Hôtel Caron de Beaumarchais Paris Marais — Hotel in Paris

I hate writing bad reviews as I generally give people the benefit of doubt, but in the interest of warning other travellers I feel that this has to be done.||I booked the Hotel Caron de Beaumarchais for our anniversary trip to Paris based on a recommendation for romantic hotels from the London Times (what’s wrong with the person who wrote that article?) and very good reviews on Trip Advisor, which in hindsight I realise were all for the front facing rooms. The people who stayed in the rear rooms have been understandably silent. What a mistake! It was by far our worst experience staying in a hotel in over 33 years – and we travel a fair bit. ||On the plus side the hotel is very well located, spotlessly clean with plenty of hot water and the air conditioning works well. That’s where the good news ends.||Service|The worst bit of the experience was the lack of any customer service. When booking I had mentioned that it was our anniversary and although I wasn’t expecting anything special, a warm greeting of 'happy anniversary' or 'welcome to Paris' from the older gentleman at the front desk would have been nice. Instead, he was only interested in getting our payment sorted as maybe he was worried that we would do a runner when we saw the room! Except for a younger person who was there on one occasion, no one smiled or welcomed us or said anything when we left the hotel or came back. This was quite an achievement considering that we had to drop off and pick up our keys each time we went out!||I understand people may have personal issues which we may not be aware about, but this lack of acknowledgement was similar across all staff except the cleaning lady who always greeted us warmly and with a smile. When you’re a tourist in a foreign land a warm welcome goes along way, in fact, as I now realise, is much needed at a hotel reception desk. Sadly, not to be had at the Beaumarchais. ||The room|No street rooms were available, so we booked an interior room with no view, which are not their best rooms – and to be fair they do say that in the description. So we were ready for a courtyard view, but nothing prepared us for the tiny (7'x10') courtyard (ventilation shaft really as it couldn’t even be called a light well) with a close-up view of a wall and absolutely no light. We were on the 4th floor - I hate to think what the lower floor inside rooms are like.||We felt claustrophobic, there was limited air circulation, and we almost checked out as soon as we saw the room. It was so small that you had to move sideways along the bed to get to the bathroom or closet (the 14m2 in the description includes the bathroom and a bit of the corridor that extends into the room - the room itself is more like 9m2). ||Thankfully we only brought carry-on luggage, as there isn’t space for a suitcase in that room. ||The bed|The bed itself was huge as it was two single beds pushed together, which made no sense given the size of the room.||The bed covering was a tired looking red blanket with a flat sheet under it which only came as far as your chest. The sheet was also narrower that the banket so it you wanted to stick your feet out of the covers at the side, you couldn’t help but encounter the rough blanket which presumably was not washed between guests. My wife found it extremely difficult to sleep.||Amenities |No tea or coffee maker, virtually no surface to take out any personal belongings. There was a safe, but it wasn’t anchored to anything - someone could just walk off with the whole thing and test their code cracking skills in the comfort of their home! ||Bathroom|The bathroom was tiny, although it had all the things you would need - except for a shower screen or curtain! I had to be super careful taking a shower so as not to get the floor totally wet which I did by taking the shower attachment in my hand and standing along the side wall. ||My poor wife had to bend over the side of the tub to wash her hair before getting in the tub to finish washing. ||Mini Bar|Minbar/fridge and waste basket next to each other in the space under the sink in the bathroom. We’re not sure how hygienic this is but it didn’t stop the hotel wanting to charge us 4 Euro for a can of Coke (or so we were told at reception).||To sum up…|Ok, if you get a front room facing the street I am sure the experience is much better - so avoid the interior room unless you are partying all night and just want to sleep during the day in absolute darkness because they really are very dark in the daytime.||We still had a great time in Paris as it’s such a wonderful city, and as an urban designer and architect for me a great example of what urban life (in the public realm) should be like. ||We will likley visit Paris again, but will definitely give this hotel a miss – there are many other...

I recently had the opportunity to stay at this hotel, and while its location is truly exceptional, I must express my disappointment with nearly every other aspect of my experience. Considering the high rate charged for the accommodations, I find it difficult to justify the expense based on the overall quality provided.

First and foremost, our room, located on the first floor towards the back of the building, was notably dim, to the point where natural sunlight failed to penetrate the space regardless of the time of day. In fact, it felt reminiscent of being in a basement. Compounding this issue was the inability to open the windows for fresh air due to the proximity of the kitchen below, resulting in an unwelcome infusion of odors from fried oil and cooking. On one occasion, the cleaning staff inadvertently left our window open, leaving us to contend with a room that resembled the scent of a fast-food restaurant. We brought this to the attention of the receptionist, who apologized and spritzed perfume in our room to mask the scent, which we appreciated, but it could not make up for the experience as a whole.

Regrettably, the rooms themselves were quite cramped, with limited space available for even basic activities such as dressing. Additionally, the queen-size bed provided was smaller than expected. The absence of a proper shower and the presence of a bathtub instead, combined with the lack of a shower curtain or glass partition, led to inevitable wetness throughout the bathroom area after each use.

I must also call out the inadequate cleanliness of the room. We encountered hair in the bathtub, dust on various surfaces, and even a noticeable black streak on one of the extra pillows and all the towels. Such oversights were disheartening and fell far short of the expected standards.

Taste is subjective, so I don't want to offer extensive commentary on the design choices in the room. But it is worth mentioning that the furniture did not merely possess a vintage aesthetic but genuinely felt old and worn.

I will say that the internet and air conditioning operated well, and the staff members were consistently friendly in their interactions. However, the lack of a proper reception area left me feeling uneasy when entrusting my luggage or keys to them, particularly since the hotel's front door remained open at all times. On one occasion, upon returning to the hotel just after midnight, I encountered the receptionist sound asleep at their desk.

Furthermore, while I appreciate that the staff members were friendly and receptive to our complaints, I was disappointed by their lack of proactive measures to rectify the situation. Despite bringing our concerns to their attention, we were left feeling that little was done to address the issues at hand. No offer of a discount, special attention to cleanliness (the dust was still there and so was the streak on the pillow and on the towels), or compensation such as complimentary breakfast was extended to us, leaving us unsatisfied with the overall resolution provided.

Considering the substantial cost of €200 per night, excluding breakfast, I had expected a significantly higher standard of service and amenities. At the very least, one should reasonably anticipate cleanliness, staff attentiveness, access to fresh air, and basic provisions such as a shower curtain or a kettle in the room.

Regrettably, this was one of the most unsatisfactory hotel experiences I have ever encountered, which coincidentally was also one of the most expensive stays I have ever had.

I cannot, in all honesty, understand its high rating. However, I do think that we received one of the worst, if not the worst, room in the entire hotel, which undoubtedly shaped our experience for the worse. However, even then, all other issues like cleanliness, smell and lack of amenities remain -- something that should be present in every room. I think it's a shame that hotels get away with this level of standard for that price, just because it's the...

Based on reviews I had read, I really wanted to love this hotel, but sadly I did not. As charming as it looks in photos, in person everything looks much more worn and run-down. The bedding (a scratchy wool blanket over a flat sheet) and towels could definitely use an update, and the housekeeping service was erratic at best. The first day, I noticed my room had not been cleaned around 3pm and the receptionist told me the person scheduled did not come in. Eventually they did come replace the towels, but nothing else was done. It was not until the third day that the bed was even made. They did not replenish the water in the mini-fridge at any time during my 4-night stay. The window curtains were torn at the top and I had a very hard time getting them to stay closed, and because of the location of my room there was a bright light pointed right in my window at night. The street noise was not bad, but the doors to the rooms are so close together that it woke me late every night (after midnight) when those guests returned and were talking loudly in the hallway and unlocking and closing the heavy door.||One afternoon I was resting in my room when a male staff member just barged in with no warning at all (no knock, no announcement that he was coming in), which was startling, to say the least. He was apologetic, but as a woman traveling alone it was still upsetting. It was especially surprising because you have to leave your key at the desk every time you leave the hotel, so they were fully aware I was in the room at the time. ||When I checked out on my last morning I paid my bill (or so I thought) and called for an Uber, and then the receptionist told me that the credit card machine had a “bug” and I would need to wait several minutes for it to reboot so he could run the card again (luckily I was able to complete that before my car arrived).||On the positive side, the location is great, the staff were friendly, and the in-room breakfast was very good (honestly it felt a bit excessive…they could just ask what you want and bring that instead of bringing one of...