Choosing your Paris Hotel
Saturday at the AAUW luncheon, one of the women at our table gave high marks to the Hotel de Lys, 23 rue Serpent, close to both St. Germain des Pres and Notre Dame. Because this was a recommendation from a well-traveled mature woman, I thought this would be a slam-dunk, but just to be safe before passing the word-of-mouth on to Paris Logue readers, I took a look at some of the reviews on TripAdvisor.com and it just goes to show that one person’s castle is another person’s hovel. Likewise, the Trip Advisor reviews offered such a range of hate it/love it that I’m tempted to stay there for a night just to see for myself.
The bottom line is that no matter what you read in a guide book, no one can guarantee you a good hotel experience - even at five-star hotels. You can be in the most perfect surroundings, fall upon a mediocre desk clerk and it can be almost as bad as staying at a dump (because you know how much money you’ve spent).
You know I’ve mentioned in the past some hotels in the Montparnasse area (Like the Hotel Arcadie which is on our street) and I’ve noted that WICE also offers some recommendations for participants in their Paris Writers Workshop program this July.
I noted they mentioned Hotel Delambre which is located on Rue Delambre, one of my favorite streets in the neighborhood.
If you are at all squeamish about ‘hairs in your bathtub’ which seemed to be a big complaint in readers reviews for the Hotel de Lys, you really need to opt for a 3-star hotel minimum. The other thing you need to know is that Paris hotels (like London) do tend to have small rooms unless you’re going 5-star.
There is no accounting for what happens at the front desk. Go in with your best smile - try never to be in a hurry - if you have to catch a train or need to call a taxi, try to give desk staff ample time to accommodate you.
By Parisgirl | Permalink
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I agree with Chris. Hotels in Paris can be a hit or miss depending on a variety of small factors. I’ve had the best experience renting small studio apartments which offer the privacy and comfort I need in my old age (30’s)!
Your accomodations can definitely have an impact on one’s impressions of Paris
Thanks cjay for your input re apartments. I checked out your site http://www.Welcome2France.com - and the apartments do look pretty roomy compared the some of the student ’studios’ I used to rent back in the 70s. I noticed you didn’t have any Montparnasse apts. listed - is that likely to change soon?
Hello Research Girl! A deskclerks’ key to the bathroom? At least is wasn’t a key to the WC. Thought I had run across every key story about Paris hotels - but that\’s a new one for me. You know I had promised not to bore Paris Logue readers to ANY more 70s stories unless there was clamoring for more. I will post another tomorrow or the following day from true-life journals unearthed from ‘The Crypt at 520′.
Age is a huge, huge bearing on what will please us. Sleeping in a bathtub, being woken up the entire night (thankfully, the manager locked the door) was the second best accommodation to the beach (free but not allowed). 22 years old
A private room with a toilet nearby is preferable today for a good price. 63 years old
So true, Mary. My favorite hotel back in Larissa, Greece offered a bed located on the outdoor terrace. There used to be a guy in Fort Lauderdale we called ‘tree man’ because he rigged a hammock into one of the palm trees. This can work at 22 years old. Not so good when you’re older. Still, the body is incredibly adaptable. It really depends on the ‘kind’ of travel experience you’re looking for - sometimes a fair amount of discomfort can translate into a really rich trip - but if you’re booking a hotel just to save a few Euros, then I’d definitely stick with the 3-stars.
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Funny how what might seem romantic in a small hotel in Paris in one’s twenties is unacceptable at a more “mature” age. In hopes of tempting parislogue to pull out some more memoirs of student life in paris in the 70’s…I’ll offer a memory of a very small budget hotel, could it have been on Boulevard Raspail (?) in the late 1970’s. It had a locked bath down the hall, to be unlocked only upon many entreaties of the desk, and exclamations of wonder that we wanted to bathe so often! It had big, flowered 1940’s era wallpaper, dark green walls and draperies, and no particular view, yet it was utterly romantic and completely comfortable. Those were the days, my friend.