Hotel International, Paris

Author's product rating:   

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

Advantages:	Location, breakfasts
Disadvantages:	Poor rooms

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

I recently went on a cultural girlie trip with a friend to Paris. I was left to do all the booking. I was looking for a reasonable hotel, near a metro stop, which included breakfast. I came across the Hotel International on various travel sites and it seemed fairly highly rated so I booked us in for three nights.

LOCATION:

The hotel is located 6 Rue Auguste Barbier in the 11th Arrondissement. The nearest Metro stop is Garcourt which was a two minute walk away and it was a five minute walk to Republique which gives good links to other lines. It's not really central enough to avoid the Metro and walk to the attractions but it was located so close to a stop that it seemed ideal.

PRICE:

Prices vary depending on size of room and season. There are singles, doubles and triples available. We paid Euro254 for the whole time including breakfast. Breakfast is not automatically included, it is an extra Euro7.50 per day per person.

THE EXPERIENCE:

We arrived at the hotel at about 8pm. The reception area is small. We assumed that they would speak English but tried out our limited French anyway, along with our hilarious 'Allo 'Allo style accents. Thankfully our French was not tested too greatly - although some of the reception staff at other times were less proficient in English so a vague idea of hotel French may be beneficial.

We were given the enormous key after paying the remainder of the balance (I had paid one night's deposit before we left the UK) and directed to the lift. It was absolutely tiny, although I know we were lucky to have one at all in Paris! It would just about fit the two of us in and we're both fairly slim. Its claim to hold a maximum of six people was not a theory I fancied testing!

We'd booked a double room as twin was more expensive. The room was compact. There was a hanging alcove, with a shelf above it. The bed was reasonably comfortable, although not supportive enough for me. My friend was annoyed that they only provided one pillow with no spares in the wardrobe and she had to boost it with some towels. There were two bedside tables, a very simple desk/dressing table and a luggage rack. There was only one power point that we could find, and this was for the TV which was on a small wall bracket. We didn't bother with the TV - we stuck to using the socket for the straighteners and phone chargers!

The room was decorated very simply - white walls, blue carpets and bedspread. The décor was certainly looking a little tired as was the furniture. The window opened full length which was nice although the view was only of the other side of the street.

The bathroom was very tiny. The door to the bathroom wouldn't close properly which was annoying. The towels were few and far between, very thin and tiny and would not have gone round anyone bigger than a size 12! The shower had a good pressure but kept switching from hot to cold to burning your skin off!

The best way I can describe the room is like student accommodation. It was basic, ok for comfort and small.

The breakfast was served between 6.30 and about 9.30. There was a reasonable choice of breads, croissants, spreads, fruits and yoghurts. There was also tea, coffee and juice. Not necessarily worth Euro7.50 per person but we did manage to grab a bread roll and cheese spread which we used for lunch later on which saved us a few Euros!

CONCLUSION:

I don't think I would stay here again. The location was good and the breakfast was good but the room was a little too basic and not comfortable enough for the price we paid. I know that it was Paris and nothing is cheap and in reality we probably got a good deal, but I just wasn't quite impressed enough. It's a reasonable place for a base to visit Paris and was fine for us and would be ok for friends but definitely not one for a romantic weekend away in the French capital!