After our recent Best of Eastern France tour ended in Aix-en-Provence, my DH and I moved from the business class tour hotel to the smaller, funkier, and much quieter Hôtel Paul, 10 Avenue Pasteur. The room was about 2 1/2 to 3 times the size of our tour room, with a double bed, a desk and chair, an easy chair, and lots of floor space. It was obvious the room was designed to hold two double beds, as well as a desk and chair. There was a small wardrobe hidden behind the room door, and a medium sized bathroom, with sink, toilet, and shower. There was a dresser with three good-sized drawers in the bathroom, as well. There were no towels when we checked in, but evidently the housekeepers hadn't quite finished yet; we just left the door ajar until they showed up with an armload of towels.
We paid a few extra euros to have a room that faced the garden, rather than the noisier street side. From our room, we also had a view of a neighboring statue garden, a memorial to someone from Revolutionary times.
The small, enclosed garden is where breakfast is served. (There is a breakfast room inside, for those that want it.) Breakfast was trés francais: a pot of coffee or tea, and for each person a croissant, a slice of cake, a madeleine, several slices of baguette, a container of yogurt, a pat of butter, and a glass of orange juice. I did see some people get refills of coffee, but the pot (with a pitcher of hot milk) was plenty for the two of us.
The room cost about €93 per night; that included breakfast and the garden view. The hotel is just north of the Cathedral about one block. Cross the ring road at the light, and head up about 1/2 a block.
Why not for everyone? No elevator, and no a/c. We were on the first floor up, and although the weather was very warm, the room was comfortable with the big window open. I noticed that the staff had the doors to the garden open, including the door to the garden staircase from our floor, which meant there was a breeze circulating through the building much of the day. And there was a fan tucked away in the wardrobe, but we never needed it.
In addition, with the window open the cathedral bells might bother some. They don't ring all night; I think they quit around dark, and started up again about 30 minutes before the first morning Mass.
It's a short walk from the hotel to any of the sights in the old town (inside the ring road), with lots of restaurants, shopping, museums, and historical sights.
There is also a bus stop just across the street from the hotel, which gets you to the main bus station in about 12 minutes. From there, you can get a shuttle to the TGV station or the Marseilles airport.
We definitely preferred the Paul to the tour hotel (Hôtel St-Christophe.) The St-Christophe had a beautiful, busy, and plush public area (with bar and restaurant,) but the room was very tiny with a minuscule bathroom and no storage, and would have cost us as much as €150 had we stayed there after the tour. The Paul struck us as a more typical "Rick Steves" type hotel, which suits us just fine.