent trip. We traveled by train and the hotel was very easy to find from Gare St. Jean. The room was small and the bathroom was strangely configured. The toilet was in its own room/ closet. The sink was in the middle and the shower was next to the sink. Thankfully the shower stall had a closing door that kept most of the water in. This was our third hotel in France and the first time we had a door on the shower!! We did not eat breakfast at the hotel because its not worth the extra money for it. We visited the Carrefour grocery store a couple of blocks over and got breakfast items to eat in our room. Bordeaux has a wonderful tram system and the hotel is between two stations for the C and D lines making it very easy to see the city. Some peop!e may be put off by the area this hotel is in such as being sketchy or dodgy but we did not feel unsafe. Also the air conditioning in our room worked very well as it was quite warm during our stay.