Hotel Review: Hotel de la Cite Carcassonne

The Hotel de la Cite Carcassonne is a unique luxury hotel in the historic French castle town. In this extensive review, I’ll explain what I liked about the hotel and what you should be aware before booking!

Carcassonne is not only known from a book and a game, but it’s also a real historic monument with a tremendous amount of history.

• Classification: Five Stars
• Room Category: Terrace Room
• Month of Stay: February

If you want to dip into this world, you’ll surely want to stay right inside the castle – and that’s where the Hotel de la Cite Carcassonne is coming into picture. The hotel is located inside the castle walls, one of only very few options with this privilege. This alone is a good reason to stay here, but is the property worth recommending aside from the location?

Rooms at the Hotel de la Cite Carcassonne

As a Le Club Accor Gold member, I was given a nice upgrade at the Hotel de la Cite Carcassonne, not particularly in regards to the size of the room, but its massive outdoor area.

This particular room exists only twice in the whole hotel as there are generally not many rooms and they are basically all different anyways due to the old building. This particular room comes with a small entrance area, followed by a rather small bedroom. The design is very historic and somewhat fitting to the overall flair of the property. Basically, there’s just a queen sized bed, which is quite comfortable, with two nightstands.

Opposite of the bed, there’s a small wardrobe with a door, as well as a desk tucked underneath the flat-screen television.

Sadly, the desk chair is not particularly comfortable and the desk is a little small for properly working.

While there’s no coffee machine, you can at least find a kettle with some coffee and tea.

What makes this room at the Hotel de la Cite Carcassonne incredibly special is the incredible terrace.

It’s not only surprisingly spacious, but it also feels just amazing thanks to the feeling of being right inside of the castle.

Looking to the side, you can enjoy a perfect view of the castle as such, while looking straigth ahead you can watch over the town of Carcassone – wow.

The bathroom is a somewhat positive surprise as well. It’s rather spacious compared to the actual room and has an authentic flair with lots of marble – it reminded me a bit of the Hotel Due Torri Verona.

There’s a sink, a toilet (separated from the room by a door) and a shower-tub combo.

The latter comes with a really nice rain shower head.

All in all, I’d consider the rooms at the Hotel de la Cite Carcassonne to be quite nice without being particularly modern or large. The bathrooms and outside areas are amazing, while the actual room is just okay. Nevertheless, I like that the hotel chose to go for a very authentic way to decorate the rooms.

Breakfast at the Hotel de la Cite Carcassone

The breakfast experience at the Hotel de la Cite Carcassonne was another positive surprise of my stay at the property. I expected somewhat limited options, but the buffet is really high quality.

For example, there’s an incredibly good selection of cheeses and cold cuts.

Then, there are also various different bakery goods and cakes, yum!

My favorite is the huge table just displaying freshly cut fruits though.

The selection of hot items is somewhat limited and sad looking, but with this cold selection, I didn’t feel the need to partake in this anyways.

There’s also a menu, from which you can order frehsly prepared dishes, includings different egg variations.

I’d say that the Hotel de la Cite Carcassonne really shines when it comes to breakfast, this offering definitely feels superior to properties like the InterContinental Paris Le Grand or the Hotel Molitor Paris.

Drinks & Dinner at the Hotel de la Cite Carcassonne

While the property’s restaurant was closed during my stay, I had the chance to eat something at the bar. There, I also enjoyed an amazing drink, which was prepared by the bartender.

He was not only extremely knowledgable, but also nicely chatty and very kind. The drink as such was a highlight already, not only in presentation, but also in taste.

Furthermore, I ordered a charcuterie platter, which is something you can’t go wrong in France.

While not overly large, quality and taste were amazing, particularly combined with French baguette.

The restaruant of the Hotel de la Cite Carcassonne already won several awards as well, so dining here sure is an amazing option.

Pool & Garden at the Hotel de la Cite Carcassonne

One of the weaknesses of the Hotel de la Cite Carcassonne is the lack of a gym, which you can obviously find in larger properties in France like the Sofitel Marseille or the Sofitel Strasbourg. However, the hotel has a really charming garden inside the castles (it doesn’t look that great in winter).

There’s also a smallish swimming pool here, which is surrounded by a couple of comfortable loungers in summer. It looks a tad sad in winter, but I’m sure it’s beautiful in summer thanks to the unique castle views.

Furthermore, the location right inside the castle is so beautiful that you most likely end up walking around inside or on the castle walls for most of the time anyways, so there’s not really that much of a need for a gym after all.

All in all, I’d say that the recreation offerings are okay for a small boutique hotel in a unique location.

Overall impressions of the Hotel de la Cite Carcassonne

While I’m usually all for modern and stylish hotels or nice renovations of historic buildings, the Hotel de la Cite Caracassone has its own particular charm. No, the rooms as such aren’t perfect, but having one with a terrace and a nice bathroom absolutely satisfies me. The breakfast, service and dining experience are great at the same time – and then there’s the amazing location. There sure are cheaper options in Carcassonne, but the Hotel de la Cite definitely offers the most authentic experience in town!

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