Timhotel Gare Du Nord, Paris

Advantages: Beautifully filmed, poetic, magnificently acted masterpiece of cinema rarely matched today
Disadvantages: Nothing... genuinely nothing

...I first saw Hotel du Nord as part of a double bill with a film by Jean Renoir (I forget which - though I think the brilliant Le Crime De Monsieur Lange) and I was frankly going to see the Renoir film and thought, hmmm, I'll just have to sit through Hotel du Nord and grin and bear it. Something about the film just really didn't appeal. Then right from the opening shot that tracks down from the bridge over the canal Saint Martin and along the side of the canal to where the two lovers, played by Annabella and Jean-Pierre Aumont, settle against one another on a bench, despairing and apparently doomed I simply didn't look back. I couldn't. Since that Sunday afternoon I have always had something of a soft spot for Hotel du Nord. It is firmly placed in the traditional of French cinema of the thirties. Like his contemporaries, Renoir... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Well priced. Great location
Disadvantages: Basic hotel.

...I have stayed at the Hotel Aris Nord in Paris on a number of occasions. Whilst it is not a luxurious hotel it is functional, friendly and reasonable and I would highly recommend it. Location It is ideally located for Eurostar trips to Paris being about 5 minutes walk from the Gare du Nord. It is also 5 minutes walk away from Gare du L'est so is in easy reach of the Metro and mainline. The Rue du Fauborg is an exciting street (although quiet enough to sleep). It has many bars / restaurants along it. Due to this being an ethnic quarter of Paris there are many Indian / Albanian and other ethnic restaurants. Of course there are also the traditional french bars and brasseries selling steak, chips, red wine and beer. As these tend to be inhabited by the French rather than tourists they are reasonably priced. Price The hotel... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Cheap, central
Disadvantages: Very small and very basic

...also just a couple of streets away and we could also walk to the Louvre in 10-15 minutes, and from there it's not far along the Seine to the Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower. Metro line B brings you straight from the Gare du Nord to Les Halles which is the closest Metro station, but when we first arrived it was 7pm and we didn't want to mess about so we jumped in one of the station taxis and even in quite heavy traffic this only came to E10. The only drawback to the location was that there was a police station a few streets away and when we had the window open on the first night because of the heat; the sirens really disturbed my sleep. This was not a problem on the subsequent two nights when it rained, and we had the window closed, and come to think of it our first night was a Saturday and Barack Obama was in town so both those... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful