Antares Hotel Honfleur

Hotel Antares & Spa

NOT GOOD!!

This looks like a lovely place on their website so although a little wary of the odd warning review I decided to book it for our overnight stays in Honfleur. My main reason was that I needed a family room and a hotel with secure parking close to the centre and this place seemed to offer it all.

I really wish I hadn’t.

On our outward journey the family room was a cold lifeless room, cheap furnishings and very basic bathroom suite. The bathroom had mould all over the corner ceiling and tiles and the floor tiles were the sort that if your Littleun stepped on whilst wet would end up slipping over. I would say it was like a travel lodge only that wouldn’t be fair to Travel lodges!

On our return leg we had looked for elsewhere but everything was by now booked up so we were stuck with it. When we arrived the receptionist had remembered us and the story of our child who petrified of showers but loved baths so it was a little strange to find that she had given us a room which only had a shower! We asked to change and were initially told that there were no more available family rooms before I stressed that it wasn’t acceptable. She then managed to find us a triple room (not the same thing apparently) but in the outside block of rooms. This room was a lot better than the family room, almost like they have two different qualities for “normal” visitors and for families, but still not worth 125euros a night.

Breakfast was 11euros per person, regardless of age, and was a buffet style. They had made an effort here with a lot of different types of food but no cooked food at all. If you wanted boiled eggs you had to do it yourself with a bain-marie. Toast was cold and crunchy so fell apart when spreading anything on it, bit like melba toasts.

The reception staff were friendly but not terribly efficient. On our first stay we asked for them to call us a taxi into town (their estimate for walking time being very very wrong) and though they did this they didn’t bother to tell us that we wouldn’t be able to get a taxi returning from town unless we pre-booked one with them or had the ability to phone for one ourselves. Or mention that it was a bank holiday in France that week end and that there wouldn’t be any working after 9pm.

The Spa and swimming pool were ok, small and very busy. When we went on our return leg the pool had a couple of lovers literally necking and getting very very heated and the staff didn’t ask them to stop so for obvious reasons we couldn’t take our Littleun in!

All in, not a great place, over priced, not as near to the centre as stated, not very helpful.