Crowne Plaza Toulouse, Toulouse

The crown Plaza hotel in the centre of the old town of Toulouse is a great place for a romantic weekend break. BMI fly in to Toulouse from Manchester so two hours after boarding the plane we had just a twenty minute (20 Euro) taxi drive from Toulouse Blagnac airport to get to the hotel. I booked using the www.ichotelsgroup.com website which is a very easy way of finding the best hotel anywhere in the world within the group (Holiday Inn, Intercontinental and Crowne Plaza). So I had read that the location for this hotel was on Place Capitole in the centre of the old town of Toulouse. What a result. We didn't hire a car because we just wanted to stay in the city centre and do the café / museum / cathedral / restaurant chill out weekend and from this hotel just a short walk to all the above was possible. One of Toulouse's best known sights is Pont Neuf and this is about 5 minutes walk from the hotel. A must see at night when it is lit up. Anyway I mustn't wander off into a town review or the Ciao review police will be after me!

So the hotel is in Place Capitol and it does have some garage parking available but as I didn't use that I can't comment on the quality etc. I did notice it was over the road rather than under the hotel but this is a very narrow street so there would not be a long walk with bags etc. As is the way with these types of group hotels all the staff spoke very good English and were very polite. Sometimes I don't like it when hotel staff respond to my bad French with an English reply but here I noticed they did try to speak back to me in French and only resorted to English when it became obvious I didn't understand! The concierge helped me with suggestions of what to see in the short time I was in town and also looked up the details of a rugby match I wanted to go to as well (I know I said a romantic weekend but you can't go to Toulouse when Stade Toulousain are playing at Home and miss the match).

I booked a deluxe double room and it cost 153 Euros per night for the room bed and breakfast. At check in I was upgraded to a club room (I am a priority club gold member) which enabled me to use the club lounge on the fifth floor. This opened at 6.00pm for free of charge aperitifs and some nibbles. The room was very big for a city centre hotel and had a king size bed. The shower wasn't the best in the world using a mixer tap system off the bath but it functioned adequately. All the usual facilities of this standard hotel were available. I suggest you ask for a room away from the square because it can get quite noisy at night with traffic and people. We managed this and although it meant no view it was very quiet.

The hotel has a sauna and gym but I didn't get the chance to look at them so can't comment on the standard. They don't have a swimming pool.
The hotel bar is open until 1pm and was pretty much deserted for most of the time we were there. There are better places to drink nearby.
Down in the basement the restaurant was good for breakfast and again the staff were friendly and spoke English. Continental, full cooked breakfast or a choice of omelettes available until 10.30.

In summary the best thing about this hotel is the location. In the heart of the city and you are surrounded by historic buildings and good restaurants. I would go back again.