I have to admit, I was immensely concerned about having booked this hotel after reading the overwhelmingly negative reviews online. However, I have been traveling for 6 months, and I simply couldn’t justify spending $200 a night on a hotel room in central Paris. I am going to rate this hotel as average, in large part, due to my concerns and comments below.
Here is a detailed review of my stay. I will endeavour to be as thorough as possible. Some of the comments from previous reviewers also rang true for me, while other comments did not. I struggled rating this hotel because a lot of my issues and concerns with the hotel had much to do with the location of the hotel and the seedy/down-run area. Though, the hotel definitely needs to see improvement in many areas, especially cleanliness and staff.
The location certainly isn’t ideal - the hotel is in Porte de Montmartre, which is a seedy area. The hotel is located across the street from Marche aux Puces (flea market). As such, there are many homeless encampments and also drug addicts along the streets. Towards the end of the street, there are cars and vans parked, and there are many tents in the underpass, which means there are seedy people in most every direction from the hotel. I traveled as a solo female, and while I did not have any serious incidents myself, I can certainly understand why others would feel uncomfortable in the area (especially with kids). During the daytime, I was cat called and approached a few times, but I politely waved them off, and they proceeded to leave me be. At night or in the early morning (most unfortunately I had to board the N14 bus on the seediest corner at 5:00am to reach my train departing from Gare du Nord), I encountered more aggressive behaviour. This ranged from people asking what my problem was to more aggressive cat calling, and uncomfortable staring. I managed without incident, however, I was uncomfortable. I endeavoured to walk through the area with speed, purpose and confidence (and a “don’t mess with me” attitude plastered on my face) when I was forced to walk through the underpasses.
In terms of sightseeing and exploring Paris, the hotel wasn’t in a terrible location, but, again, it wasn’t ideal. You can reach 2-3 metro stations on foot in about 10 minutes, which connect you with the heart of Paris. There are bus stops and tram stops also within equal walking distance. In this regard, the hotel was accessible to the things you will want to visit in Paris. There are many restaurants, cafes and shops along one of the main streets, just 10 minutes up from the hotel. There are also two sizeable supermarkets - Lidl and Monoprix - no more than a 10-15 walk from the hotel. I believe there is also a Monoprix underneath the hotel, but I never paid it a visit so I cannot confirm this. I walked to the one further up the street.
The check-in process was fine, but staff are inattentive and don’t seem much bothered with you, bordering on rude/bad attitude. In one encounter, the reception staff ignored me for 5 minutes while he finished what he was doing on the computer. In another, the reception staff told me he didn’t know what time my check-in was and that if I wanted to know, I could look it up on my reservation. I found this quite dismissive and rude. I’m not sure if it’s because they are just rude staff members or if it’s because they have to deal with unsavoury individuals (homeless, drug addicts etc.) walking into the hotel and causing problems. Either way, the attitude needs serious improvement. On a positive note: they stored my luggage for free in a locked room. I was sure I read previously a revue that indicated you had to pay for a locker to store your luggage (maybe only after check-out?), but this wasn’t the case for me. You have to pay a city tax, also, and I paid that on check-in. It was about $2-$3 Euro per night if I recall correctly.
I stayed in a room on the 6th floor. There are two working elevators! You aren’t given a key card; instead you are given an access code that you punch into the door on your room. It was nice to not have to carry a key around, but you must guard that piece of paper so you don’t get locked out (god forbid you’re in a position where the reception staff have to help you or perform their jobs).
The room was classic Ibis budget layout - tight space, toilet behind a separate door, shower behind a separate door, sink in main room, and in true Ibis style - a severe lack of luggage storage. I don’t mind this layout as a solo traveler, but it would be awkward with a couple.
The bed was large (queen) and had a nice firm mattress. The bedding and pillows were just okay - the pillows were lumpy and there were old (I hope) blood stains all over the sheets. I remember one traveller indicating a similar issue, the cause being bedbugs. This made my nervous, obviously, but I had no issues with bedbugs during my stay. I think the blood stains were old, but still a bit disgusting in my mind. There was a top twin bunk overhanging my bed also, which was not made up. Fine with me, since I had no plans to use it. There was also a small bedside table attached to the bed.
The room had good lighting, a window to let in natural light (I also had a sort of nice view of the city), blackout curtains, a wall mounted desk and a stool. Above the bed there was a metal rack with a few hangers. There was a wall mounted flat screen television in the room, with mostly local channels. I didn’t succeed in finding one in English, but I was able to connect to YouTube to watch some 48 Hour murder mystery shows. You can also Netflix to Netflix should you have an account.
The bathroom areas were good - a large modern toilet in the one room, and a nice big walk-in shower, enclosed with a glass door, in the adjacent room. The water pressure and temperature were both excellent. There was a large shower gel/shampoo dispenser in the shower, along with a floor mat. Two bath towels were provided under the sink in the room, along with a small bar of soap and 3 paper cups.
There was a heater in the room (unsure if it works), but curiously no air conditioning in the room. Air flow must be centrally controlled by the hotel, but in the summer months I would worry about the heat. I was there in June and the room temperate was fine for me. Guests do prefer to control their own temperature controls, would be my suggestion to the hotel.
Wifi was open (not password protected), but spotty. Sometimes the wifi worked extremely well, and then other times it would cut out and cease to work altogether. Hit and miss. There were charging sockets throughout the room.
The hotel does offer a buffet breakfast, beginning early, at 5am. I’ve had the buffet breakfasts at Ibis budget hotel chains many times before and so I did not bother to pay for it (the breakfast buffets offered at Ibis budget chains are poor value and quality generally). I cannot comment on the breakfast at this particular hotel. Instead, I shopped at Lidl and picked up bananas, and protein pudding for the mornings.
Housekeeping was mostly on point. My room was turned over and I appreciated having new towels. The replacement bar of soap and cups were forgotten, but these were minor issues.
All things considered, this was an average budget hotel. I hesitate to rate it higher than average, due to the issues I have noted above. In other regards, it was quite poor. It was definitely good value for Paris, however, that budget value comes at a cost - location far from central Paris, seedy/unsavoury area, unhelpful and rude staff, and basic rooms. I have definitely had more positive stays at Ibis budget chain hotels in other parts of the world.
Would I stay here again? Weak maybe. Honestly, I would just pay an extra $50 for a mid-range hotel closer to the centre. The sheer number of months I was traveling, unfortunately, resigned me to staying at this hotel on the fringes of Paris.