Sofitel Marseille Vieux Port : some potential but way too expensive for what you get

This was a 4-night stay back in March. At that time, we could move around in the country, but curfew from 6 pm and all restaurants closed (except takeaway). So it was important to select an hotel with a proper room service as I sincerely disliked my previous experiences at hotels without room service when you need to order food from outside and eat in your room without plate and cutlery.

I hesitated between the MGallery Grand Hotel Beauveau where I already stayed a few years ago and the Sofitel where I had lunchs before but where I never stayed. I posted some pictures in another thread when I had lunch there the last time.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/27046157-post8.html

Both locations are great at the old harbor but I decided to go to the Sofitel. Like all Sofitel in France, this hotel is quite expensive : the minimum you can expect to pay is in the 250 E range and this will be pre-paid, in low season and without harbor view. Rooms with harbor view come often in the 400-600 E range depending on the room type and dates. So this is definitely not a cheap hotel.

From the other side of the harbor, the Sofitel buiding is the one circled in red:

I booked a Superior room and I thought that it should be no problem for being upgraded knowing the period and very likely low occupancy (I was wrong on the latter - I will come back on this). 2 days before stay I received an email explaining all the Covid measures and with the room service menu. Spa was open but appointment needed. The day before stay, they called me to enquire at what time I was expecting to check-in. Expected time was around noon, so I said I was expecting to order lunch in room and they asked me to send them the choice by email if possible.

Checking-in, I was very nicely welcome. Two drink vouchers were given, room was ready but I was informed that unfortunately I could not be upgraded because the hotel was full. I was surprised to hear that, knowing the context, but good for them if they are able to still do good business in this period. The reason for this was that there was a regional tennis tournament and players and staff were lodged at the Sofitel. They promised to keep an eye on cancellations and to change my room during stay if there is an opportunity. They had received my order for lunch and as I was a bit early, they asked me if I wanted to adjust the delivery time which I did.

For your good understanding, this hotel has a specific “design” due to the specificities of the area : the lobby is on the 3rd floor, so you have guest rooms on floors 1, 2, 4 to 6 and a restaurant and bar on the top floor. There is another bar in the lobby as well as an outdoor terrace restaurant (the one I posted pictures of in another thread).

Here are the entrance, lobby, lobby bar and terrace:

View from the terrace (at different times of the day):

This the Superior room, facing backward (the harbor is on the other side of the hotel) on the 6th floor. Not very large but OK. Bathroom with Hermès products. Shortly after I arrived in the room, front desk called me to say that they just received a cancellation for the next day, so I can have a room with harbor view the next day. Welcome gift was a notebook. All good so far.

The following day I changed room sometime during the afternoon. The new room with balcony and harbor view was on the 1st floor. The corridor leading to rooms on this floor has a different arrangement than on other floors and I didn’t feel well in this corridor. It is hard to explain but you didn’t feel being in a fancy hotel and there was a kind of unpleasant smell in it. The room was larger than the previous one and has a large balcony. The view was certainly very nice and better than in the previous room, but I was not wowed at all by this terrace (it was starting to be dark outside and I will come back on this during a daytime assessment ;) . But I decided to stay there because of the view and the larger room.

View from the balcony:

The following morning, I realized how bad this balcony was. It was in a bad state with depressing raw concrete walls, horrible railing, big water pipes with moulds, stained floor. Tables and chairs from another century and one chair was even missing  a part as you can see on the picture. Well…if this is Sofitel Luxury as it is branded… I think the pictures are self-explanatory. Totally unacceptable when you think that they can charge 400 or 500 EUR/night for such a room. I never went again on the balcony as it was too bad, to “dirty” and I was out all day anyway.

The following day I sent an email to the GM with the pictures and with my mixed feeling about this stay so far (I emphasized also the good aspects of the experience notably the excellent and very kind staff all around, the good room service and Covid-related measures). One hour later, I was called by the front desk who had been advised by the GM. They were very apologetic and they proposed me to change room again which I declined because it would have been only for the last night and I had to leave early so no time to really enjoy a new room and I didn’t want to pack and unpack one more time. A few minutes after this call, the bar delivered a bottle of champagne to my room. Nice attention for sure.

In non-covid times, on the top floor you have a renowned restaurant called Les Trois Forts and a bar lounge called Le Dantès. As said above on the lobby floor, you have another bar and an outdoor restaurant for lunch. Of course, all that is closed at the moment due to government-issued restrictions and all F&B is to be ordered and consumed as room service. So your drink voucher is also to be used as room service.

Overall, if my stay was certainly not bad, I have mixed feelings about this hotel. The fundamentals are good with a great location and a superb view on the harbor, and very good F&B services. And all staff members were really great. But the quality/price ratio is one of the worst you can find. The view does not justify to pay several hundreds Euros per night for such rooms and the state of my balcony was truly unacceptable.

Just after my stay, I received a written response from the GM apologizing again and informing me that they have decided to launch a renovation of the corridor of the 1st floor as well as all balconies on this floor (so apparently, the problem was not limited to my room).

Would I return ? sincerely not sure and certainly not at such prices for this quality.