nhow Marseille

We had a two night stay at the nhow Marseille hotel, and enjoyed the location and the gorgeous hotel. The room was a great size, well decorated and clean - we were located on the ground floor level next to the terrace, pool and spa. The man who helped with our luggage was really friendly, as was the receptionist who checked us in. The hotel is well located near to the La Plage and the new end of town by the Hippodrome, which is a 15 minute walk and offers lots of choice for bars and restaurants. It’s a great spot to watch the sunset too. It’s around 45 minutes to walk into Marseille - we’d recommend taking the sea route and enjoying the scenic views, monuments and attractions along the way. We returned to the city by bus for the evening which was convenient and only cost EURO 1.70, and runs late into the evening so it’s really easy to get back to the hotel. The pool at the hotel is lovely, as was the spa - although we didn’t get a chance to use this.

Now for some of the issues - I want this review to be impartial and provide constructive feedback to the hotel, which was also provided in person during our stay. Firstly, the parking is charged at EURO 25 per 24 hour period, which is a significant added expense when there is no alternative locally. There is a EURO 100 deposit charge PER NIGHT, which again seems excessive, but you have no choice other than to pay this. The restaurant and bar in the hotel is very expensive (breakfast is almost EURO 30 per person!), which put us off from spending time here. A large beer was EURO 10, which even the bar staff apologised for saying it’s unusually expensive compared to the rest of Marseille. Mini bar prices are also extortionate - a small chocolate bar was EURO 4.50. There was also a large private event happening for the time we were staying which took over a lot of the hotel, which was inconvenient due to a number of reasons: the rooftop bar was closed the entire time, even when not in use, the communal areas inside the hotel were mainly dedicated for the private event, so we didn’t feel comfortable walking around from the pool to the room. The terrace area was setup with tables and chairs for the lunch event, however this setup was done noisily each morning around 8am and was directly outside our room. The biggest issue was the WiFi not working in the hotel, which had been due to an issue affecting the wider area. However there was no mention of this at check in, no updates on when the WiFi would be available, and no solutions provided to offer an alternative connection (i.e. mobile hotspot in the reception area which can be easily & securely done with a dongle). I had to tether my computer to my UK mobile phone and use data to to be able to work, which is very costly. I discussed this with a lady from guest relations, and she was sympathetic - I asked if there was something that could be applied as a gesture upon check out. We left disappointed with the response from the reception and guest relations team, who apologised but offered no goodwill - not even a slight discount on the parking which I had suggested. This would have been satisfactory and would have cost the hotel almost nothing, but instead the team decided that the issues were outside of their control and offered no gesture other than an apology for our dissatisfaction. Overall, the hotel is lovely and I’m sure that you will have a great stay here, however we felt that the issues we had weren’t resolved and that reflects the rating given.