Novotel Nantes Centre Gare

A great disappointment Solo traveler. I stayed for 2 nights on a business trip. The location is quite handy as it is close to the railway ( 9 min. flat walk) and to the city centre, where my business partners office is located (10-15 min. flat walk). From the outside it looks a little run down (e.g. old signage and dated style). Staff seems nice although they are not really helpful, or maybe they don't have the resources to be helpful. I arrived in the city at 1pm during a red warning storm but I wasn't allowed to check in until 4pm, although they offered to keep my luggage if I wanted to go for a walk (?). At check -in they charged me €100 deposit, I was told in case I incurred in extra expenses (e.g. room service). At check-out they ensured the deposit would be returned to my account in the afternoon but I am still waiting for the reimbursement 3 days after. Breakfast is quite good, although it could be better tended (e.g. egg boiler had insufficient water to boil the eggs and the temperature was too low). They didn't have vegan milk (soya, oat etc..). Also, it was unpleasant that staff vacuumed near guests tables during breakfast. My room was quite run down: the carpet was stained and had cigarette burns. The room had peeled walls, and there were broken tiles in the bathroom. The furniture didn't look too fresh. I didn't dare to sit on the sofa since the upholstery didn't look very clean. The mattress was really bad. I could feel (and hear) all the springs and woke up with a very bad back pain in the morning. The heating wasn't working either and didn't get fixed during my stay, although I had advised reception of the problem. In summary: Novotel was such a disappointment and not worth the money. The pictures they show on the website and booking platforms are not accurate (at least for my room). I won't recommend it to anyone.