Bayeux - hotel Lion d'or Reine Mathilde or Churchill?

It's been ten years since I stayed there, but if I were to return to Bayeux, I would look up Reine Mathilde straight away.
It's right across the street from the 11th century cathedral and adjacent to where Normandy tours picked up passengers.

Also, even though my ap program showed the nearest boulangerie and patisserie to be a mile away, there were several good ones very close to Reine Mathilde, if those things mean anything to you (they should)

We stayed in an Airbnb, (owned by a local school teacher) but the location of all of them are perfect and all within a couple of minutes walk from one another. The other hotel that also looked really nice was Villa Lara.

We stayed in Lion d'Or last year. Lovely hotel, private parking in courtyard (must book).
Great room in annex - large.
Breakfast was great. Amazing choice. Restaurant for dinner - nice menu, service happened to be slow (also in bar), not cheap.
Plenty of great restaurants minutes' walk away.

We stayed at the Reine Mathilde in 2022 and had several issues. Our room wasn't in the main building, but was across the street behind the post office. It was a big spacious room but we had no wifi for the 4 nights we were there. We complained the first day and were told that it was the fault of the wifi company and there was a call into them. It never got resolved. The building we were in was behind the post office in a little courtyard and there was a light back there but it was not working and it was pitch black at night. Told them about it but nothing done. Kinda scary when we came back after dark. There was a maintenance issue in the room that we reported the first day although I no longer remember the specifics, bathroom door perhaps or a light? Anyway, that never was addressed either.

I probably wouldn't go back there.

We stayed at Hotel Lion d’Or. The room was fine and the breakfasts were spectacular. Other guests were mainly from the UK, many repeat guests, and the food was wonderful, many stayed at the hotel for the amazing breakfasts.

WE have stayed twice at Hôtel d'Argouges and really enjoyed it. Beautiful property and great location!

We have stayed in Hôtel d'Argouges twice. Beautiful property and perfect location!

My experiences are definitely not recent, but rather between 2001 and 2011. We stayed in Bayeux on a couple of trips, staying at both the Churchill as well as the Reine Mathilde. Both were fine, but we preferred the Churchill. Both are easily walkable from the train station and for all over town.

Our rooms at the Churchill were more spacious, but that may well have been just what we booked, so do read the reviews etc to be sure. The Churchill went above and beyond for us with suggestions and day tours, and that obviously left a good impression on us.

Again, it has been a while, but the dinner at Reine Mathilde left a lot to be desired, and that trip was with our daughter and her friend while they were studying abroad. So with girls that age, we were not looking for anything exceptional. Our room there had a window that is hard to describe, but it was on the slanted part of the roof and opened into the room. The one thing that sticks in my mind was the shower. It had a step up, but then the hardware for the door was odd and I managed to slice a toe pretty bad, and we had to rush to a pharmacy for a lot of bandages etc. We asked/explained at the front desk and they were very nonchalant about it, so maybe this was not new to them, I don't know. I do remember though that wearing shoes and walking for the next week was not comfortable at all.

May 2025, my husband and I stayed two nights at the Hotel Reine Mathilde in the annex across the street from the hotel mentioned by Patricia above. We didn’t have any of the issues she mentioned however, our “Prestige” room was on the top floor with no elevator and the ceiling was a bit low with lots of angles, garret-like. This was all fine for us, but might be a concern for others. The hotel and annex were nice, the breakfast was good and in general the hotel was very well-located in town. From the train station to the hotel it was a flat, easy, 20-minute walk.

I stayed in the Churchill. I was traveling alone so I had a smaller room and can't comment on the bigger rooms.

The hotel had an exceptionally nice buffet breakfast. Probably the best buffet during my various stays in France.

The hotel was close to shopping and restaurants. I spent a lot of time walking around and not sitting in the room so the room size didn't matter to me.

I took 2 Overlord tours and the tour vans left from right behind the Churchill hotel. So it was a very convenient location.