Bonsai Escale Calais

Rooms and facilities were simple but clean. Most staff had limited skill with English, but were friendly and helpful, and made every effort to make our stay enjoyable. It is a budget hotel so keep your expectations realistic, there are no telephones in the rooms for example.

There did not appear to be any lifts and those with restricted mobility may struggle with stairs and doorways, although the staff may be able to secure ground floor rooms on request.

The hotel appeared to be very popular with French users on a tight budget, deservedly so in my opinion.

The hotel is very handily placed with easy access to ferry ports, and within walking distance of central Calais and the beach.

We visited Bonsai 13th of April. We had to wait at reception over an hour as there was a double booking and since the receptionist was not english speaking it took as a while to understand each other. It was quite late 1.00 a.m so we were not in the position to argue or look for alternatives. We were given a room on the under constuction site and the humidity in the room was untolerable. The room as we discovered later was the same style in the hotel very small with a bed hanging over your head breaking all the health and safety rules i could think off. In the morning we were woken up from the workers around 7.00. We decided to go for breakfast and request an alternative room. Communication was a huge problem...thanks God one of the workers could speak English and he helped out he even arranged for a room change (Thank you). The new room was facing the road so we could not open it because of the noise. In this room we realised that the board of the bed above us was cracked in the middle. So if we had a 3rd adult this would be impossible to use (even if it was not crucked this should not be used anyway....) The shower/toilet can only take people of certain dimensions so we were just about ok. The colour scheme is really bad and it would have looked a lot better if yellow was tottaly avoided. No romantic at all. Only suitable as a last option if you have travelled with late ferries. We stayed for 3 nights and the staff although friendly they have i suppose to offer what it is available. Not impressed. For 5 pounds more per couple you can have something much more better than that.

For £27 for the room I can't complain too much but we encountered a few problems

Checking in at 1am (tired) and there was a queue as couple in front of us they could not locate their booking (even through they had an expedia print out). So we waited about 20 mins before we got checked in (which then took 1 minute). Apparently receptionists 1st night!

Room was tiny, bed not the most comfortable (hard) and the duvet had cigarette burn in it and there was some small black hairs on it too which was a bit gross.

We left by 8am so we were hardly there and it was cheap!

Excellent place,great staff,very clean and tidy,cannot fault the place,location,staff ect,would recommend to anyone i like,but not to people i don,t

This hotel is clean, cheap and you can walk into any of the bars and restaurants in Calais. The Bar at the hotel seems to be open all night and is not expensive. The rooms are basic but spotlessly clean and the staff are friendly. Plenty of parking on site and only 10 mins (MAX) drive from ferry, euro-tunnel and the big hypermarkets. For a cheap boozy weekend before Xmas is was great - you get what you pay for and its value for money

clean comfortable great for families with young kids. we have 3 boys! no complaints really except never use the restuarant that the hotel does business with. this means, once on the main road, turn right where you'll come across loads of good ones and not left. there's only one, the service isn't god and they make some very sly slip ups.

Rooms were small but clean, ideal location, helpfull staff and a secure car park

None of the photographs or descriptions show that the second bed is actually a bunk across the small double. Fun for a child maybe but not an adult and unsuitable anyway for children under six. The accommodation was misrepresented and we had no option but to book a second room making it an expensive stay in a very basic hotel.

I stayed at the Bonsai Calais at the weekend and was very impressed. It is a budget option similar to Hotels imported to UK from france e.g. Formule1 and etap.

The hotel has a restaurant and Bar and a small terrace and a reasonabily sized secured car park. The rooms although quite basic have TV with cable channels including BBC1. The room I stayed in had a double bed and a bunk bed placed directly above the double bed. The beds themselves were very comfortable.Each room has a small cubicle shower in the bathroom.

For 35euro this is a very good deal. This price is for 1-3 people, breakfast is ample and nicely laid out and for 5euro each is a bargain.The totel is directy opposite the main railway station.

I would recommend the hotel to anyone on a tight budget and anyone wanting a hotel with some good facilities.