Hotel Henri IV

As other people have mentioned on here, Tarbes is not usually a destination (though we very much enjoyed our evening in this very friendly and somewhat old-fashioned city) and like others, we were also just passing through on our way to somewhere else and needed a last-minute overnight stop. We therefore considered ourselves very lucky to have found this hotel quite by chance. Yes, it's "old fashioned" (but in the best way - owner managed and family run rather than staffed by others; beautifully-made beds with pure cotton sheets and a boutis quilt, all immaculately ironed and tightly tucked in; and YES the shoe polishing machine on the landing deserves its own mention!). However, the rooms have been fairly recently modernised - to French tastes, not yours or mine maybe, but they are super clean, spacious and very well-equipped with air conditioning, hair dryers, powerful shower, safe, fridge etc. The biggest selling point for us, though, was the owner, who grew up in the hotel when it was run by his mother, and whose warm and friendly welcome set the tone for a very happy stay. He is an absolute gem, and was full of local knowledge and recommendations. The hotel is within easy walking distance of a good choice of restaurants and bars, but even sleeping with the windows open, we were not disturbed by any street noise as another review mentions - maybe because our room overlooked the interior courtyard. Finally, one review mentioned the poor breakfast - well, by French hotel standards we found it fine, with juices, cereals, pastries, cheeses, yoghurts, fruit all on offer and in abundance.