Le Barboux Vacations from $589

I did not like that they were charging €20 to check in 2 hours early when the room was available anyway.

Beautiful location walking distance to citadelle and old town Besançon near breathtaking views and the gorgeous walking path along the river. The hotel had an eclectic and charming lobby/ lounge. Our room was on the ground floor of an annex type building. It was clean and simple. There is no air conditioning which was not a problem for us in early June but might be in mid summer. There is very limited parking on property and we had to find street parking which was not an easy feat - the staff directed us to a nearby lot which was full the entire stay requiring us to park on a road along the river - perhaps a 5 min walk away. Overall outstanding location and would stay here again.

The room condition was poor. Lighting broken / not working. Curtains old and in poor condition. The TV had limited channels and sound level was fixed / not adjustable. Bar staff not present and needed to be called via reception when required.

Great check-in, super efficient and friendly service. Breakfast was great and the service awesome.

If you ever book this property, make sure your dates are unchangeable. I had to move my stay forward by a week so they forfeited my money because according to them, it was non-refundable because the rate I was given at booking time, was supposedly "special". They never showed me where in the contract, this was stipulated. Although they forfeited my money, I still went ahead and booked a second time, with the new date, hoping they would appreciate my business and refund the previous amount. They were adamant, claiming the money was non-refundable, but never showed me where that was found in the contract. I knew the money could be forfeited in case of cancelation but not because I was simply moving the date forward . Availability of rooms was not the issue because I still ended up having a room, at the same rate, with the new date. I should have just gone ahead and booked a different hotel. I had chosen this one though, because of the online reviews. Service was ok, nothing spectacular for a three-star hotel. Staff members made an effort to communicate in English the best they could. However because they forfeited my money under a false non-refundable pretext, I won't lodge at this hotel in the future, unless as a last resort.