Hôtel Bastille Secret — Hotel in Paris

Possibly one of the worst locations I could have booked and it made me feel bad for the fact that it gravely stains the image of the city. Let me tell you why I say this so confidently.||I visited Paris along with my family in order to attend a concert and the city was all crowded and there was impossible to book anything near the arena. However, we had this double room booked at Royal Bastille that was located relatively at a short distance from the arena. The pictures convinced us that, for a 2 stars hotel, it was a neat and nice place to stay for the night. Well, we were wrong.||We arrived there in the evening and we couldn’t wait to find our room and rest. We took our bags and entered the hotel only to find a very narrow and stinky hallway that led us to a very small reception where the receptionist was visibly not willing to notice us. He told us different booking details than the ones on Booking, but we agreed that we’ll further discuss this in the morning. He went on to present us our room and from that point onward, things went worse. If you saw the pictures on Booking, then you might think it’s pretty decent. Well, forget about that. It’s all a big fat lie. ||The access to the double room was possible through an entrance door without a doorknob or a keyhole, the door was all scratched and the wood inside the space of the missing doorknob was rotted. Inside the room, the floor was cracked and the window blinds were ripped completely. The headrest and the walls were in the same lame state, it all smelled like mold and the electrical outlet was ripped off of the wall. In short, everything would be falling apart if you touched it, the towels were dirty, there was no soap, the water was supposed to be there, but guess what, it was not (and we were lucky to have our own bathroom; the single rooms had only one to share).||We just couldn’t stay there. Even for a 2 stars hotel, it was crossing any and every possible line. On Booking it says that the hotel has a parking and they have. BUT it’s 2 km away from the hotel and you’d be giving 80 euros for 2 nights (even if there was no security measure to make sure that the car would be safe). The receptionist’s response to that? “Madam, everything is expensive in Paris.” Besides, paying that unreasonable amount of money for even less than 2 days was not even the biggest problem of them all. After inspecting the room and seeing the parking (which all took less than an hour), we decided to leave. There was no way we could spend the night at that place. Inside, it looked like one of those creepy motels you see in horror movies. ||Being left with only the desire to leave immediately, we went down to the reception to meet our third receptionist for the night (as hostile as the other two before him). We told him that we wanted to cancel the reservation; no matter the sum Booking would have charged for that. However, the receptionist could not process that information and he vehemently refused. After a 15 minutes debate, he said he accepts only if we pay one night. Yes, he wanted us to pay 150 euros for less than an hour of looking around the room, too afraid to sit on the beds for they looked absolutely insanitary. With lots of effort and the help of the very understanding staff of Booking, we managed to leave without any charges. And the only thing the receptionist managed to say is that he hoped we have not touched anything (because their room was SO clean sarcastic mutter) Maybe only one night wouldn’t have been so bad for an adult, but believe me, when you have children, you can’t afford to keep them in a place like that.|| Just like you, who might have looked at the pictures on Booking just now, we never thought it’d be so bad either. It’s just that when you experience this and see how blatantly someone can lie, you feel you cannot just sit down and not try to share your experience so other people would be more careful than you were. Personally, I don’t want anyone else to go through that, no matter what your expectations are. The point is that there were unreasonable conditions (more like no conditions) for an unreasonable price and nothing could justify the treatment they promote towards their clients, especially for the money they get. Some people can endure that, while others cannot, but considering what I have seen and experienced there, they should stop calling themselves a hotel and they should be ashamed to keep those photos as “up-to-date” because it’s definitely not the case.||||So, friendly advice: Don’t let yourselves be fooled as well and look closely and carefully at what you decide to book.||||P.S: We are very grateful for the professionalism of the Booking staff and for the amazing way in which they handled...

The worst hotel I have ever stayed at. ||||Arrived early before check in so did some sight seeing in the mean time . Hotel kept out bags for us . ||||Arrived back hours after check in and shown to our room. We requested 2 twin beds but there was a double bed . Went back downstairs and the man in charge gave us another key to another room. Which again had a double bed . ( he also didn’t speak a lot of English ) . ||||He then said that they did not have twin beds and that we had to make do with the double bed . We were not having it. His paper work and our paper work said twin bed . Also a twin bed cost more than a double . ||||He offered to refund us the room price which of course we didn’t accept because we were in Paris for one night and had no where else to go. After arguing for about half hour he didn’t say anything and then just handed us two room keys .||||Walked into one of the rooms and the bed had been slept in and the furniture all over the place. Went downstairs to bring the man upstairs to show him the room. He didn’t look surprised and said we could wait for a cleaner for half an hour or just make do with the room the way it was . Actually thought he was joking but he was being very serious . When I demanded another room which had been cleaned he then handed me a key for another room. On arrival the key did not work. ||||Had to go all the way back downstairs and as soon as he saw me he said in French ‘what’s the problem now ‘ ! I explained the key card for the room did not work. Which he then sorted . Baring in mind this whole fiasco lasted about 45 mins . ||||The room itself looks nothing like the red photos on the website . I would call this more of a B&B rather than a hotel. Also it is definitely not a 4 star hotel. I actually think that’s quite an insult to other 4 star hotels . ||||The room was clean. And the bathroom was OK and most areas clean but stunk of sewage . ||||Also NO air con. Very hot in the room . ||||Location is fantastic though and a 30 second walk from the metro. ||||Went out that evening and got back late for the key card for my room to not work again. ||||Wouldn’t go back to this hotel. Location is great but would rather have stayed somewhere else that was actually 4 star and had air con with friendly staff and rooms that we...

If you need a bed, you have few options, and you want something cheap, this hotel is sufficient. I needed a hotel VERY last minute and this was what I found. The bed was not comfortable (very little support), but it also was not terrible. The room I had was very small, but it was certainly big enough for one person. The bathroom was actually pretty clean and appeared to have been renovated relatively recently. However, the only soap in the bathroom was in a container that was a refill for a soap dispenser, but there was not actually a soap dispenser in the room. So I had to open the container and pour soap into my hands to use it. Not the biggest problem, but you might expect a bar of soap in even the least expensive of hotels.

My major concern is that right before checkout (and it was indeed before checkout time, not AT checkout time, nor AFTER checkout time), the cleaning staff went into my room for something while I was out, and then left the door open. It wasn't just unlocked; it was visibly open, and all of my stuff was inside, including my laptop. I want to be clear that it's fine if they had to go into my room for something, or if they thought I had left, went in, and then realized I hadn't left yet.

The gentleman at the front desk tried to provide reasons for why they might have done it, which a) I had already been able to imagine on my own, and B) were really of no interest to me. The reasons don't matter. What matters is that they did it. I looked around to see if anyone was nearby, like maybe they had JUST left the room 5 seconds before I turned the corner, but there was no one there. It's not a big hotel, and it's not like there are people milling around all the time, but still.

The desk clerk apologized and was nice enough, but it just shouldn't happen unless they're actively in the room working, and the amount of time they might have left it for doesn't matter.

Anyway, again, if you need something cheap and you just need a bed and a space, you...