Two nights in Lourdes, France…read more.. Our friend booked this hotel for us - maybe because of the complimentary breakfast. I liked the toaster to make your own toast! The orange juice was great! Croissants were much appreciated! Free street parking and parking lot was within walking distance. Rooms were compact and clean. There was only one packet of shower gel on the sink, so I asked for more at the reception desk and found more shower gel in our bathroom after dinner! Thank you! We also found fresh towels in our room in the afternoon and our used towels were taken away. The stairs were a challenge as we were on the third floor. There is an older style lift that you can enter between floors, so you need to drag luggage up half a floor and pull the luggage down half a floor. This hotel is situated near many shops and restaurants. However, it's almost furthest away from the Grotto and Basilica. For me, walking a mile to and from each way - three times a day wasn't fun. For example, yesterday, we walked over for the bath, returned for breakfast, walked back for sightseeing, then returned to the hotel for lunch, and went back for adoration, followed by 6pm mass, and finally walked back again to the hotel for dinner. (Three round trips) I didn't want to walk back for the candle light procession since we did that the night before. I would maybe get a closer hotel, but then the car would be further away. Hmmm... but we didn't need the car until we left because we walked everyday.

Though the room was clean, the smell coming out of the bathroom was atrocious. For being in Lourdes…read morethe room was pretty cheap, and it is a short walk distance from the basilique. The place is small and the room was even smaller, this not the place for tall or overweight people, you won't fit on the beds or on the shower. The elevator is only accessible from a half floor walk through the stairs, so it is not wheelchair friendly. The stairs are old and you can easily fall in them as they are irregular. Wifi is free and available. Parking is on the street and I you ask for directions you're not far from a free street parking.

At the foothills of the Pyrénées Atlantiques, near Pau and Jurançon, where Aspe and Ossau Valleys…read morealmost meet, and just outside of Pau you will find the Castel du Pont d'Oly. This hotel restaurant is well known by the gourmands of the region for cooking that is a mixture of local fresh produce cooked with care and beautifully presented. Dishes like foie gras, poule au pot, duck preserve, pibales ( baby eels) in season and in season wild mushrooms picked locally At the foot of the Jurançon vineyards, with just a few rooms around a swimming pool, the hotel has been organised for comfort and somewhat individual in decorative style but both relaxing and inviting. Great wine list and super service with staff who really know the cuisine and will discuss it with you. I stayed here for 4 days and contrary to normal habits ate in the restaurant every night and was never disappointed.

Le Communal isa place where you will find everything you need. From an exhaustive list of beers, to…read morea little convenience store, it is quaint as it can be. The owners, Sebastien & Sidonie are really nice and helpful, and they own a lodge in the village in which you can stay for a few nights. In this little village, it's THE place to go, you won't be disappointed.

It's always a great pleasure to have dinner at the Restaurant Le Pastoral (Hotel Alysson): large…read moredining room, relaxing music, friendly, sensitive and thoughtful service and extremely interesting price ("menu tradition" with starter, main course and dessert at 29€). But above all I am always impressed by the creative and perfect combination of ingredients in all dishes, like today the potatoes and duck mille feuille with vegetables and mushroom sauce, or the other proposal from my previous picture.

I always try to be balanced in reviews, and the good part about staying in Oloron St Michel is that…read moreit is really the perfect place to go hiking through the lakes south of there. We had an astonishingly beautiful day and I would not have traded that for the world. Staying in Oloron seemed a good option, and after staying in the amazing Chateau Lalande near Perigueux, we found the listing for Alysson in their same guides to Chateaux and Hotel. Sure, it looked modern, but it was cheap, and located in a place that we liked. I didn't mind the bird in the lobby. I like birds. I thought that the very pretty women at reception were also very competent and friendly. We appreciated the free parking too. But this hotel really needs an upgrade. It's more like a motel. We stayed in the unrenovated wing, and it was quite ugly. The wireless in our room did NOT work. It worked in the hall and lobby and perhaps we shouldn't complain as we had troubles with wireless throughout the whole of southwest France! The gym was OK. Thank god to be able to run on a treadmill after so much rich French food. But it's pretty run down. There was no refrigerator in our room for the lovely cheese we'd bought en route. Dinner was neither terrible nor outstanding, though the environment felt really like a motel or cheap hotel rather than upscale dining (and the prices were upscale). We had some really good wines, and the entrees and mains were better than the dessert. If we had the choice, I'd probably have looked for somewhere else with a bit more charm.

This hotel is def a 5 star. Prime location. Just a 5 minute walk from The Grotto. It's very clean…read more The staff is helpful, friendly and full of smiles. The hot water is plenty full and the water pressure is awesome. Will stay here again in the future.