As soon as you walk into the lobby you realise the hotel has a sense of style about it. Modern with a gigantic tv screen (on which I confess I did watch some football while sitting in massive super-funky armchairs) and a reception area with interesting murals as their backdrop.
All the staff wear casual maritime theme uniforms - the hotel is next to the docks - and this helps create an atmosphere without any of the formality and stiffness you often find in hotels. We found them all to be super-friendly and helpful - we asked if we could change from a twin bed room (which was on our booking) to a double and whilst it wasn't possible the first night of our week's stay, they made it very easy for us to swap the next day.
We had a bit of an incident on the Metro in which I had my wallet pickpocketed and again, the staff were very helpful in ringing the transport authorities on our behalf - twice.
Breakfasts were excellent, with a wide range of fresh fruits, different breads and croissants etc, as well as some cooked options (NB you can ask for fried eggs or omelettes instead of the scrambled eggs in the buffet, which I hadn't clocked at first).
Room was comfortable with bath and shower and a sea view - note that the windows don't open, although the aircon works really well in the background. TV seemed to be only French stations and there was just the one BBC English radio station available.
Location of hotel, whilst not in the centre exactly, was good in that it was easy to get to by tram or Metro, or indeed on foot from the Old Port (15 minute walk). The immediate area has a stylish shopping area called The Docks - brilliant adaptation of an old building - as well as a modern shopping mall with a dockside terrace with restaurants,
Also there is a Marseille bike scheme station across the road from the hotel and this is well worth signing up to. It cost us just 1 euro for a 7 day period and you can take a bike for up to 30 minutes at a time for free (or it charges you 1 euro per hour after that I believe). Signing up is easy and they email you a code which you can use straightaway. Be careful to put the bike back so that you hear two beeps otherwise you'll get charged!
Hotel also has a lovely terrace with awnings that they can pull across when it gets too hot. You can also pop into the indoor pool to cool off of course! And we liked the boules area - reception provides the boules free (you leave a credit card deposit).
WE HAD A GREAT STAY AND WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS HOTEL.
Things to make it even better? Bigger softer towels, a second soap dispenser so that you can reach it when you're having a bath (!), a soap dispenser in the shower/toilets by the pool, and the same softer toilet paper in the rooms that they use in the ground floor toilets! Tiny things, and there are often these small improvements that can be made when a hotel is only in its first year. Congratulations to the design team and the staff for getting so much right already . . . . !