Detailed review by koshkha
koshkha
Northampton, United Kingdom98%
The first time I stayed at the Ibis in Dijon I nearly cried. After that I always made sure to fill my suitcase with some home comforts to make my stay less unbearable. I know that Ibis is a budget chain but in France they seem to have developed the ability to almost feel like you are being punished for choosing to be so mean with your money. I do not know any other hotel chain or hotel (and in that I include $10 a night hovels in India) that doesn't provide shampoo for example.
The Ibis Dijon Central does have a couple of things going for it. It is, as the name suggests, in a good central location. It can also be cheap, though looking at the prices currently showing on trivago I'd have to say there's NO WAY I'd pay those to stay here. If you can get it for £40-£50 and you really can't find something else, then maybe give it a go. But don't pay £70 or more or it will leave a nasty taste in your mouth.
The advantages list was short but there are lots of reasons to not stay here. It's noisy, very noisy, and you might want to take ear plugs or sound reducing headphones if you want to guarantee a quiet night. It's not just the road noise that's a problem though, everything about the place is cheaply constructed without much thought to noise reduction. Reception is cramped and dowdy and looks a bit shabby. There's a small restaurant/bar where I've not eaten but I'm told it's OK - nothing spectacular but quite good value and you can get room service but if you aren't a meat eater, the choices are very limited.
The rooms are small, ugly and not very well equipped. They have colour schemes that make you feel faintly nauseous (orange curtains and too many splodgy patterns) and everything about the rooms has an aura of chip-board and cheapness. Desks are tiny and cluttered with the detritus of hotel life. Wardrobes are mean and you can't help but feel they fear you'll be the sort of person who steals coat hangers. Bathrooms are pod-like and remind me of British railway toilets. Don't search too long for the toiletries as there probably won't be anything more than a bulk dispenser of liquid soap. On my first horribly depressing visit I'd driven for 12 hours to get to Dijon and was really looking forward to a long soak in the bath. Then I checked and found no shampoo. I called down to reception and, giving them the benefit of the doubt and assuming that it MUST be a mistake, I said "There doesn't seem to be any shampoo in my bathroom, could I get some please". I was told that they don't provide shampoo and was left to attempt to scrub my hair with soap. When an American male colleague of mine stayed at the Ibis he was stunned to discover the shower hose was so short that he could only get clean by crouching down in the bathtub and said you'd need to 'run around to get wet' in the Ibis shower.
Forget niceties like ironing boards and irons in your room - if you are very lucky and if the staff can remember who they loaned it to last, you might be able to borrow the hotel ironing board. Same situation with the hairdryer. I'm not snooty or demanding about hotels but after 3 stays at the Ibis I told my colleagues in the Dijon office that if they expected me to stay there again, then they'd better not invite me over again. Susequently they found a lot of different small local hotels.
The only thing that scares me more than the thought of having to stay at this hotel again, is the knowledge that the Accor group has Etap and Formule1 hotels in the same city which must be even worse.
Ibis Dijon Central1
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