Hotel Paris-Liege, Paris

...ourselves into the Paris Liege hotel for 2 nights.

Where is it
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Located just opposite Gare Du Nord station in the heart of Paris, the hotel liege is ever so slightly out of sight behind a few brighter signed buildings. It’s on the left hand side of the road as you cross over and has a nice subtle pink sign indicating its presence.

How much / How to Book?
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Everything about this hotel seemed absolutely fine until we had our key in hand and headed up the stairs. We were told our room was on the fourth floor and there was an elevator we could use. I still cannot understand why they bothered telling us this, as the lift is obviously meant to be used for laundry movements or maintenance, not really fit for guests. It was small to the extreme and my sister and I struggled to both get in with our ... more

On a recent long weekend to Paris with my sister and a few of our friends we booked ourselves into the Paris Liege hotel for 2 nights.

Where is it
---------------

Located just opposite Gare Du Nord station in the heart of Paris, the hotel liege is ever so slightly out of sight behind a few brighter signed buildings. It’s on the left hand side of the road as you cross over and has a nice subtle pink sign indicating its presence.

How much / How to Book?
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We booked through lastminute.com who arranged everything on our behalf. When we arrived our reservations were correct and we were given a key card for or room with no troubles at all.

My sister and I shared a twin room at £70 per night. I thought this was pretty reasonable considering the great location and proximity to the station.

My Opinion
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Everything about this hotel seemed absolutely fine until we had our key in hand and headed up the stairs. We were told our room was on the fourth floor and there was an elevator we could use. I still cannot understand why they bothered telling us this, as the lift is obviously meant to be used for laundry movements or maintenance, not really fit for guests. It was small to the extreme and my sister and I struggled to both get in with our tiny bags. It was not stable and I for one was thrilled when it came to a stop. It also seemed a little ridiculous that the elevator was halfway between each floor, so to get to it you had to walk half way to floor 1, no good for wheelchairs or pushchairs then at all.

The room itself was ok. For the budget we paid I wasn’t expecting much and the room was sufficient. It did have some lovely large windows which gave great views of the busy city and the bed was very comfy. We had the 2 single beds, 2 side tables with lamps, a desk and chair and a wardrobe. The room was quite plan, but not too modern or not too old fashioned, which I liked. Nice and non-offending.

The bathroom was in need of a little care however, the shower was pretty limescaley and the ceiling paint was flaked off and slightly mouldy which was a little disappointing. The shower worked well however and we had hot water whenever needed. There were enough towels for both of us and the maid service daily was carried out well.

The staff we encountered was very varied, and looking back has given us a nice story to re-tell and laugh about. Although at the time I was less than amused...The check in staff were all very helpful, the reception is manned 24 hours a day which is nice for security. Although not all of the staff we encountered spoke fantastic English, they had enough to help us and get the drift of our conversation, which included a moan about some noisy neighbours which was resolved.

The chambermaid however (nicknamed Godzilla) was a completely different kettle of fish. On the second day of our stay we had some friends arrive that were booked into another room for the night. They arrived before check in and came to our room to drop their bags off; we were to head out to lunch and would come back a little later to check them in. Our friends were followed up the stairs by a howling Godzilla who was aggressively shaking her fists and screaming at the top of her lungs in French at us all. Rather taken back by the sheer hostility of the encounter we managed to work out with the use of my sisters limit French vocab that she was worried that the other 2 guests were coming to join us in our 2 person room which is not allowed. After showing their paperwork (which they had done to the receptionist with no hassle and been allowed to drop bags off) Godzilla still wasn’t having any of it, she barged past myself and my sister (who are slightly sleepy and still in pyjamas I might add) add stomped through our room to the phone, absolutely dumfounded that she would not only physically shove a guest but barge uninvited into a private room that has been paid for, we watched as she shrieked down the phone to the receptionist. He must have told her to stop being crazy as she then stropped out of the room, but not after throwing us some “if looks could kill” glares.

When we returned later in the day, we got chatting to one of the receptionists who was actually Mexican and spoke fluent English. Half way through a pleasant conversation, large balled up bags of dirty sheets came flying down the stairs into reception, after having to take a few steps to the right to avoid being hit, the receptionist popped his head round the corner and called up to express that there were guests in reception and to be careful. Godzilla in all her scary glory then popped down the stairs took a nice long look at us and promptly made a “humph” noise, turned her nose up and continued with her bolder throwing activities. The kind receptionist apologised for her actions and expressed to us that as part of his placement, he was to be at that hotel for 2 weeks. After 3 days he was leaving and that his last day would be tomorrow. I can’t really say I blame him!

Overall
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The hotel was clean, although in need of a touch up and a bit of modernising in certain places. The location was amazing for ease to getting around Paris, right next to Gare Du Nord station and near various metro lines. There were some lovely buildings in the proximity and we had some lovely views. The room was sufficient and we were happy for the price we paid.

The staff were fine and did their jobs well all except Godzilla, although the rooms were cleaned everyday and the beds made and towels re-stocked, I cannot imagine there isn’t another person in the whole of Paris that is qualified to do this job but without the aggression and downright unacceptable way of treating guests. Customer service skills were obviously a trait left out of the “Big, scary, rude, violent and abusive chambermaid wanted” advert.

As I say, looking back it is rather amusing and myself, my sister and our friends have had a good giggle at Godzilla’s expense, but at the time it was pretty unbelievable and did bring down my opinion of the hotel unfortunately.

For that reason I will give the Hotel Paris Liege 3 stars....Godzilla get -10 stars and should get the boot!

Thanks for reading :) 

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