Hôtel d'Argouges

It’s my first time in France. I spent a few days prior to coming to Bayeux in Paris. The small town is absolutely stunning. Quiet, calm, old feeling and very peaceful. The Hotel D’Argouges is so beautiful. Older building with all the modern comforts. It’s Autumn and the garden is still thriving with greenery and a few roses linger. The Hotel has a wonderfully helpful staff. Most of the staff I have encountered speak English. Which helps because my French is much worst than I thought. They have a breakfast offering in the morning that is delicious. The coffee was delightful. My room and bathroom are immaculate. I am very pleased with my stay so far…

This hotel is all looks, no substance. Yes, the front looks impressive, yes, the breakfast room is very pretty. Apart from that, you get nothing. The breakfast is the worst I've had in France - mini croissants and pain au chocolat that seemed to come straight from the freezer bag and scrambled eggs that resembled anything but. There's no personal touch at all. We had a room in the annexe, where the door was fitted so poorly that you could feel the wind rustling through the gaps. It was around 7 degrees in the night, and we had arrived with damp bathing clothes that desperately needed to dry, but were told that they would only start up the heating on October 15th and we should dry our clothes in the launderette across the street. It's great if you do that in your own home, I do applaud you, but aren't you running a business here for paying guests?! Miraculously, the second day the heating was on - I guess too many guests had been complaining. The bathroom is apparently freshly renovated, and by an architect who apparently never had a shower in his life, otherwise I simply don't understand. Why is the shower without any partition, so you flood nearly the whole room whenever you shower? Why aren't there hooks or shelves for your things? And why, if the whole thing was renovated, is there still a hair dryer straight from a public pool in the 80s?! We wanted to have an apero in the evening, but while we could order some drinks, there was a shrug and 'we don't do that anymore' when we tried to order some food from the menu. Please overdo the menu then? If you don't want to sit on the bed, there's absolutely no room to do something else. Also, true to a mediocre three star hotel, there's neither a kettle nor a safe. And no wardrobe. I was rarely so blinded by a few pretty pictures.