Bellevue Hotel, Paris

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money	Good
Quality of Rooms	Average
Standard of Service	Good

Advantages:	Excellent location and good value for money
Disadvantages:	Not suitable for disabled people

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The Hotel

The Bellevue hotel is a three star hotel and has 36 rooms, which are all nicely decorated in either burgundy or blue tones. It is a four storey building with lots of parisian style.

The hotel is a small independantly run hotel which is in a fantastic location 19 Rue d' orsel, 7518 Paris which is at the foot of the Sacre Coeur church in Montmartre.

I had pre-booked a taxi online when I booked this break. Taxi was from the Charles de Gaulle airport and when we arrived the Bellevue Hotel was lit up outside and looked very warm and welcoming.

The hotel has a small reception desk which is open twenty four hours and the reception staff are very friendly and helpful. At the side of the reception desk there is a large rack with lots of tourist information leaflets on where to go and places of interest in Paris. There was also a couple of seats in reception which we used a couple of times when we had to wait for breakfast. The reception area was always very clean.

To the right side of reception is a small breakfast room., which although small is cosy and welcoming. There is a small lift which goes to all floors in the hotel.

Checking in

Checking in is straight forward enough you just need to give in your passport or id card upon arrival and you also have to give a deposit of fifty euros when checking in this is incase of any incidental charges. This money is given back to you at the end of your stay.

Access to your room is by key, if you are going out hand your key in at reception and collect it on your return, this is incase of any fire or emergency.

Location

Montmartre

Montmartre I feel is the best place to stay in Paris it is full of life and has a great atmosphere and most importantly for me it's renowned for its lovely little cafes and restaurants at the Place du Tertre, you really are spoiled for choice and many of the restaurants had two or three course special's which where really good value. Some of the restaurants also had live music/groups at night. Walking around at random in Montmartre you will discover gardens, old houses, windmills ( we spotted 3 different ones), cobbled steep streets and staircases with splendid views of Paris. It can be crowded at weekends though, if you can go in the mornings on a weekday as it is not as crowded then.

Many artists from Berlioz to picasso, lived, worked and played in Montmartre. There are still many artists at the Place du Tetra and if you want them to they are always ready to sketch a portrait of you for a price. There are also lots of paintings for sale and you can watch the artists painting them.

All of Paris's attractions/places of interest are easily reached by walking or by metro, the local metro station is Anvers and is five minutes walk from the hotel. We found the metro system really easy to use and inexpensive. For the elderly, disabled and younger visitors wishing to visit the Place du Tetra and other attractions at the top of Montmartre there is a funiculaire which takes you to the top and brings you back down. The current funiculaire has two passenger cars which can carry 60 people and these run on parellel tracks.

The Sacre Coeur church is a short walk away it is a beautiful church with amazing dome shapes and architecture its main dome is the second highest point in Paris (after the Eiffel Tower). To the right front of the Sacre Coeur is one of my favourite statues which is a horse being ridden by Joan Of Arc.....not sure why this statue appeals to me as Joan of Arc was a french peasant women who led a rebellion against the English....but that was then and this is now and to me its an heroic sculpture ( another favourite sculpture is in the Louvre which we visited and is the swooningly romantic Cupid and Psyche).

The Moulin Rouge is also within walking distance of the hotel and is approx ten minutes walk away.

At my partners insistence we also visited Nijinski's grave in the cemetry de Montmarte (he has these bright ideas). Walking round a graveyard in Paris in the rain how romantic, whoop de doo.

Our Room

Our room although small was pleasantly decorated in blue/gold tones and had a double bed, two bedside tables (one of which had the telephone underneath it), small table with t.v on and a small open wardrobe wih a shelf above. All rooms have free Wi Fi internet access.

Through a seperate door to the side of the room is a very small shower room with a toilet and hand wash basin, soap, shampoo, shower gel and towels are supplied and replenished daily.

Our room and shower room although small was very clean and the cleaners came in and cleaned rooms every day.

The bed was really comfortable and the neighbourhood was very quiet at night time.

We were just settling in and unpacking when there was a knock at the door and one of the reception staff presented us with a bottle of red wine (a nice bottle of claret) which I thought was a lovely welcoming touch.

Really, Really Important Stuff.... Continental breakfast

Breakfast is continental and is served between 8-10 o clock. The breakfast room can get busy and sometimes you have to wait for a table.

Once you get a table you go help yourself to coffee (which is served out of a big silver urn), fruit, and french bread. The rest of your continental breakfast is brought to your table and includes:

For two people

French crusty bread
Two chocolate croissants (Mmm yummy my favourite)
Two raisin croissants
Two plain croissants
Two yogurts
Cubes of soft cheese ( a bit like dairylea in texture but a lot stronger flavoured)
Butter
Various jams
Coffee

Breakfast was included in the price we paid.

Price

I booked through laterooms.com and it cost £80.00 per night for room and breakfast.

Overall Opinion

If you are looking for glitz and glam this is not the hotel for you. But if you are looking for a base to explore Paris and you want a really clean room , cheerful service and really good value for your money then this place is for you.

The Bellevue as I have already stated is in an excellent location, rooms and reception are very clean but basic and we found the continental breakfast was a great start to the day.

Reception staff are multi-lingual and very friendly they will help you in any way they can ( we had to ask for directions a couple of times and for more coathangers for our wardrobe but nothing was a problem). Breakfast staff where also very friendly and happy.

The only downsides I can think of is the hotel does not have a restaurant or a bar, but there are lots of bars and cafes close by. Also the hotel does not have any disabled facilities and the lift is very small so it's not suitable for disabled people.

We really enjoyed our stay and I am already planning another trip to Paris and we will be staying at the Bellevue Hotel again.