Hotelf1 Rouen Zénith Parc Expo

It’s true, you get what you pay for. Shoebox size rooms, even the bathroom. Make sure you book a room with shower otherwise you have to go down a dimly lit hallway to the collective showers. Table in the room is a 20cm shelf. Paper thin duvet, it’s was cold even with heating on. It apparently cashed in to the asylum crisis, there were Afghani-looking bearded young men hanging around outside. I would not bring my wife there. Upon leaving I was greeted with Islamic music on the radio which is the last thing I want to hear in a French hotel. Never again.

Some years ago I stayed in an F1 near Auxerre with friends. The room was quite big, clean & basic. And very cheap & therefore excellent value. A few days ago (driving from Scotland to Asturias) we decided to stop at Rouen & chanced a night at the F1 Sud. We will never stay at an F1 again. The room was tiny (more like a cell) & for HOURS during the night (& well after the supposed quiet time of 10pm) there was shouting, arguing, banging on doors etc. This place felt very unsafe & we couldn't wait to get out at 8am the next morning. More like a hostel for asylum seekers or a halfway house for those being reintegrated into society after a prison stretch than a "hotel". And at 55€ it's not even that cheap. AVOID!!!!

We have not used an F1 hotel for some years but, for some reason, our usual choices were fully-booked. However, previous experience of the F1 Group was satisfactory - certainly for a budget hotel. What a disappointment on this occasion! Our first complaint was that there was not a single towel - hand or bath - in the room. The gentleman at Reception informed us that we could buy towels, or upgrade to a more expensive room! Having already paid almost €70 we did not wish to pay anymore. Remember, this is a hotel where toilets and showers are shared - and one has to walk along the corridor to make use of either. There had been, we were informed, a refurbishment of the premises. I don't know what was considered wrong with the previous decor, but we were not impressed by the wall facing us as we went to bed - photo below! The weather was hot and humid, but the cold-air blower in the room was not functioning! There wasn't even a plastic tumbler for rinsing out one's mouth after teeth-brushing. In our opinion, the chain should be re-named "ripofF1". We shall NOT be returning.

Do yourself a favour and sleep in your car instead of this place. It was truly awful. Paper thin walls, smoking in supposedly non smoking rooms, no towels or soap in bathrooms. You are paying for a shoe box to sleep in. We left as soon as we could the next day feeling slightly dirty from having stayed there. Although to be fair it wasn’t actually dirty at all hence one star.