The hotel is in a wonderful location right in the heart of old Honfleur; it is set in a beautifully modernised and well-maintained historic building with old beams and charming features. The service, both whilst we were there and communications prior to our visit, was excellent with a friendly welcome, good recommendations for sight-seeing, and we were especially pleased to have the opportunity to book a place in their spacious, indoor secure parking garage, which was only a few blocks from the hotel (it would have been very stressful to try to find a parking space when we were in Honfleur as the town was packed and the town car parks were full). Our ground-floor room was spacious and had an excellent bathroom with a walk-in shower and a jacuzzi bath, with good quality toiletries. A nice touch was that the room was equipped with a Nespresso machine and capsules and tea bags, and also a jug of water.

Whilst it was convenient to be able to have breakfast at the hotel, it was expensive for a simple continental breakfast (16 Euros per person for good quality coffee, croissants/pastries, bread, cereal and juice but no savoury options like eggs/cheese/ham, which I would have expected at this price).

The hotel was beautifully decorated with comfortable chairs in gorgeous fabrics, exposed beams, tasteful books everywhere ... it felt like being guests in a super stylish French house, and the feeling of being at home was increased by being welcomed in by Obama, a gentle golden retriever. To our surprise (and delight!) we were upgraded to the suite at the top of the house so were thrilled to have the extra space with a sofa and two chairs, a very comfortable bed and a large bathroom with another chair, two sinks and a spa bath, no less, but I'm sure we would have been just as happy with any of the other rooms. It is a really beautiful hotel. The location on the harbour front was great, too - you can just walk to explore Honfleur - and there is parking nearby (at a cost) by arrangement with the hotel.

This is a result of our own stupidity rather than any fault of the hotel, but TIP: make sure you take the access code to the front door with you if you go out at night! I left my phone with the code behind when we went out to eat, my partner's phone died, and we found ourselves standing outside the front door in the pouring rain at 9.30pm, unable to get in. Very fortunately, some other guests were able to let us in eventually, but I don't know what we would have done otherwise as there was no emergency number to contact. It's worth being aware that the hotel is unstaffed at night.

Communication with the hotel prior, throughout and even after was excellent. Alazaïs made sure we had all the information necessary to our stay and places to visit, accommodated our needs with our small dog, made reservations at restaurants and contacted us after we check out to let us know about an important item we have forgotten in our room. She was really nice and went far and beyond to make sure our stay would be comfortable and easy. Definitely coming back.

A small detail, really....our room was located in the first floor above a restaurant and sometimes we would come back to a room with a smell of food being prepared (good food at least ;))

I don't know why, but we were upgraded to a suite! The host was exceptionally charming and efficient - communicating with us by Whats App before and during our stay to confirm arrival time, breakfast requirements and outside dinner reservations. Absolutely first class service. The room overlooked the harbour; it was very large, with separate toilet, bathroom, shower room and sauna. Excellent bed. Sofa, dining table and comfy chairs. Breakfast was brilliant; expensive for a typical French breakfast but the Viennoiserie was possibly the best ever. Secure parking at €16 per night.

I booked L'Absinthe mainly for the oak beams and character of the rooms shown in the website photos. Our upgrade, although large and comfortable, had none of the architectural features I was hoping for, which was a slight disappointment.

Excellent staff (Victor and his morning colleague), hotel was surprisingly quiet, location was perfect, the rooms were clean and comfortable, and the breakfast wonderful. We didn't know what to think of the hotel due to the way the exterior looked in the pictures, but when we got to Honfleur, we realized that ALL the buildings look like that since they are hundreds of years old. But the interior of the hotel was a mix of historical elements and modern finishes. And Victor was very accommodating in making adjustments to our rooms (family of two adults and two adult-sized teenagers). Highly recommend Room 7, top of the hotel, spacious and quiet. Overall a great hotel and we would absolutely stay there again.

There is nothing that could be improved. We were warmly greeted, shown to our rooms, provided with a map of the town and a few dinner recommendations, and offered the locked and private car park, which we accepted. There was even a friendly dog that also greeted us. Oh - if I could change anything, it would be to have coffee available in a common area of the hotel. A member of our family is an early riser and could not find an open coffee shop in town in the early morning. And coffee machines are too loud to use in a room with one person sleeping.

Excellent central location in the beautiful fishing village of Honfleur. Very friendly and helpful manager. Given a room upgrade on arrival. Very clean and comfortable room with a view over the small port. Secure paid parking available. Very good breakfast with personal service from staff.

No dislikes.

The location, historic building and extremely hospitable staff were all incredible. The location was ideal for visiting Honfleur and the parking lot was close to the hotel. The staff sent advanced communications and gave us excellent restaurant recommendations. We will return.

The shower didn't have a lip or curtain so water went into the bathroom with each shower. Minor compared to how much we liked the hotel.

Really lovely old hotel. a former presbytery with original features. Our room was upgraded by very helpful manager. The location is perfect, easy walking distance from everything you would want to see. Highly recommended.

The hotel should send much better instructions on how to find the entrance and the car park. The hotel appears to be on the main street when in in fact the entrance is on a little side street where you can park for 30 minutes if you have blue disk. The cartoon-type town plan is completely useless, they should produce their own with streets and street names labelled.

Gorgeous old building with some rooms in another building. Very comfy bed, plump duvets and wonderful bathroom

We were located in the ‘other’ building looking over the water telling us we’d been upgraded . Fab view but no sleep - 2.10am neighbouring restaurant pouring used wine and beer bottles into refuse located under our window. 4.25am refuse collectors collected the three big refuse containers - so noisy and three more visits over next hour for the refuse collectors.

The location was ideal, proximate to everything. The breakfast was superb, the breads, croissants, juices were of the highest quality and fine meats every morning! The hosts were wonderful! Victor was so personable and wattmeter and had great dining recommendations.

Our room had no place to hang clothing. The armoire had 1 usable shelf on one side, while a 2nd shelf housed the safe. The other side of armoire was blocked by the desk so it couldn’t open. We lived out of our suitcase the 5 nights. That was not true for my relative’s room, they had hanging space. The showers were not enclosed, you had to climb into a big jacuzzi tub and try to keep the water from getting everywhere. Our friends did have a walk-in enclosed shower.