Hotel Novotel a Lilla

We stayed here in order to go to a game at the Rugby World Cup, while this was on they tripled the charge for an overnight stay but this is true of hotels in all cities hosting an event so it was expected. The hotel is in a good location just a short walk from the old town and many bars & restaurants. There's also a supermarket around the corner for beer/wine (there's a fridge in the room) or snacks. It's also not too far from the Eurostar station which you can walk to or take the metro. The format of the bedrooms seemed to vary depending on the location, ours was on the 4th floor and had a separate shower in addition to the bath but it had no room to store flat clothes, there was only hanging space. Rooms on the 2nd floor only had a bath with a shower outlet but plenty storage room for clothes. Regardless our room was clean, quiet, well decorated and had a comfortable bed - nothing at all to complain about. It also had a safe, a large flat screen TV and good wi-fi reception. The staff on reception and in the bar were friendly and helpful. The bar was very busy while we were there but they managed to cope very well with the number of orders for both drinks and food. Drinks were on the expensive side but this is true of most hotels. Breakfast was a bit disappointing in terms of variety and quality (especially the hot items) but the bread was fresh and there was some fruit on offer. There is a courtyard area where you can sit outside in addition to the bar/breakfast areas and we found this a convenient place to sit on the last day while we were waiting for transport to go home. As it is close to Flanders we took the opportunity to book a private WW1 battlefield tour which we enjoyed. If we decide to return to do a similar tour we will certainly stay at this hotel.

On the last day of our stay I had to get onto reception to clean room no toilet paper no clean towels. The receptionist said you were in your room. That's why we could not clean it, so 8 said OK my husband and I will go out for an hour. We came back and the maid was just finishing off the room. The walls had filled in holes and wood hip paper over them. The toilet no bleach down and had to use my hand wipes to clean toilet. You have to mind all the steps when getting out of toilet and bathroom, also make sure you shut your hotel door properly as it does not shut itself. The breakfast croissant were greasey, I took my own teabags. As the ones they had were mint and the coffee pod machine was filthy don't use. We stayed in room 306 avoid, as you will here very loud noise off buses, cars beeping there horns at each other every night and day. Before the pandemic we stayed in room 308 that was OK. When you try to speak to reception they don't understand you unless you speak in French. Breakfast we went for 6am and around 7am was absolutely full no seats or tables. Seats are like wood and metal tables all wonky. One of the machines were broken in breakfast area. One of the breakfast staff always swapping things round when your trying to have a quiet breakfast. Like setting bowls and hot plate up again. Say its a 2 star instead of 3 star, the microwave you can only put microwave chips on from carrefour. Lille is 4 times expensive now and beggers argue with you and follow you around till you give them money. If you don't give beggers money they try to take your bags off you and I think got the jest they are threatening you. You have to walk away from them quickly. We will never go there again.

We stayed in the hotel for 2 nights (2 adults and 1 baby). The room was fine, a little dated but spacious enough for what we needed. A cot bed was provided, which was good. There was a decent hairdryer and mini fridge, which was useful. There was a kettle with tea and coffee making facilities but we found that the kettle was really old and leaked water everywhere. There was no milk for the tea, and only paper cups. Our main issue with the room was the bed. Although the mattress was comfy, the bed frame seemed to be some sort of temporary one which was extremely squeaky every time we moved. Not helpful when you have a baby sleeping in the room. We did hear a little bit of noise on the first night but not a lot the hotel could do about this as it was from the street outside rather than from another room. The positive about this hotel is the location. It's only a 12 minute walk from the main square, which was perfect for us. We also found the staff to be very friendly and welcoming on check in. They allowed us to check in early even though we arrived 2 hours ahead of check in time. Breakfast was pretty good, with a decent selection on offer. Overall, a pretty good find for the price we paid but could do with some basic improvements to the room.