Grand Hôtel de Turin — Hotel in Paris

Visited in August with my husband and two girls. We paid €65 for one night, room for four. I was a little sceptical given the reviews but thought I’d give it a go anyways and we were pleasantly surprised. Our experience really wasn’t as bad as others and I’ve seen far worse hotels for less value for money.

Quick breakdown below:

-Receptionist and staff were very kind and helpful. -The room was very clean and we checked the mattresses, I confirm there was no bed bugs and they were clean. -The room was on the first floor and overlooking the street but windows are double glazed so we did not hear any noise and it isn’t a busy street anyways. -Room size was good for Paris and beds were comfortable (and we’re difficult with beds!) -Bathroom was ok, a little small and yes water from the shower does splash but not that much if you’re careful. -Location was great, cute streets and quiet and no it’s not a “dangerous” area, unless you go a bit more into Pigalle but that’s to be expected so research Pigalle if you don’t know Paris well. We just avoided that area at night with our young girls and it was perfectly fine. -The room had aircon which was great.

Bad points: -I found a cockroach in the shower, which I killed and didn’t tell the children about. Not nice but it must have crawled through the shower drain given our room was on the first floor, and for Paris, it can sometimes happen. I put a towel on top of the drain and no more cockroaches appeared. -The walls are very thin and you do hear the noisy other rooms but unless they demolish all walls and rebuild them I’m not sure what else the hotel can do. -Chairs in the room are old and ugly, could be replaced. -The cleaner knocked at 9am and even if I replied in French (as I speak French) that we were sleeping, she entered anyway and apologised afterwards.

I’ve tried to give a detailed breakdown of our experience to help future guests. But overall we were very happy especially for the price (€20pp) we paid. You probably won’t find a better option for cheaper in the city centre at a peak period. So no, it isn’t a lush hotel but if you just need a room to sleep in not too far from anything and would rather keep your money for shopping and activities then it’s definitely a good option!

I’d like to think my review is objective as I’m a demanding person who likes comfort, nice things, great service and never hesitate to speak my mind...

1 STAR! 🌟 POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE AT RECEPTION DESK My Wife and I travel 3 times a year and I've never seen such ignorant and very rude staff. If you don't like your job in Customer Service at the Reception Desk, then find another job instead of giving the customer a very bad experience.

Elevators are EXTREMELY SMALL ~ Maximum of 2 average sized persons or one person and a luggage.

The Hotel is very old and you require thick Skeleton Keys for the room and the Safe. The Hotel charges a small fee to use your In-Room Safe so if you are travelling with extra people and you require 2 rooms, save your money and rent only 1 Safe.

The WiFi is FREE but bare in mind that it's very slow and at times very laggy.

Purchase tickets for the Hop-on / Hop-off Tour Buses. You get to see the entire place and all the hot spots. The Hotel utilizes the services of Big B or Big Bus Tour Bus which there is a stop not far from the Hotel within walking distance. Most of the Tour Buses have free wifi and so I highly recommend using the wifi on the Tour Bus instead of the Hotel. We used wifi to load up directions on Google Maps so we can navigate offline around the city.

There is a Breakfast place in the Hotel with some slices of meat, cheeses, canned fruits, toast, bread, juice and different buns including croissants. No eggs, no bacon, etc.

Rooms are fair size and no complaints other than the Shower floor there isn't a barrier to protect the water from flowing around the bathroom floor. They have a drain in the shower but ours was slowly draining and we had a lot of water in the bathroom. We had to use a big towel to block the water flow.

Room Keys need to be given to the front desk each and every time you leave the Hotel. Hotel locks the front doors at Midnight and so if you are later than that time, there is a door bell at the front door.

Based on our negative experience and poor customer service received by a particular staff member working at the front desk, I DO NOT...

Booked one night. January 18th 2024. I didn't have any of the trouble the other reviewers seemed to have: My room on the 6th floor wasn't smelly, nobody was rude, and there was an extremely useful elevator.

The blanket cover, however, was stained with dried blood. This wasn't a deal-breaker of course. It was clean and the stain was on the other side... I had a double bed so I just grabbed the other blanket. But when I laid back down... I noticed the sheet underneath me also had some minor old dry stain. (This time tea or something.)

Like I said... Not a deal-breaker. The sheets were clean. They just need to throw the old, stained ones away. But I wouldn't deduct a star for that.

The room I stayed in was spacious, clean, and (eventually) warm. No complaints about that at all.

But their key policy is EXTREMELY annoying. And it doesn't make any sense. You have to leave the key at the front desk EVERY TIME YOU LEAVE. Then you, of course have to pick it up again when you come back.

This has the adverse effect of making you want to go out less and less and it also completely defeats the purpose of giving you a key in the first place. You might as well just buzz people into their room. Or install a keycard system. Or just NOT have people drop off their key for no reason.

Because it's just stupid. Extremely, frustratingly, stupid.

If people lose their keys... Just do like every other hotel on Earth and charge them for it... Or, as I said, just replace them all with key cards that you can always deactivate.

Anyway... Besides that major inconvenience... I had a pleasant stay at the hotel. And I'd much rather deal with the key thing than have to go up six flights of stairs with no elevator. (Their elevator, though...