Hotel Saint Nicolas

Perfectly adequate for a brief stay, better for ba

Plusy: Good location, about ten minutes' walk straight downhill from the train station (note that the ten minutes will all be on cobblestones, so if you're rolling your luggage, like most people, you'll be clattering loudly all the way there, through the center of the tourist area). Very friendly and helpful staff. When we arrived much earlier than regular check-in because of an early-morning flight, the young woman at the front desk had no record of our reservation, but had us sit for a few minutes while she emailed and phoned, and eventually she found a record of it. Jet-lagged and fading fast, we were allowed to check in a couple hours early, as soon as a room was ready. When we woke up from a nap to find that it was raining, she went to the back room and found a forgotten umbrella to loan us (we returned it when we left). Good water pressure in the shower. Good wifi.

Minusy: Room was tiny: when we brought our luggage inside, we couldn't move around (and we only had one suitcase and one carry-on each). We had to get really creative, finding ways to stack our things, using the top of the wardrobe (luckily, I'm extremely tall) to get a tiny amount of floor space. Not very clean at all. The luggage storage was shockingly filthy, with trash strewn around. Across the street is a pub, where people were still partying after sunrise, making us feel a little nervous when we checked out at 6:30 a.m. and had to go clattering up the street past a big crowd of drunks. Breakfast didn't open until 7:00 a.m. (but when we checked out, all the food was already sitting out at room temperature). And the easy downhill walk of ten minutes from the train station turns into a challenging uphill walk of 12-15 minutes back to the station, towing clattering luggage over the cobblestones.