Marseille Airport, Provence
Good airport hotels can be both a joy and a tease. So many times I’ve found the bed and pillows in an airport hotel to be the comfiest of all… knowing I’m only going to have a few hours at best embracing them.
Time spent in an airport hotel is usually a brief necessity caused by a late arrival or a ridiculously early departure.
In Provence it was the latter. But we decided to play things differently by booking into the Pullman Hotel early afternoon and simply chilling out there until it was time to leave France.
It turned out to be an excellent call.
Our View
The Hotel Pullman Marseille Provence is about a fifteen minute walk from the main terminal building but there’s a shuttle to ferry you and your luggage. The façade isn’t particularly inspiring, echoes of a 70s office block, but once you step inside all thoughts of pebble dashed walls are blown away by an assault of bright colours, chic retro furnishings and arty quirks. It’s fun, funky and fresh.
It’s a hotel that is a joy to stay at, even if for only a very short time.
Rooms
Rooms are big and light, pale lemons and powder blues, with a tastefully traditional French character (our bottle of local pastis looked like it was made for sitting on the desk). The bed was big and seriously comfortable with wonderful ‘memory foam’ pillows – the sort where you think ‘once my head touches those what chance have I got of waking up for a 5am flight?’ The room had a good–sized flat screen TV, decent wifi and an English language paper. It was ideal for being able to relax for a few hours before catching the plane.
Facilities
The facilities are excellent. An outdoor swimming pool and stylish sunbathing area elevated the Pullman from an airport, business hotel to more chill out and holiday. All exterior areas give the hotel a holiday vibe with plenty of contemporary seating in which to lounge in the sun. A games room, fitness centre and spa facilities added other distractions.
Best for us was the super cool D-lliss lounge bar and restaurant. The bar looks as though it should only be graced by the beautiful people and the restaurant is the sort of place you’d happily seek out in a fashionable part of a buzzing cosmopolitan city.
The menu has Mediterranean influences but actually is diverse enough to keep most people happy. We paired a big and beefy burger with a big glass of red. The wine menu is hand picked by sommelier Olivier Poussier and isn’t cheap… but enjoying fine wine and good food is the perfect way to bid ‘au revoir’ to France.
Despite its Vogue good looks, the Hotel Pullman Marseille Provence isn’t in the slightest bit stylishly aloof; it’s simply a fun, friendly and wonderfully comfortable place to stay. If Heineken made airport hotels, they’d make them like this.
Hotel Pullman Marseille Provence;Marseille Airport, Provence; tel: +33 825 806 464; double rooms cost from around €100 per night
Jack is co-owner, writer and photographer for BuzzTrips and the Real Tenerife series of travel websites as well as a contributor to online travel sites and travel magazines. Follow Jack on Google+
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