Brise Marine Motel
October, 2021
The Brise Marine Motel is the only hotel in Shippagan. It is located from a couple of minutes’ drive from the commercial heart of the city. I have stayed there many times and I am reviewing here my stay in a renovated room available in this hotel. In this same establishment, room varies a lot in size, available equipment and upgrades to today taste.
The property
This motel is located in the town and far from the sea side. So no water front view is available there. There is no a commercial activity, restaurants or stores, from a walking distance. But from a couple of minutes by car, we can reach the area where this town couple of restaurant are located. The motel has a restaurant on site that was open for breakfast and lunch during my stay, but closed at night. This complex has two main buildings around a large free parking lot. In one section, the rooms open to an interior corridor and in the other they open directly outside (traditional motel style). The hall is also the restaurant entrance.
The room
During this trip, I stayed in a renovated room. This room is small, with a queen size bed. This bed was very soft, uncomfortable and, for me, didn’t provide a good night of sleep. It was accessible only on one side because the wall was too close on the other side. The furniture and decoration seems recent. There is a night stand only on one side of the bed. A USB socket is available in the alarm clock on the night stand. The floor is a plastic covering false wood. A tiny table with two chairs is basically the only furniture. No desk is provided. A power socket is available near the table. The available storage space is sufficient, mainly a small wardrobe with door.
An ironing board, with its electric iron, is provided and a tiny fridge installed in a corner. There is no coffee machine or microwave oven. There is no thermostat in the room to control the heating system. To change the heating level, it’s necessary to turn a knob directly on the baseboard on the floor. So there is no way to control the temperature in the room. During my stay, I didn’t used the air conditioning provided in the room. The room soundproofing is bad. You can hear everything from the adjacent room or from outside. On the bright side, the room is clean and the furniture is in very good shape.
The bathroom
The bathroom is tiny and clean. The shower is in a bath. The counter space next to the sink is large enough. During my stay, a lot of time was needed to have access to hot water. But once the right water temperature reached, it stays stable and the pressure in good in the shower.
Services
Besides the restaurant, there are not really any other installation, no pool, or gym, or common areas. We are talking here about a basic motel.
The internet access (Wi-Fi) is free but there was a lot of connection interruptions during my stay. A television is hung on the wall and there is an access to connect a HDMI cable in its back. However, if you need to connect a device, you will need a long cable since the TV is located in height against the wall. The TV remote wasn’t working. I didn’t report this issue because I didn’t really needed to use the television.
Design
The room seems to have been recently renovated. The décor is of good taste but a little naked, as if the decoration was not completed. A picture or a poster on the large white wall could give maybe some personality or some mood to this room. I found interesting the retractable clothing hooks design on the wall.
My two cents
Since the Brise Marine is the only hotel establishment in Shippagan, it is difficult to consider an alternative in that town. Other more interesting places, in terms or available equipment and room size are available in the wider region, in Tracadie or Bathurst, for example. If this hotel is mainly frequented by workers or business travelers, these will not find the average comfort expected during their stay. I don’t consider this to be a interesting place for a vacation either.
The devil is in the details:
- Bad soundproofing.
- Not really a room for two persons.
- Hot water not quickly available.
Pros
- The only hotel in town.
- New furniture.
Cons
- No heat temperature control.
- Bed comfort.
- No desk.
- Tiny bathroom.