Etap Hotel Paris Porte de St Ouen, Paris

I remember… roughly two years ago it was my first time... my first time in Paris!

I booked the flights and my friend was in charge of the hotel. I am not fussed when it comes to accomodation, as long as it is reasonably close to the centre and clean that is all that counts. I am not fussed about stars and people opening doors for me!

We ended up booking a 2 night break starting from the Friday and the cost was just over ...
...paid was roughly £80 in Sterling, just in case you are not too familiar with Euros). I thought it was a bargain and was very pleased with her choice, after all I would rather spend money doing shopping than giving it away for a room I only end up sleeping in for a few hours!

Check in was pretty fast, and the people wearing uniforms where really friendly, once we registered with them we got our card-key and made our way upstairs using ... more

I remember… roughly two years ago it was my first time... my first time in Paris!

I booked the flights and my friend was in charge of the hotel. I am not fussed when it comes to accomodation, as long as it is reasonably close to the centre and clean that is all that counts. I am not fussed about stars and people opening doors for me!

We ended up booking a 2 night break starting from the Friday and the cost was just over €100 and that included breakfast too ( the price we paid was roughly £80 in Sterling, just in case you are not too familiar with Euros). I thought it was a bargain and was very pleased with her choice, after all I would rather spend money doing shopping than giving it away for a room I only end up sleeping in for a few hours!

Check in was pretty fast, and the people wearing uniforms where really friendly, once we registered with them we got our card-key and made our way upstairs using the lifts.

We got to our room without getting lost (which sometimes does happen to us!) and we opened the door… we were very surprised on how clean,tidy and neat the place was. The room had a big window with a nice view, we had a colour TV with satellite (which meant that whenever we were in the room we would watch Italian TV) and it included a double bed and a single bank bed on top.

A particular and very interesting aspect of this room was the toilet. It was like and enclosed egg shaped spaceship with a metal door and metal floor inside. It is all very surreal really, it feels like this toilet is comes from the future and has been inserted in a room with 90's décor.

The package also included breakfast with was excellent value for money. I am normally not at all fussed about having breakfast as I find that it is cheaper and more enjoyable to just go to a normal café' and have freshly baked cake or pastries. In general the breakfast experience was positive.

People sit around a circular table which has a raised middle area where waiters would put baskets full of croissants, normal bread and the sweet french bread. On another area you would have all sorts of jams, butter, yougurts and of course tea, coffee and juice. It felt a bit like a modest church cafeteria with noises of people chatting away and waiters making noises with cutlery, glasses..
Sad as it may sound we did leave the table with a couple of croissants and jams in our pockets!

As far as location this hotel was 10 min max from the Porte St. Ouen underground line and you could reach the centre of Paris within a few stops which was very nice. There is not much around, it is pretty much a residential area with just a few local shops but you do feel safe and there is also a small supermarket where you might want to buy essentials at reasonable prices.

My Opinion
**********
In my opinion this is a great place to stay if you do not want to spend too much money. It ticks all the basic boxes and the area is safe which is important if you come back late or if you had a drink too much.
People are reasonably friendly, service is not over the top but you do feel at ease to stop and ask if you do have any queries or requests.
Reception also had a few free maps and leflets which always come handy.
As said breakfast is reasonably good and had no complaints whatsoever about their standard of cleaning.

If you need more information about it please go to www.accorhotels.com

Thanks for reading! x 

...less