We booked this hotel via Expedia. We arrived at 2300, to find the hotel locked, and closed. We called the phone number, and received no answer. Only then, in the fine print at the bottom of the Expedia reservation confirmation, did we see the instructions that check in closes at 2200. No mention was made DURING the booking process. My contact profile was fully up to date, and no effort was made by the hotel to contact me. The reservation was fully pre-paid, and the confirmation stated "Guaranteed for Late Arrival." Because Decize is a small town, we ended up having to drive 30 minutes to Nevers to sleep, after driving for nine hours to arrive to Decize.
I accept that we should have read every single word of the booking confirmation - on the other hand - this is a HOTEL - and it is reasonable to expect a hotel to be STAFFED. Even if not, the hotel could have taken the initiative to call us, or to contact Expedia, when they were about to close at 2200 and a PREPAID guest had not arrived - but no effort was made. This hotel has a code-key lock on the front door, so it would have been possible to provide the code, and leave the assigned room door unlocked, and complete checkin formalities the next day (again, room was prepaid). But no.
I then contacted the hotel via e-mail, explained the situation, and asked for a refund. My request was ignored, at least as of the date of this review.