Paris Hotel Question

I stayed here for 6 nights last September and thought it was great. There is no AC and the elevator is one of the teeny 2 person ones, so my friend and I wound up walking up to the 5th floor most of the time. I really enjoyed it and altho it was my first time there my friend has stayed before and she was familiar with the owners from prior visits. The hotel was very clean, in a lovely neighborhood (which I enjoyed altho some on the helpline scoff at Rue Cler), and found the folks at Reception friendly and helpful. The breakfast was slightly expensive but pretty big for a Paris hotel...croissant, roll, fruit, yogurt and coffee.

I will go look at the TA reviews.

OK...the complaint about the hallway lights, there are switches and you just have to flick them on at each floor as you go by. If you stop to talk on the stairs it may go out on you. Never tried or needed the phones, so no comment. There are 2 grocery stores that you can see if you are if you step out the front door into the street, so not sure why the one person could not just walk to them. I never had a hotel in Europe give me a bottle of water. Did not see any street people around this area when I was there. The rooms are small, but so were most of the other rooms I stayed in in Europe.

Probably someone from Rick Steves' Europe staff will post an answer to your question, since it's in Rick's book.

Steves is a wonderful resource for travel but our luck with his hotel recommendations has not been great. I just don't use them now after a long ago stay at the then execrable Hotel Grand Leveque on Rue Cler; remains the worst hotel we have stayed in except for the Soriso place in Vernazza. (and we travel close to the ground) (I understand Leclerg has been upgraded since then) You have to read reviews with an eye to what is important to you, but if there is a pattern of negative reviews and they are about things you care about, take heed. I once booked a hotel in Dijon that has a terrible review from a family that were outraged that they were asked to keep their pre-school age children quiet (they were running at screaming late in the evening) and that they were expected to pay for a broken lamp their child caused. That seemed like good management to me and we were delighted with the hotel. If people are fussing about the elevator or stairs -- well is that important to you? If it is noise, dirty room, bugs or rude manager -- well if there are several like that, find somewhere else. I have found that reviews are very telling. We stayed at a fancy business hotel in Chicago one a deal one time that had reviews about noise -- the place had a lovely location and view and such paper thin walls we could hear people breathing in the next room and were awakened all night by the TV in the next room. It wasn't on all that loud,but every time commercials came on, the boom up woke us. There are thousands of hotels in Paris -- don't choose one that disappoints a lot of people who you can assume are much like you. (using the Steves guide after all)

I have no personal experience with this hotel and I do agree with Janet in that I don't use RS much for hotel recommendations, but in this case I think it's probably a good recommendation. While there are some bad reviews on TA, the majority are good to excellent. There are also good reviews on Yelp.com and even in the good reviews there are mentions about the lack of A/C, small rooms, and one somewhat negative comment about mgmt so you know they aren't just 'sugar coating' it. But if those things are important to you then you need to heed them. With reviews, I think you need to read the whole review and put those comments in context. I have given good reviews to hotels that I have enjoyed staying in, but have noted things that were lacking in the interests of being completely honest because to some people those are important, even if they weren't for me.

We have stayed at the Champ de Mars for over 15 years ...many many times. We love it! Have never had any complaints at all. Rooms are small and extremely clean. The bathrooms are updated and the beds very comfortable. There is a small elevator and a nice breakfast room.My husband is a photographer and we usually stay in gites and apartments when we photograph in France, but the hotel Champ de Mars has always been our place to stay in Paris. It does fill up fast ...we usually reserve 8-10 months ahead of time because we like certain rooms. I tire of reading some posts about this hotel ...I have read things like there is no elevator......they do not have a breakfast. Sometimes I wonder if the people were really there. If you read many of the posts you will find that lots of people like us return multiple times year after year.. Send me a PM if you have other questions.

I am one of those people who has returned to this hotel several times. Personally, I love it and agree with everything Pam and Jane say. But it may not be quite as wonderful to everyone. My husband and I have stayed in many Rick Steves recommended hotels/b&bs and can't think of a one that we weren't happy with. But then I do understand not everyone has the same expectations. If the reviews are worrying to you, maybe this particular hotel won't be the best choice for you.

Small rooms and an impersonal attitude seemed to be the main source of complaint on TripAdvisor. The somewhat severe (or serious) attitude of the owners is a known issue with the Hotel du Champ de Mars, but our editors still consider it a very good value for Paris, at about €135 for a double room. Rick's hotel listings in this price range all mention some trade-offs, whether it's "snug" rooms at the Champ de Mars, drab halls at Hotel Prince, 1970s décor at Hotel du 7eme Art, etc. With so much to see in Paris, I don't spend much time in my room.

lee,

i take Ricks and any other guide books or recommendations here or anywhere else with a grain of salt.

To me, they are "guides" not gospel and everyone will have a different take on what they like or dont. Just like i may like Pizza Hut and you may not. Its a matter of personal taste/preference.

Its good you did some additional homework too, but as with anything else in life "you cant please everyone" and that goes for hotels and customers.

Happy trails.

Laura.... We have stayed at the Hotel du Champ de Mars many times over the years and have never witnessed anything but kindness. Have you witnessed their severe attitude? Also the price of a double is not 135 euros.... Higher this year but still lower than many of the hotels in this area. We still feel....as do many others..... this to be one of the best lodging values in Paris.

Thanks, Jane, for sharing your relevant experience. I spoke to Steve Smith, the co-author of Rick's France guidebook, about this hotel, since I have not stayed there. Actually, the word he used for the owners was "serious" rather than severe. It is his opinion that it's a very good value hotel.

Personally, I use Rick's hotel recommendations all the time, usually from the cheap end of the list, and don't bother with TripAdvisor. I looked at TripAdvisor expecting the bad reviews could be from travelers unfamiliar with what to expect in Europe, but most claimed quite a bit of travel experience, including in Paris. Some of those comments were about other staff, not necessarily the owners.

I agree with Laura that some of the bad TripAdvisor reviews are from American travelers not familiar with what to expect in Europe.

Laura.. have you actually stayed in any other hotel in Paris? I have stayed in at least 10 in last 6-7 years.

I rarely pay over 120 euros a night.. too me 135 is not great value.. especially when I do not like the area the CM hotel is in..

There are literally hundreds of great budget-moderate hotels in central Paris.. makes me sad to see people getting slavish in following a guide book recommendation.

Ps.. most hotels I have stayed at have NICE owners.. with nice, HAPPY clerks.. always exceptions,, but frankly I think some hotels in PAris put in any guide book,, take their occupancy rates for granted due to the endorsement and the herds of mostly Americans that rush to get in them.. and start to treat you like you are less then a welcome guest.. but more like "you are lucky to be here" guest.

austinandhaylee..

I recommend you consider the Hotel Diana,, better more central location, nice owner, clean lovely rooms, small, but includes ac , a good elevator etc.. and only a few blocks from MANY sites ..

I also think the Hotel De la Place du Lourve is a great value.. rates in june are high.. but by mid july they lower to about 130 , which is my splurge hotel... only one block from Pont Neuf, quiet street,, within 1/2 block of Louvre and river..

Hotel Eugenie,, is one of the most central hotels ever.. can be bustling.. but rooms are clean, have mini fridges( love to stock them myself with snacks) good ac, and is about 100 metres from river.. in less then 2 minutes you will be looking at Notre Dame..

A very budget choice in a very primo location is the Hotel St Pierre.. quiet street off of the busy Boulevard St Michel.. cheap, clean, small small rooms, super nice staff, and ac,, hard to find for under 100 euros a night..

Thank you so much for all of your replies and how quickly they came in! It has helped so much. This will not be our first time to Europe but it will be our first time to France. We are not concerned about overly small rooms, etc and see what you mean about those who are writing the reviews on TripAdvisor. I appreciate all of the advice from you fellow travelers and the Rick Steve's team. We plan on booking the Hotel du Champ de Mars!

We found the advice in Rick's guidebooks, along with the suggestions from experienced travelers in this forum to be much more reliable than the reviews found on Tripadvisor -- for what it's worth.