Campanile Epernay - Dizy  

Position for touring the Champagne route

I booked this I for a stopover on the way to skiing in the alps. I knew we would arrive late so I asked before I booked and was told the code for a green box on the wall to collect our key. So far so good. It looked like it was just what we needed. We did arrive late- half term so Euro tunnel was running late and the weather was so cold- minus 10-11 degrees. We arrived at 1am with 2 tired children and 2 tired drivers after a day at work/school. It was dark and very very cold. People were walking about the big building as we parked. We could see a smaller building. We walked around the bigger building (no lights and it was dark) and there were only door sot rooms. Two other English men from 2 families were around and said that there was no one around, the green box didn't work so they had found rooms with keys and gone in. They were trying to settle younger kids. No one wanted to be out for long as it was so cold.

My husband found the green box. It said "error " or similar on it. No extra notes anywhere near it. He punched in the codes and tried for 5-10 minutes. The box did not work and one of my sons started to cry as he was so cold and just woken up from the car. I ran around the building and fond a room with a key in the door - it was a double and inside was a key that fitted the next door room also a double. I assumed that was where we were meant to seep. It was snow 1.30am and we had a long day ahead of us the next day. So we went to bed. Not ideal as we had booked a quad room for all 4 of us to sleep in together but better than driving on and trying to dins somewhere else. At about 2.30am when I was fast asleep, the telephone rang. It was a woman who told us we were in the wrong room and we should be in room 13 I think it was. She fortunately did not make us move. I am however never able to get back to sleep once woken however tired - and the room was cold. The next morning, I went to pay. I found the office with a front door in the second smaller building near to the green box but not visible in the dark. The lady told me we had to pay for 2 doubles as we had used them. I explained how I had no sleep and her answer was that for all 3 families who had arrived late she had written a note. It was on an a4 piece of paper and I believe she had stuck it on the front door but not the big green box. None of us had found it. In tiny writing which we could not have read without a torch, it had our room number and our name. I refused to pay the extra and we had a disagreement in French which included "vous anglais" and eventually she took the money for the quad room but I am waiting to check my account she didn't also take money from my credit card. Otherwise the room was fine- clean and comfortable.

Food ok

Cold bedroom

Location, value for money

Triple room: 2 normal beds and one on the floor! No space! Tiny rooms: promised 22 m2, actually - 14 m2.

It was a Campanile. What more is there to say?

Very comfortable and very clean--also beautiful surroundings in the middle of the champagne country. Good room at a good price.

Ideal location for visiting Epernay and Reims where a lot of the champagne houses are. Easy to find and good value for money. Will stay again. Breakfast is excellent!

The room was very clean. Good view over the vines and up the hill.

The food was disappointing. For some reason my husband was not allowed chips with his steak and I was not allowed French beans with my meal, despite other diners having chips/French beans and the menu implying we could choose these options! I would use the hotel again, but not the restaurant. Also, we could not use the wireless network in our room.

Did not realise from the advertising that it was really a motel. There wasn't even a wardrobe in the room, just an open hanger with five coathangers. Advertised as two single beds, but second was pull out from under the bed. A huge mistake for us to stay there on a family holiday for five nights!

It is a place to have as a base for going around the area. It is not smart, the rooms are functional and no more. The food was adeqaute and no more. The location was pleasant, adjacent to a vinyard in Dizy and was well sign posted and easy to find. There was an excellent wine merchant in walking distance. The staff did arrange for a taxi to take us into Epernay proper - Dizy is a few kilometers outside - and Epernay proper is a pleasant and interesting city.

Our rooms were round the back, even though we stayed for two nights and booked in advance. The staff member on duty when we arrived seemed to struggle with booking us in. The rooms allocated were dark and the bathroom in one room was not clean. The staff were polite but amateurish. Booking in was chaotic and the errors had to be sorted out when we left. Tbe hotal was functional: it was not comfortable and certainly not smart. The central heating in both bedrooms seemed to be broken. The "instructions" as to use were unclear and unsuccessful in operation. It was either too hot or too cold: the temperature could not be regulated.

Very over priced. Rude staff, very basic for price. Don't bother staying there.