Appart-Hotel de la R

Not all the apartments in this building give the same level of comfort. The room for 2 people (double bed) that we had could be compared to a hotel room with the addition of a small sink and a tiny cluttered work top. There were five pieces of kitchen equipment - toaster, microwave, coffee machine and electric double-hob that could be plugged in to 2 sockets next to the sink, and one above the fridge, which obviously had a separate power supply. These items were all low-cost, as were the limited kitchen utensils, crokery and cutlery. There was a low coffee table and not even a small kitchen table for eating off. The front door was difficult to open and close, and consequently was normally left open. The room itself was warm and well decorated. The manager was friendly and generally helpful, though his solution to the automatic lighting in the stairwell that didn't come on as we left our room was to climb several steps towards the movement detector. The apartments for 4 and 6 people are superior, and the top apartment has a terrace with a view of the 'Place de la République'. The central location is the selling point for these apartments, though I would worry about the noise in the summer for those who prefer to sleep with the windows open rather than with air-conditionning. In summary I would say that the larger apartments (about 40m²) are a good option, but I would prefer to stay in a hotel rather than the apartment for 2 people (25m² to 30m²).

We booked this apartment for one night, we spoke with the agent to confirm all was okay. We travelled 8 hrs and arrived at the apartment at 8.30pm. We could not get entry to the apartment so we rang the agent to find our apartment had been booked out to someone else, the agent arranged to meet us but did not, so we had to find other accommodation which was very difficult at that time of night, we had our confirmation of booking but this proved pointless, our apartment was named MAJORCA. Please be careful if booking this apartment.

You would be pushed to find a better central location for bars, restaurants, shops (an epicerie fine/delicatessen is on the ground floor, below the apartments) and the Saturday market. This, however, could be an issue for those wanting a quiet sojourn. If an evening event has been held in Place de la Republique, the (mechanised) street cleaners will be out at the crack of dawn clearing up. Also, the shouting (generally) of late-night revellers (particularly after rugby matches) crossing the square echoes from the buildings across the Place. We have stayed at Republique Apartments five times over the past seven years, the last time being in August this year (2014) so, clearly, we are not bothered by the 'issues' mentioned above. In our view, these are more than made up for by the positives. Our preference is for the first-floor Castillet with three balconies looking over the square and three/four (?) side windows overlooking Rue Victor Mirabeau. However, we have also stayed in the top-floor Republique which has a roof terrace and the side-view Rigaud. The apartments changed hands a year-or-so ago from their British owners to a local man. This year, we found the communications for arrival arrangements etc and the service absolutely excellent. Up The Wire!