Bleak House ....Hotel Novotel Vieux Port, Marseille
Written: Dec 20 '07 (Updated Dec 20 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Use of the amenities of the adjoining Sofitel. Good views from some rooms.
Cons: Inconvenient location for those on foot, attention needs to be given to public areas
The Bottom Line: The Novotel Vieux Port Marseille offers more than you might expect in a bare-bones package. Just keep your expectations low and you won't be disappointed.
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| tombarnes's Full Review: Novotel Vieux Port Marseille |
The Novotel Vieux Port in Marseille is actually part of a larger complex which includes the Sofitel Vieux Port. In 1987, the Novotel was created from one wing of the hotel, perhaps creating a use for their rooms with less desirable views. The building is an L shaped, five storied block of black reflective glass which doesn't exactly live in harmony with the stone fort nearly surrounding it.
Lobby
The lobby isn't much more than a confluence of passageways with a registration desk. Given that the Novotel was originally a wing of the larger hotel, this is not surprising. We were greeted in friendly, but matter-of-fact fashion by the desk staff. As with our hotel in Nice, the room we were offered was not cleaned and did not have the extra bed promised to us. We did arrive midday, so I can't fault them too much on this point. We hadn't long to wait before the new room (409) was ready.
The walk to the room proved to reveal more about the general state of the hotel than almost anything else I'd seen yet. The carpets in the hallways were clean, but scabrous and stained to the point that I might have imagined myself in a halfway house instead of a hotel.
Room
The Accor people really know how to distill the hotel experience down to its bare bones. Without being unattractive, the room was spare in a way which suggested a hospital. Clever design practices have been used here as well. A small stool against the wall becomes a luggage rack and its center overlay can be used as a bed board or even a (rickety) side table if desired. The Novotel people seemed so proud of this innovation that they devised an entire brochure to tout its supposed benefits.
Back to basic comfort. It's there, if you need it, but the cheerless lighting and the gloomy gray carpet still managed to cast a pall over the room. The modern art pieces relieved the starkness of the bare white walls, but only just. The magnificent view of the Palace of the Pharo (lighted effectively at night, too) gave the room its only real distinction. The large bed was indubitably comfortable, but the sofa bed (remarkably, the sofa contained two single beds) proved to be more of a torture rack which could have been purloined from the fortifications nearby.
Bath
Spartan? The very essence. The sink was a sleek molded fiberglass wonder and the shower looked positively clinical. Aside from their dreary appearance, the necessities of the bath worked without incident. Soap, lotion and shampoo were displayed in a clever lucite rack.
Dining
The dining room was another public space designed with an almost perfect lack of imagination or spirit. Maybe they didn't think they needed to do very much to compete with the view of the ancient forts and churches just across the harbor. A simple dinner in this room turned out better than I might have supposed. Breakfast was a more utilitarian affair, but happened to be included in our rate.
Just in case you get the crazy idea to visit the rooftop dining room at the Sofitel, the 85 Euro set menu might make you think better of it. There are plenty of good restaurants in the old city nearby.
Bar
We preferred to use the bar at the Sofitel, just a short walk upstairs. The bar in the Novotel wasn't awful, but it reminded us of the sort of anonymous airport bar you might find in, say, Pittsburgh. Curiously, one cannot order food of any kind in this bar. We usually found ourselves upstairs at the Sofitel's bar enjoying sandwiches for 18 Euro or so.
Recreation
There was a large swimming pool just outside the restaurant and below the terrace. Unfortunately, it was an outdoor pool and there was no evidence that it was heated.
Cost
Given the exchange rate, we were lucky to have paid only about $152.00 USD per night for our rooms here. Technically, their rooms start at 119 Euro and progress upwards from there. Paying terribly much more for this hotel would surely be a great injustice to your purse.
Overall
The Novotel, or as I prefer to call it, the Nohotel, is strictly utilitarian in the larger sense, though it offers a stronger sense of design than that found at its counterparts in the United States. The location offers an interesting setting and a few amazing views (from the right room), but the idea that you are in a convenient location relative to much of anything in Maresille is incorrect. The walk down to the harbor is a pretty one, but takes at least 20 minutes. My father's pace made the walk closer to 45 minutes. Think carefully before believing the map.
Novotel Vieux Port
36 Boulevard Charles Livon
13007 Marseille, France
Tel. 33-4-96-11-42-11
Fax 33-4-96-11-42-20
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
tombarnes
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 - Top 200 |
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Member: Thomas Barnes
Location: Fort Lauderdale & Washington, DC
Reviews written: 688
Trusted by: 443 members
About Me:
With Barbara in Miami, 2004
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