TrailBlazer795425
Google
I hate writing bad reviews as I generally give people the benefit of doubt, but in the interest of warning other travellers I feel that this has to be done.||I booked the Hotel Caron de Beaumarchais for our anniversary trip to Paris based on a recommendation for romantic hotels from the London Times (what’s wrong with the person who wrote that article?) and very good reviews on Trip Advisor, which in hindsight I realise were all for the front facing rooms. The people who stayed in the rear rooms have been understandably silent. What a mistake! It was by far our worst experience staying in a hotel in over 33 years – and we travel a fair bit. ||On the plus side the hotel is very well located, spotlessly clean with plenty of hot water and the air conditioning works well. That’s where the good news ends.||Service|The worst bit of the experience was the lack of any customer service. When booking I had mentioned that it was our anniversary and although I wasn’t expecting anything special, a warm greeting of 'happy anniversary' or 'welcome to Paris' from the older gentleman at the front desk would have been nice. Instead, he was only interested in getting our payment sorted as maybe he was worried that we would do a runner when we saw the room! Except for a younger person who was there on one occasion, no one smiled or welcomed us or said anything when we left the hotel or came back. This was quite an achievement considering that we had to drop off and pick up our keys each time we went out!||I understand people may have personal issues which we may not be aware about, but this lack of acknowledgement was similar across all staff except the cleaning lady who always greeted us warmly and with a smile. When you’re a tourist in a foreign land a warm welcome goes along way, in fact, as I now realise, is much needed at a hotel reception desk. Sadly, not to be had at the Beaumarchais. ||The room|No street rooms were available, so we booked an interior room with no view, which are not their best rooms – and to be fair they do say that in the description. So we were ready for a courtyard view, but nothing prepared us for the tiny (7'x10') courtyard (ventilation shaft really as it couldn’t even be called a light well) with a close-up view of a wall and absolutely no light. We were on the 4th floor - I hate to think what the lower floor inside rooms are like.||We felt claustrophobic, there was limited air circulation, and we almost checked out as soon as we saw the room. It was so small that you had to move sideways along the bed to get to the bathroom or closet (the 14m2 in the description includes the bathroom and a bit of the corridor that extends into the room - the room itself is more like 9m2). ||Thankfully we only brought carry-on luggage, as there isn’t space for a suitcase in that room. ||The bed|The bed itself was huge as it was two single beds pushed together, which made no sense given the size of the room.||The bed covering was a tired looking red blanket with a flat sheet under it which only came as far as your chest. The sheet was also narrower that the banket so it you wanted to stick your feet out of the covers at the side, you couldn’t help but encounter the rough blanket which presumably was not washed between guests. My wife found it extremely difficult to sleep.||Amenities |No tea or coffee maker, virtually no surface to take out any personal belongings. There was a safe, but it wasn’t anchored to anything - someone could just walk off with the whole thing and test their code cracking skills in the comfort of their home! ||Bathroom|The bathroom was tiny, although it had all the things you would need - except for a shower screen or curtain! I had to be super careful taking a shower so as not to get the floor totally wet which I did by taking the shower attachment in my hand and standing along the side wall. ||My poor wife had to bend over the side of the tub to wash her hair before getting in the tub to finish washing. ||Mini Bar|Minbar/fridge and waste basket next to each other in the space under the sink in the bathroom. We’re not sure how hygienic this is but it didn’t stop the hotel wanting to charge us 4 Euro for a can of Coke (or so we were told at reception).||To sum up…|Ok, if you get a front room facing the street I am sure the experience is much better - so avoid the interior room unless you are partying all night and just want to sleep during the day in absolute darkness because they really are very dark in the daytime.||We still had a great time in Paris as it’s such a wonderful city, and as an urban designer and architect for me a great example of what urban life (in the public realm) should be like. ||We will likley visit Paris again, but will definitely give this hotel a miss – there are many other better choices.