Elle Z.
Yelp
Before I arrived at a very pleasant-looking boutique hotel. I had exchanged a few emails back & forth, where they offered me an upgrade for $30/ night to look at the Pantheon. I agreed. (My last hotel in 1st Arrondissement, which I LOVED 100x better, gave me a DOUBLE upgrade and breakfast daily for FREE!!)
I arrived at 9:30 a.m. & they assisted me with my bags from my Uber. They said my room (31) wasn't ready, yet I called the night before, and the gal said on the phone that I could probably get the room immediately as the room was empty that night. They looked away and said they had a last-minute person come in for the room. I HIGHLY doubt that.
I left for a cooking class in the morning. (Read my review for Le Foodist... incredibly great!)
I returned afterward, and two younger guys were at the front desk. They told me the cost of breakfast. No worries, I'm not interested. They gave me my room number (31) & key. I went to the 3rd floor. The room had an OVERPOWERING perfume smell, triggering my asthma. I opened the windows, but the smell remained. I looked around the room for the source of my asthma trigger and spotted a diffuser on the desk. I smelled it. YEP! That was the source of that smell. Awful! I had to be on my inhaler for a few days.
The room was average, although the view of the Pantheon was pretty cool. The bed was VERY poorly made, AND there was NO top sheet. You are covering yourself with the comforter that their last guest did. So gross!!
My door deadbolt wasn't working. I went downstairs, and G (male employee) saw it in my room. He couldn't get it to work properly either, then he did. Finally, I pushed hard on the door. So, as far as he was concerned, there was no complaint, and he asked if we were good.
He left, and I still could not get it to work. I went downstairs and was told by the other male employee. He came to my room with me. He said he would need to get maintenance. They were gone already and would be the next day.
Maintenance came & he filed the door jam, but the lock mechanism was still the issue itself, per their maintenance guy. I had to shove the door with my shoulder and then turn the lock hard to get it to work.
The good was the shower was new, clean, and nice. Even in the shower, the showerhead was not grimy. (My last hotel only complaint was a grimy showerhead.)
I left the hotel for an evening cooking class and returned at 10:30 p.m. The front doors were LOCKED. On my 1st night, I was locked out of the building. I knocked on the doors and saw no one at the front desk. Nuts! What am I gonna do now? I searched & found what appeared to be a buzzer on one of the side walls. It was unmarked. I buzzed it 2x. Finally, the guy came in. It was partly my fault, partly theirs. When I left, I did not leave my key with the front desk, so they thought I was in the building. But in fairness, I have never been to a hotel that locked their doors or how to get the attention of their overnight staff. Okay, I learned quickly to leave my key. No more issues.
The manager (lady) was friendly & wanted to discuss the emailed complaints I made about the hotel based on a survey I received during the stay. I was rushing to get places, so I would have instead discussed it without cutting into my vacation. I did bring up the issues, but no actual resolution was formed.
The hotel security device I purchased on Amazon for the hotel door did NOTt work well. There was too large of a gap between the door and the framework. Frustrating, as it worked beautifully in my first hotel.
Yes, the location was incredible: Pantheon in the front, the Eiffel Tower to the left in the distance, and "Emily's" apartment was on the block behind me. So, I have NOTHING to complain about. It's a beautiful area of the Latin Quarter. And close to the 6th. I loved that about this hotel. (Noisy into the night with the college kids outside, tho.)
Would I stay here again or recommend it? If you love that location, I guess consider it, but bring it up & get in writing what they will do if security issues arise. See if they will also not charge you for other things, too. (My travel time was low, but I left just before the World Cup Rugby visitors arrived.)
My Facebook friends got my rant LIVE when I first entered the room, but I have calmed down.
Also, if you are asthmatic, ask them to get that diffuser OUT of your room to clear it!
I loved Alexandra at the front desk, and the two guys ended up being very friendly, but I am also quite nice, and I did not want to ruin my vacation by having a negative feeling around anyone. I let it go. My guess is that they just had NO clue how to properly handle my situation, which is on HGH, their hotel group.
1 star for staff friendliness, 1 for location, 1 for a clean shower.
2 stars LOST for the room lock & the bed without a TOP sheet. YUCK! I chose not to delete stars for the diffuser, but what odor are they trying to cover?
Well, it IS Paris... enjoy. C'est la vie!