A chubby dog created from orange plastic, a giant white globe standing in the middle of the lobby and eclectic paintings hanging high above are among the first things to catch one’s eye upon entering the Pullman Toulouse Centre Ramblas.
The result of the hotel’s ongoing collaboration with local art gallery, iX! This esoteric collection creates an explosion of color and intrigue, a striking impression enhanced by an abundance of light flooding through the hotel’s modern glass floor-to-ceiling entrance.
Such quirky furnishings also feature in an open leisure room overlooking the lobby, a space that is also used for business meetings. Here you’ll find gaily painted oil barrels as tables, miniature pétanque and billiard tables, a stand-up computer game machine and trash cans shaped like eggs.
This 4-star hotel, with 119 rooms and 6 suites, is conveniently located on the new Ramblas in the city center near Toulouse-Matabiau train station within an easy 10-minute walk of the historic Place du Capitol, home of City Hall. The streets around the hotel are filled with bars, cafes, restaurants and shops of all kinds.
Our room, 712, on the hotel’s top floor, featured a beige color scheme, with two windows granting panoramic views over the city. Furnishings included a chic silver-colored standing lamp, a bench-like table, mini-fridge, coffee and tea facilities, large wall mirror and TV, an orange armchair and a coffee table. Interestingly, lighting for the room is not the normal ceiling type but emanates from behind the bed, and is less harsh on one’s eyes. Don’t forget to read the creative messages on the complimentary ‘Renew & Refresh’ vanity kits housed in vintage brown envelopes.
Breakfast is served in a cosy ground-floor restaurant off the lobby designed like a homey kitchen with hanging copper pots and cups, shelves filled with knickknacks, including a toy rabbit and carrots, a carpeted floor designed partly as tiles and the names and photos of staff members pinned along the wall granting a personal touch. Lots of windows permit lots of light while enticing posters of foods make one feel hungry.
A varied buffet is offered with the names of local producers written in large letters on the wall above the food, including Toulouse sausage from Maison Garcia, cow and sheep milk from Bethmale and yogurt from the Pyrenees. Cheeses, cold cuts and excellent salmon slices are among the items with several hot dishes to choose from.
There is also an a la carte menu listing various omelets including ham, cheese, mushroom, onion and tomato, as well as pancakes with chocolate, exotic fruits, maple syrup and the hotel’s own honey as toppings.
Juices are plentiful. I noted pear, apple, orange and a detox mix, as well as two types of kombucha, lemon and ginger and citrus and spirulina. There is also a wide range of breads on display including organic baguette, multi-seed sourdough and a kia and pistachio combo, as well as a range of gluten-free baked goods such as muesli, madeleine, caramel shortbread and cake. You’ll not regret trying them with the hotel’s delicious hot chocolate.
Elsewhere, Le 84 bar with its shelves of books, and rugby balls symbolising the city’s most popular sport, is an attractive place for a quiet drink while the South West Bistro Ramblas offers what it terms ‘regional bistronomic cuisine.’ The hotel also has a fitness lounge with treadmill, rowing machine and weight training equipment.
Overall, the Pullman Centre Ramblas is a chic accommodation choice that’s extremely convenient for enjoying the highlights of the ‘Pink City.’
