Best Western Hotel l'Atelier 117 — Hotel in Avesnes-sur-Helpe

We spent a week here. We wanted somewhere we we could explore an area of France we had never visited as well as go exploring in Belgium too. ||This hotel is really set up of business travel. It’s reflected in their price, room size and how the hotel restaurant is ran (closed Friday evening till Monday evening), breakfast is available every day but evening meals are not. The room was very clean. The a/c in our room was not very powerful and our room got quite stuffy. The cleaners were very friendly and polite. The hotel staff were professional. The reception is only manned till 17:00. ||There is a large bakery practically next door which is open till late (19:30 ish). There are a variety of restaurants/fast food outlets near the train station. We ate at the hotel restaurant in the evening twice. The other nights we bought bits and bobs from the supermarket and bakery. 500 meters away is a laundrette which is open from 8am till 8pm which we used. ||I would recommend having a car if you were to stay here so you can go and explore further a field. ||We have had a lovely holiday exploring this part of France...

We booked 3 rooms for 2x nights to attend a local sports tournament. Our 3 separate parties arrived late due to travelling but had been provided with access details which all working fine. Upon entering the rooms the smell of smoking/cigarettes was so strong the guest had to open the window in an attempt to clear the smell (which did not work) and then used her perfume to try and mask the smell somehow (again without success). The other 2x rooms smelt of sewage - the small was terrible. Again opening of windows and using perfume did not assist at all! Each smell felt as though it permeated everything in the room, including our clothes and hair

Dirty pillow cases and towels that smelt of harsh soda did not add any positives to the experience but as it was so late when we arrived there was no alternative other than to stay.

However, the breakfast was good with a fair selection of food on offer.

We booked an alternative hotel for the second night which was super clean and the people...

If you arrive from Belgium this hotel is the first thing that meets you. Very welcoming team. Excellent breakfast. Free parking. Room comfortable. I had a really good sleep, so it speaks about the quality of the mattress and pillows. What I really like is how the hotel found the solution for the motor way which is next door (the window has double glass, but also separate by 20 cm wide air between the two parts of the window that you can open separately. It was a discovery for me! When both are closed you literally don’t hear any sound from the outside world!!! Nicely thought! Room and bathroom are small but you don’t have this feeling because everything is really well organised: means everything has its place and you don’t feel stoked. Location is 10 minutes walk from the city centre, museum, ancient ruins...