Scott T.
Yelp
UPDATED April 6, 2015: The management seems to have discovered that there was an error in the rates published on their online booking system. The rates that I had been seeing (noted below) were evidently in error, and were not what management believed should be posted. Because of this confusion, the management kindly offered to upgrade our room from a single bed to a double bed for 22 Euros per night.
This hotel is decent, but it has never been anything that I would recommend. Now, I can assure you - because the management is really a bunch of typical Paris pickpockets - I will not stay at this hotel again when I travel to Paris next year.
I originally planned to travel alone to Paris for business in June, and since I previously stayed at this hotel (as did two of my travel colleagues due to my previous recommendation), I didn't even THINK about shopping around for an alternative hotel this time around.
Instead, I pre-paid in December 2014 for a single room (small bed) for my upcoming stay in June 2015. I paid 178 Euros in December 2014 (six months in advance) when the exchange rate was really terrible for the US dollar.
The Hotel Original has held my money for four months - while the exchange rate moved substantially in THEIR favor, dropping by nearly 20 percent. That's OK, since I agreed to their "discounted" rate by paying in advance at the time. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you don't.
Yesterday, on April 5, 2015, my wife decided that she really wanted to travel to Paris with me, so we went to the hotel's online booking system to check their rates for a DOUBLE bed room. The PUBLISHED rate available for our dates of stay were posted at only 198 Euros. We thought this to be a reasonable upcharge of only 20 Euros for a bed for two, so we sent the hotel an email asking them if we could upgrade to a double bed, because "my wife had never been to Paris, and she would really love to be able to go and see it."
Here's where these pickpockets show their true colors:
Evidently, the management knew that since I had prepaid my room 4 months previously that I didn't have many options, so they "generously" offered to "discount a double room rate from 289 EUROS TO ONLY 269 BECAUSE I HAD STAYED AT THEIR HOTEL PREVIOUSLY."
THIS IS 70 EUROS HIGHER THAN THE RATE THAT IS CURRENTLY PUBLISHED ON THEIR BOOKING SYSTEM, and which anybody booking a double room today would pay.
And get this...the SINGLE rate - for which I paid 178 Euros (equivalent of US$231 at December 2014 exchange rates) is now published at only 169 Euros (equivalent US$186 at today's exchange rates).
These people already made out like bandits, making nearly US$50 extra per night (or US$350 for the week) on my prepaid rate due to the plummeting exchange rate, and now they are offering me a "discount" at only US$78 MORE PER NIGHT than they currently have published on their online booking system!
Because the management is trying to take advantage of my prepaid stay and is TOTALLY GOUGING ME, I must now tell my wife that she cannot travel to Paris with me.
These thugs are exactly the type of people that give the French people such a bad reputation with American travelers. They have the same pickpocket mentality that is running rampant in the public areas of Paris, and for which all of the travel experts warn you about.
I will - of course - still travel alone to this hotel THIS TIME ONLY because I have prepaid US$1,600 for my single hotel room. After all, I really don't have a choice.
I will NEVER AGAIN stay here, and I will recommend to all of my business associates to avoid this hotel in case they don't feel like getting robbed.
If you are looking for a decent hotel, this one may fit the bill. It isn't great, by any means, but it is clean and located close to the metro. There are many other hotels in Paris, however, that are superior.
If you DO choose to stay at Hotel Original, however, MAKE SURE TO KEEP YOUR HANDS ON YOUR WALLET, as their management is nothing more than a bunch of pickpockets.