L'Initial

We arrived about 18:00 and my husband was due at a function very close to the hotel so he changed and I took him in our car, so that I knew where he was. I returned and took our three dogs out of the car and fed them on the carpark next to the car, then I took them for a walk. When I returned, I had dinner in the hotel restaurant. The staff were very welcoming and I did not feel as if I was alone. I think some of the other customers had been before, and the feeling I had from those customers and from the staff was as if we were one big family. The function finished about 22:30 when I drove our car to my husband (as he had luggage to carry), and I then walked the dogs back to the hotel, and took them and their bedding to our room. As the hotel advertises that pets are welcome, we expected a floor that was easy to wash, so were surprised to find that the room is carpeted. There is a modern, fresh look to the decor and the gardens, which include a pool, have a tropical look. The morning was frosty, so the Christmas reindeer were a lovely touch. The bed was very comfortable and we slept well. As we had both eaten well the previous evening, neither of us wanted any breakfast so we enjoyed the opportunity to have a Sunday morning lie-in. We enjoyed the night away from home and, if there is a future opportunity, we will extend our stay and make a weekend visit. Thank you very much to the very helpful and welcoming staff, in particular to Gaelle. Best wishes to everyone.

Although some distance from the City I never waited more than 10 minutes for transport. The hotel is a beautiful building which has spacious, comfortable and clean rooms. The bar and restaurant are well looked after and the food is amazing. What makes this hotel so good though is the staff. From the moment I arrived the professional and friendly staff made me feel welcome and throughout the stay they made me feel like the member of a small family.

It’s clean and simple

Do you ever visit somewhere after reading all the reviews and it's like you've entered a Twilight zone since the reality is so far removed? This was our experience in L'Initial. Having checked all the reviews and checked everything on their own website, we decided to book a stay there for one night on our recent trip to France and since it was a belated honeymoon, we opted for the Suite. So full of expectation we arrived after a long drive, firstly the Hotel is in an Industrial area with nothing around except factories. Not great but we thought, at least the Hotel with it's pool and lovely restaurant will make up for it? You know what happened to thought! We checked in and went to our "suite", the suite was a room with disabled access so basically an accessible bathroon. So off we went to reception. Turns out they don't actually have a suite but call this one. They offered instead a superior room, basically a slightly bigger room but on a par with a normal room really. The difference in price was €10 less and we preferred this so opted for it and settled in. They offered us a complimentary drink, i thought, for the inconvenience, turned out on checkout this was the difference in price so not complimentary at all, we paid for it ourselves! Ok, we thought, room is fine so lets have a drink and a nice dinner, the website showed 2 menus, a bar one and a restaurant one that boosted up the chef's abilities. Great we thought, let's go for that one so asked for the menu, we got the one that the website showed as the bar menu with a choice of 2 starters, 2 main courses and 2 desserts. Back again to reception for the restaurant menu to be told that was it. Not fancying beef or pollack, we decided to walk around and see if we could find somewhere to eat. 45 minutes later, in 35 degree heat, we gave up, nothing was open so we trundled back to the hotel Not wanting to stay there we jumped in a taxi to the centre of Toulouse (Only €40 each way!) and had a lovely meal in La Florida in the square. We slept well in the hotel and thought maybe breakfast will be great - again, that wishful thinking! We got a buffet with stale croissant, carton orange juice and curled up cheeses in the cold cabinet. The lady on reception made the mistake of asking did we enjoy our stay - seriously lacking in awareness since she'd checked us in. I will give them a couple of positives, bed was comfy and car park was spacious and safe, that's where it ended though - website totally misresprents the hotel, no suites, no restaurant menu, pool cloudy, in an industrial estate with nothing around it andf guess what the reason for all the mistakes on the website was Covid! Do yourself a favour and find a better hotel if you're in Toulouse