It's always a great pleasure to have dinner at the Restaurant Le Pastoral (Hotel Alysson): large…read moredining room, relaxing music, friendly, sensitive and thoughtful service and extremely interesting price ("menu tradition" with starter, main course and dessert at 29€). But above all I am always impressed by the creative and perfect combination of ingredients in all dishes, like today the potatoes and duck mille feuille with vegetables and mushroom sauce, or the other proposal from my previous picture.

I always try to be balanced in reviews, and the good part about staying in Oloron St Michel is that…read moreit is really the perfect place to go hiking through the lakes south of there. We had an astonishingly beautiful day and I would not have traded that for the world. Staying in Oloron seemed a good option, and after staying in the amazing Chateau Lalande near Perigueux, we found the listing for Alysson in their same guides to Chateaux and Hotel. Sure, it looked modern, but it was cheap, and located in a place that we liked. I didn't mind the bird in the lobby. I like birds. I thought that the very pretty women at reception were also very competent and friendly. We appreciated the free parking too. But this hotel really needs an upgrade. It's more like a motel. We stayed in the unrenovated wing, and it was quite ugly. The wireless in our room did NOT work. It worked in the hall and lobby and perhaps we shouldn't complain as we had troubles with wireless throughout the whole of southwest France! The gym was OK. Thank god to be able to run on a treadmill after so much rich French food. But it's pretty run down. There was no refrigerator in our room for the lovely cheese we'd bought en route. Dinner was neither terrible nor outstanding, though the environment felt really like a motel or cheap hotel rather than upscale dining (and the prices were upscale). We had some really good wines, and the entrees and mains were better than the dessert. If we had the choice, I'd probably have looked for somewhere else with a bit more charm.

When I say our stay couldn't be BETTER! Francois was absolutely top notch along with all the staff…read moremembers. There was not a thing I would change about our stay. Being overseas from the USA is not an easy transition but they did everything to make us comfortable. We are grateful and undoubtably we will stay here again if ever we visit another time. Come stay here I promise you will not be disappointed. Thank you thank you thank you! We miss you already.

The rooms are tiny & unheated. Multiple members of our group were so chilled from a freezing night…read more(in-room heaters do not work), they missed mass in the morning. This hotel includes Demi-pension (breakfast & dinner). Unfortunately, the food is nearly inedible. Breakfast never varies from bread, jellied cheap ham, and processed cheese. Breakfasts are pre-set up and no staff are available for assistance. Supper tonight was atrocious. Parsnips were over-boiled, and limp excuses for a vegetable. Processed tatter tots were tiny and counted out one per person. The breaded pork chop was a squishy, greasy and made MacDonalds look like a quality meal. Our group of pilgrims are here for fellowship and to experience Lourdes. So I am writing this review to warn other travellers.