We picked this Sofitel property partly because of its position and views of the Old Harbour but mainly based on their brand reputation. We were slightly disappointed here and now we know why this hotel is only 4 stars rather than the usual 5. The check-in did not run smoothly; despite us turning up after the recommended check in time at 15:00, the room was still not ready and we were told that we had to wait. This was not helped by almost slight aggressivness of the receptionist when we mildly complained about it as due to an early start we were really ready to crash out. Eventually she offered us complimentary drinks in the bar area while we wait which did help a bit. She should smile a bit more, though!

The room was on the small side, considering the price-tag, with a tiny telly positioned in a way that it was not possible for the person lying on the side next to the window to watch it comfortably without twisting his/her head (not that we watched a lot of TV in French but due to some bad weather we had to spend one stormy night flicking through (mainly) French channels!). I also thought that coffee/tea facilities were inadequate for a hotel of this calibre - we are into our coffee and could have done with a proper coffee machine rather than a couple of sachet of instant coffee left in the room.

The biggest disappointment though was the gym. What a joke! Really, really small, few machines but no stretch mats (I had to put a couple of towels on the floor to do it), not a single gym ball and no soap to wash your hands with in the adjoining bathrooms! Also, two wet guys in their swimming trunks kept popping in (I presume to cool down) soaking wet from their sauna/jaccuzzi sessions making the floor rather wet and dangerous but nobody was there to stop them coming in or clean their mess.

On the positive side - the view from our room was stunning (we did go for the harbour view upgrade) and the double bath was fantastic. The Hermes toiletries were plentiful and replenished daily, as was the complementary water.

My wife wanted to stay in a hotel where they have a outdoor swimming pool so my choice was limited in Marseille. We stayed at Sofitel for two nights and we simply loved it.

This is what I liked about this hotel in order.

1. Service: Amazing service, all the staffs were very friendly and helpful, because of service alone I would go back to this hotel.

2. Room: Nice trendy room, it wasn't huge but good nice and our room had a view of beautiful marseille bay and downtown.

3. Swimming pool: nice but because we were there during vacation season, there were a lot of people.

4. Location: This hotel is little far from busy area of Marseille but there is a bus you can take but we never took the bus but we walk most of time, it's about 15 minutes walk to downtown but it was nice comfortable walk. On first day we brought our car and parking was nightmare in downtown.

Overall, My wife and I, we loved the everything about the hotel and we would definitely come back next time.

We stayed for one night on a driving holiday. The Receptionist was lovely - very friendly. We were offered a special rate upgrade for a room with a view of the old port. It was definitely worth it! The room was wonderful; very large bed and great bathroom/shower. The swimming pool is shared with the Novotel and is a little small but with great views over the harbour. One advantage of sharing the site with the Novotel is that you can easily access their bar which has an outside terrace and reasonable prices!
There was a good variety at breakfast and once again the views were spectacular. The evening menu looked appealing but pricey although this did not matter as there are loads of excellent restaurants around the harbour within a very short walking distance. It was the perfect stop over on our trip and we would definitely stay again.

We did not actually stay here: the hotel refused to honour a reservation made through an agent - albeit at a heavily discounted rate - even though the booking was confirmed by email and by SMS. Hauteur having failed, the hotel then accepted it was committed to the booking but the hotel manager intervened and decided otherwise. This is not the first problem I have had with Sofitel/Accor: they have refused to honour loyalty points in the past. While the hotel was contractually bound by the discounted rate, I did offer a rate 250% higher and would have gone higher still, but the hotel kept offering counterproposals higher than rates simultaneously being offered on the internet.