I'm looking for someone with experience at a Citadines hotel -- in particular, the quality and comfort of the folding beds that are in most of the apartments. Can anyone comment? Also, are there other chains of apartment hotels in France/Belgium/Netherlands that have high quality standards?

Hi
Although I don't have direct experience staying at Citadines, my mother and aunt just spent 7 days staying at the Citadines in central Lyon, and I visited them there a few times. They had an apartment (rather than a studio) which was comfortable, spacious and extremely well equipped. My Mother slept on the fold-out bed and she didn't complain about it being uncomfortable.
In fact, she and my aunt really enjoyed staying at Citadines, because they felt they were getting the best of both worlds (freedom of an apartment plus convenience of hotel services).

hi
We stayed at a Citidine in Barcelona last year-- great location, and lots of space for 3. No complaints at all- especially for the price.

My sister and some friends stayed in one in London last winter. It was centrally-located, a bit spartan in furnishings, but clean. Note that just the basic apartment a minimum of supplies are provided, any "extras", such as more towels, or maid service, is an additional charge, at least it was in London.

Stayed at Citadines St. Germain 3 years ago in a studio. Clean, attractive, 4 sets of china, etc. all nice and new. Sofa bed not too comfortable.

I have stayed at 6 different Citadines in London,Paris and Bordeaux within last 3 years,basically they are more or less the same-functional and convenient,but nothing fancy.

I am afraid the folding beds were not really comfortable. But some studios come with regular beds were much better.

BTW,the reasons I stayed at Citadines were because the locations and cheap rates I found at www.laterooms.com.

I agree,the sofa bed is not very comfortable at the Citadines.Apart from that our stay was very pleasant.

I lived at two different Citadines in London over a period of 8 months; both were consistently clean and comfortable, and in extremely convenient locations. Best of all -they are air-conditioned!!! Sorry, I'm from the South and have to have my a/c.

sorry, forgot to mention - i agree with the other posts re the discomfort of the sofa beds - they're just like every other sofa bed i've ever slept on. Try for a one-bedroom as opposed to a studio.

I think most, but not all, Citadines are A/C, so check carefully.

I've stayed at 4 Citadines (1 in London, 3 in France). The London hotel at Holborn was not worth the price (about 90 euros): uncomfortable sofa bed, construction noises, cramped bathroom etc. Didn't use the tiny kitchen during our one week stay. I had much better experiences in France, where I stayed at Citadines (in studios) for 2-4 weeks at a time (while studying French). I particularly liked the one in Grenoble. They had larger bathrooms and more comfortable beds (but they were still sofa beds). On these longer trips, I used the kitchen much more. But be forewarned - the kitchen is very minimally stocked - e.g. sometimes no coffeemaker (and if there's a coffeemaker, no filters), sometimes no dishsoap etc. It was useful to have laundry facilities in-house. Keep in mind that it's more like being in an apartment than a hotel. This means that there is no 24 hour concierge (or the security associated with having staff around at all times). As a single woman alone in France, it was sometimes a little disconcerting at first to let myself into the building with my key and head upstairs to my floor where I seemed to register as "invisible" to the motion-sensor lighting. But, overall, I'd recommend the chain (in France) for longer trips (a week or more), families or people who want or need to prepare their own food.