Hôtel des Carmes by Malone — Hotel in Paris

EDIT: apparently they are paying everyone with lower reviews (see others here) AND only keeping photos/reviews from their nicer rooms which is why all the reviews are high. I would love a refund because €300+ for the basic room is 3x what it should be but I also want to make sure others don’t have this experience and don’t think it is fair to only compensate this way rather than fairly. Copying the private note that commenter sent to me below:

“our offer still valid

can you delete your rate please on google and tripadvisor and inform me

i will make the necessary”

——

Location is good, walkable. Other than that it’s not worth the price. Clean, luckily. But tiny, stuffy rooms with just a view out the window of other rooms / walls. For two of us we could hardly fit our small suitcases and also walk around the bed, but they charged us €300 for a random Monday night which is more than other close and comparable places with nicer rooms.

They also told us we could check in early (I called ahead because our flight was a red eye and knew we’d be tired - I was deciding between two hotels based on early checkin) then changed their mind and made us sit in the lobby waiting, breakfast wasn’t included and not worth paying for (people told us it wasn’t good) and so many nice Parisian places nearby, and the small lobby is tiny and always crowded so we could never get help.

Lots of other cuter spots close by to consider. We ended up moving.

Manager (different from commenter below) wrote and offered to fix experience with kind e-mail and partial refund or future stay. We are not interested in a future stay and partial refund never came through. Commenter then replied later and said I have to delete my bad reviews in order to get a refund which actually makes the experience worse and makes me more inclined to...

We were there for 8 days. Our room was very small approximately 12 x 12’. About the size of a room on a cruise ship. So not much space to put your clothes so they just stayed in my suitcase. The bathroom was a bit small but efficient. Maid service is daily which was nice but for some reason they didn’t leave us much toilet paper a couple times. Luckily the receptionist had some. Service in the reception area was always very friendly, they speak English and generally pretty helpful. The breakfast was interesting, I would not get it again. It’s the EXACT same thing everyday, chopped tomatoes, diced onions, sliced cheeses, cold cuts, pan de chocolate, croissants, hazelnuts, graham cracker crumbs and what I think were scrambled eggs. They did have a few small containers of yogurt but it was the kind for kids with lots of sugar. The only fruit was about 15 red grapes, everyday, the same red grapes. They had an espresso machine so my husband had that instead of coffee and I had tea. I can’t have too much gluten so after the second day I no longer ate there although my husband did because we paid in advance. The ladies helping with the breakfast do not speak English. The location is great! The hotel itself is on a small street with roadwork being done but the location is in the heart of everything. We had a farmer’s market going on down the street, cafes everywhere, and a regular grocery market with many other shops all around us. You can easily walk to the Seines River, Norte Dame, Pantheon, subways etc. Another note, this hotel has a VERY small old elevator so we only used it when we arrived with our luggage and at the end of our stay with our luggage. The staircase we took everyday is spiral and a bit narrow so you need...

Check in was smooth and the staff was friendly, helpful, and spoke English (if needed). There's light snacks such as candy, breads, mini pastries, water and juice available all day in the lobby for everyone. Breakfast is not included though.

The hotel was very clean and looked new, bright, and inviting. The rooms were also clean, had air conditioning (AC) and the bathrooms looked newly renovated with great water pressure. The bed was comfortable and included blackout curtains. They provided the most adorable mini madeleines on our pillows during cleanings each day which were tasty!

Alternatively, the hotel room was TINY. Its basically a room big enough for a bed to fit in and that's it. You have just enough room to walk around the bed with no bags. We had to very strategically place bags in our room to allow access for the door to open or even to be able to walk but it was difficult and not successful. They purposely leave you a foldable chair in the room to use so you can fold when not in use as there is no extra floor space.

We paid taxes and fees when booking and then still had to pay city taxes per person per night in addition when checking in. For the expensive price we paid, I thought the rooms would be larger. There are plenty of other options in the area that have balconies and larger...