Le Clos du Galion - Ile de Ré

Minnie L 3/5 just now on Google Generally good Hotel with room for improvement particularly on the management side. The location is fabulous , at the end of the harbour and therefore avoids the noise of the main passageway. The rooms and shower rooms are tastefully decorated in minimalist French chic & a bottle of water and tea/ coffee making facilities are provided on arrival . You can hire good quality bikes direct for 17 euros a day and there is underground parking for which they also charge . Cristobell, and the other 2 ladies manning reception are lovely , kind and friendly and will do their very best to help. The Pool is cold ish but cleaned daily. In peak times , it is busy - they could easily add more loungers by removing the fence at the top of the pool . This is an unused space and could accommodate at least another 6 loungers. I do not recommend ground floor rooms from the perspective of safety. There is simply no protection from passersby who walk directly under the rooms. They need to erect safety bars on all the ground floor windows abutting the street. The rooms can be climbed into easily and in minutes. For this reason , although Ile de Re is safe generally , I felt unsafe sleeping with the window open. There is a latch but a theif would simply have to flip it upwards . Reception does not overlook these rooms and they would be very easy to access. Secondly , my safe was not working. The manager knew this ( he told me) , yet he still deemed it acceptable to place guests in there . I had to lock my PP and £ in the Office safe . This was inconvenient . They offered me another room after 3 days and I simply could not be bothered . They did not offer me a bottle of wine or any reparation for the inconvenience . Customer service is everything and I insisted upon a discount when I paid my bill. I shouldn’t have to ask. Therein lies the problem with this hotel - there is NO management direction. He knew about the safe, but it was too inconvenient to get it fixed. He should have profusely apologised and made me feel better about it but no apology was forthcoming. Secondly, the cleaning is hit and miss - some are definitely better than others . On one occasion I walked in and a cleaner was sprawled on my bed and on the phone . She didn’t bother cleaning the bathroom or pick up the wet towels and left. I mentioned it to the manager and I would have fully expected him to send someone in to sort it but alas the bathroom was exactly how the cleaner had left it. A good manager giving the hotel direction would have taken control of the matter . It is these types of issues which make an ordinary hotel a Good hotel. A minor thing , he didn’t even offer me a glass of wine on my birthday . All these gestures which should come naturally to a good manager seemed to totally escape him . With the right management , this hotel could be on the map but sadly it is skirting around it at the moment . I enjoyed the food on my birthday. The chef is good and th

Le Galion is good value especially compared with other hotels in the vicinity. Comfortable rooms and perfect location. Our expectations were exceeded. This is a wonderful hotel, and we're grateful to the friendly staff and informative manager. Thanks for making our stay so enjoyable.