The Novotel Grenoble Centre Hotel was our choice of hotels for our brief stay in Grenoble, France. With limited hotel inventory in Grenoble, France, our stay with the Accor Hotels group was in one of Grenoble’s most business oriented hotels. With a central location, larger than average rooms, and convenience to both freeway access and transportation hubs, this slightly dated property mostly met the expectations for our stay in Grenoble, France.

---

This post is one chapter on a trip to the South of France and Cinque Terre, Italy. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. For information on how this trip was booked, please see our introduction. For parts of the trip, please see this index.

If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter “X” or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.

---

Review: The Novotel Grenoble Centre Hotel, Grenoble, France

---

“The Novotel Grenoble Centre Hotel marked a highly convenient, but slightly dated stay experience, near the transportation networks of Grenoble”

Booking The Novotel Grenoble Centre Hotel:

The city of Grenoble, France doesn’t currently happen to have a lot of chain hotels where points and elite status can be maximized and leveraged. Our usual brand, Marriott Hotels and Resorts were about an hour away in Lyon. As a result, we ended up settling for Accor Hotels within Grenoble.

Accord Hotels had several properties in Grenoble. Most of these properties ran towards the budget and intermediate line, with several Ibis and Mercure properties. We would end up selecting the business oriented Novotel Grenoble Centre Hotel.

The Novotel Grenoble Centre Hotel offered soft weekend rates between 90€ and 130€ for rooms ranging from a Classic Single room all the way up to an executive suite. We ended up booking a slightly larger executive room with only a 10€ premium over the base level room.

I booked this rate directly on the Accor Hotels website, and earned Accord loyalty points for this stay. By booking on the website, I was also able to take advantage of an Accord loyalty rate, which resulted in a few euro’s off the regular posted price.

Getting to The Novotel Grenoble Centre Hotel:

Our travels to Grenoble, France today were by vehicle. We had stayed the previous night at the Renaissance Aix – En – Provence Hotel, and had taken a day tour through the Châteaux at Les Baux en Provence.

We had a quick spin up the highway in our Sixt rental vehicle. I have to say that I find the views of the Rhones Alpes Region to be really inspiring as we arrived into Grenoble, France.

Using Google Maps, I navigated into town off the toll highway. I ended up locating the Novotel Grenoble Centre Hotel without much trouble as a result of it’s convenient location to the west side freeways and autoroutes.

It’s worth mentioning that the hotel forms part of the Grenoble World Trade Centre complex. This is a combined convention space, hotel and office plaza that is integrated with the Societe National de Chemins de Fer (SNCF) Grenoble Train Station. 

As a result, like many other combined properties, the hotel shares underground parking, making the vehicle access and arrival access a little hard to find.

The hotel is very conveniently located within walking distance next to the Grenoble Ecole de Management, and the Grenoble SNCF train station. The train station is located only 50 metres away from the hotel on level surfaces, making it a very convenient option for those arriving by train.

The Novotel Grenoble Centre Hotel is also a reasonable walking distance into Grenoble City, with the Grenoble Tramway being another transportation option from in front of the Grenoble SNCF Gare.

Checking into The Novotel Grenoble Centre Hotel:

On arrival, I circled the block looking for a loading area. I didn’t find one. As a result, I entered into the underground parking for the building complex. It’s worth mentioning that the parking access is located about a block and half away from the hotel property. The access point is located on Ave Louis Doyen Weil, just to the North North West of the commercial square of the property. Having previously lived in the area, I had no trouble locating the entrance, but a first time visitor may have some challenges.

I took the elevator up to the main floor. The Novotel Grenoble Centre Hotel and surrounding World Trade Centre – Chambre de Commerce & D’Industrie de Grenoble was built in late nineteen eighties and has a modernistic feel to it similar to buildings from that era.

Inside, the lobby was a compact space with a front desk that featured three podiums. On arrival, I was promptly attended to. The check in was polite, friendly, and I was offered breakfast at an additional cost. We didn’t accept this as instead, with time on our hands for the weekend, we were opting for something more exciting in Grenoble rather than a hotel breakfast.

We were provided Executive Room #501, as booked. Parking was explained to be 14€ for a 24 hr period. There was no offer to help with our luggage and no apparent luggage attendant on duty.

Overall, the check in was professional and friendly. We self navigated up to the room.

The Room: Executive Room with One Double Bed & One Sofa Bed

We took the european sized (small) elevators up to the fifth floor. The hotel, consistent with a building that was constructed in the nineteen eighties, is looking a little dated.

We easily located room #501, which was located just off the elevator bank immediately across from the elevators.

Inside the Executive Room, there was a Double Bed that was almost the size of a queen bed. There was a small sofa bed next to the main bed. Being a sofa bed, they were a little firm to sit on.

The Executive Room featured a small desk. The small desk was one of the smallest Executive Room desks I’ve seen in a while, and I couldn’t imagine getting much work done here given it’s small space.

The room also featured a small chair that was positioned in a manner that would have made it difficult to watch television. There was a large picture window that offered great views over top of the Grenoble Ecole de Management of the nearby mountains.

The room size was much larger than expected for a European hotel room and offered a generous amount of space. Unfortunately, the ambient light around the room was unevenly lit, resulting in some areas of the room being really bright, whereas other areas of the room were really dark.

The entrance way of the Executive Room featured a small shelving system that allowed for an open closet. The entry and bathroom featured the more dated part of the executive room. Although the space had been renovated, most hotels have moved into more spacious and functional areas for bathrooms and closets.

The bathroom facilities were sub divided into two separate rooms. The shower was nicely renovated. The shower room was compact on space and was designed for one.

The bathroom WC was a tiny space separated by a door that was located right next to the front door. It had to be among the smallest bathrooms that I’ve seen in a while. The bathroom had some popcorn stucco walls, which punctuated how old the place was.

The Executive Room offered a few additional features over the classic room. The executive room offered complimentary drinks and treats in the mini bar, coffee by Nespresso and a bathrobe and a pair of slippers.

The mini bar contained a few coca cola products, a Perrier and a Heineken beer, along with some bottled water. We’d end up cleaning out the mini bar, with the exception of the Heineken beer, during our stay.

The Executive Room was located on a corner of the hotel. Despite the room orientation, the design of the hotel didn’t fully take advantage of the corner by having double sets of windows. This may have assisted with the lighting issues described up stream.

In summary, the room was generously sized for a European Hotel room. The room had a number of amenities that were helpful for executive travellers such as complimentary beverages and Nespresso coffee.

The downside of the room was that it was unevenly lit and offered limited space to work as a result of a smaller than expected work desk. Those seeking to be productive may be better off going with the suite option and taking over the dining room table if they expect to use the room for any serious work that needs to be completed.

Around the Hotel Property:

The hotel is located near the SNCF Train Station. As may be expected, there is a large number of easy take away restaurants near the train station. The train station is located less than 50 metres away from the hotel.

We would end up enjoying meals at La Ferme de Didi and La Fondue during our visit.

Food and Beverage:

Gourmet Bar Grenoble:

The main lobby area featured the Gourmet Bar Grenoble. The lobby bar had recently been renovated as the space was much more contemporary and new as compared to our hotel room.

While we didn’t enjoy the breakfast or enjoy the lounge for this particular visit, this space was often full both in the morning and the evening.

Chambre de Commerce Industrie:

The hotel was connected to the Grenoble World Trade Centre and Commerce D’Industrie. There was access to this facility off the hotel lobby, making the hotel super convenient for those that are accessing events or meetings at the convention centre.

There wasn’t much happening here during our weekend visit, but it’s worth knowing about the connection to the hotel in the event of looking for accommodation associated with an event at this location.

Bottom Line: The Novotel Grenoble Centre Hotel

The Novotel Grenoble Centre Hotel marked a convenient stay for our brief visit to Grenoble, France.

The Novotel Grenoble Centre offered larger than expected rooms for business travelers. However, the larger rooms came a cost of available light and were in somewhat of a dated configuration.

Despite this, unless there was a better option that presented itself, I would likely return to this hotel just for the convenience factor of being centrally located and close to most of Grenoble’s major attractions and transportation networks.

---

If you have stayed at the Novotel Grenoble Centre Hotel, did you find the hotel centrally located ?

---