Hôtel Le Grand Mazarin — Hotel in Paris

This will be the first time I’ve left a non-five-star review, which I don’t enjoy doing, but I was so frustrated after spending my money here during a three night stay, that I felt it was necessary to share my experience.

I wanted to visit this hotel because it was designed by Martin Brudnizki, an interior designer who does incredible work. The design was lovely, though the rooms were cramped, and the hotel was lacking in almost every other aspect.

I would not consider this hotel anywhere close to five stars. Amenities and service left very, VERY much to be desired.

Breakfast I want to call breakfast out first because it was our favorite part of our stay. Very yummy “continental” breakfast with cheeses and cured meats and fruits like mango. They were accommodating to our requests for iced lattes with oat milk to go, and made delicious scrambled eggs with amazing mushrooms! The service was sweet and even remembered our room number. This was the best part of our stay besides the design.

Spa My friend who I was staying with asked for a glass of white wine at the pool. They told her no, that they don’t do that, but offered a pool menu with a glass of white wine on it… odd. Jacuzzi was cold. I called reception and spoke to the technician about this, however, they told me that the temperature was normal and then laughed that I like it hotter than normal. No, I don’t like it hotter than it’s meant to be, I like a hot tub to be as it’s intended - hot. And, I expect that request to be accommodated and not laughed at at a 5 star hotel. Beyond that, the steam room was lukewarm and smelled like urine. I asked for essential oils in hopes of masking the smell after noticing there was a massage room on premises and was told that there are no essential oils in house and the matter of the smelly steam room was not explored any further. Later, when I brought the cold hot tub up to the receptionist face to face, she explained to me that hot tubs sometimes won’t feel hot because the air temperature around them is already hot, which makes them feel cooler... I’m sorry, what? Are you explaining to me the way temperature works? I had to laugh. I told her, no, I know how temperature works and I’ve been in many hot tubs in freezing and hot temperatures and I understand how hot water is supposed to feel on my skin. eye roll She told me they’d increase the temperature and honestly I never went back to check because we were leaving the next day. I should have looked at other reviews before I stayed here. I would’ve seen that others took issue with the jacuzzi as well.

“Cabaret” The cabaret was not open the whole time we were there. When I asked about it, the front desk staff had no information around when it would be open again or why it was closed.

Air conditioner Another temperature incident. We left our room at 11am to explore the city and set the temperature to 17 degrees. When we came back it was warm and stuffy. We expressed this to the front desk and were told that there was someone controlling it from a central location who set it to 15 and that it should start working soon. It did cool down but we thought that was really weird since the day before we were able to set the room to a cool temperature and then for some reason that changed. It felt like perhaps the console was broken and they didn’t was to tell us.

Bidet The bidet simply was not in operating condition. We did not express this to the hotel since it just felt like too much complaining already.

Location This hotel is across the street from a Zara. If you like being close to generic shopping chains or department stores, then this location is for you. If not, try something outside le marais.

Overall, if this wasn’t such an aesthetically compelling and unique hotel, I could call it a Best Western in the middle of Times Square. This is a three star...

Tale of Three Bears: The Grand Mazarin Hotel, Paris

Our recent stay at the Grand Mazarin Hotel in Paris was a mix of charming elements and unexpected disappointments. While there were moments that shined, several aspects fell short, leaving us teetering on the edge of dissatisfaction.

Our junior suite, with its generous expanse, was a delightful retreat, offering ample space to unwind after a day of Parisian adventures. Nestled in the heart of Le Marais, the hotel's location was ideal, granting us easy access to the city's vibrant life and hidden gems. The breakfast spread was a daily delight, with a variety of options that catered to our every whim and fancy. The presence of a Dyson hair dryer and an international adapter in our room added a sprinkle of luxury and convenience to our stay.

However, the room's design, while visually stunning, often sacrificed practicality. The table in our suite was too petite to accommodate room service comfortably, which proved to be a recurring inconvenience. The only toiletries provided were shampoo, conditioner, and body soap. A card suggested purchasing additional products for over 80 euros, which felt like a rather exorbitant proposition. The mini bar selection was disappointingly meager, falling short of the refined experience we had anticipated. Despite the presence of a large, modern TV, the lack of streaming options left us yearning for more entertainment choices.

The hotel bar, serving exclusively Romanian wine by the glass and frequented by the bartender's friends, was woefully understaffed and failed to provide the sophisticated ambiance we sought. Overall, the hotel staff's attentiveness and professionalism were lacking, detracting from the otherwise promising experience. Additionally, it was peculiar to see that the hotel staff did not have a proper office, instead congregating in the small lobby area. This made the lobby feel crowded and unwelcoming, and it was unclear what the numerous staff members at the front desk were actually responsible for.

The bed in our suite did not provide the comfort we had hoped for, leading to restless nights. The closets were diminutive, making it challenging to store our clothing and belongings adequately. Our room was plagued by noise on Saturday night due to its proximity to a popular gay nightclub across the street. While this is a characteristic of the lively Le Marais area, it did disturb our rest.

Though our stay at the Grand Mazarin Hotel had its moments of charm, the overall experience did not quite measure up to our expectations. The balance between form and function was not quite right, leaving us with a pleasant yet unremarkable memory. In this tale of three bears, our stay at the Grand Mazarin was neither too wonderful nor too terrible—it was, quite simply, not...

I stayed here twice last month, with a couple of weeks between.

First, the good - the location is great, the rooms are very comfortable and charming, the front desk staff is generally pleasant, and the food in the restaurant is good.

The not so good - some of the waitstaff in the restaurant are snooty and unwelcoming. The maitre d' is not included in that classification - he was personable and engaging. In one illustration, I ordered the Taittanger glass pour with my lunch, and received a bottom shelf cremant instead. Since I can taste, I knew I had not gotten the champagne I had ordered, and asked my server to bring me the bottle. He did so, but not without some level of attitude and only the barest of perfunctory apology for the mistake. In general, I would not even mention such an incident except for the fact that the service had had an air of disdain throughout, for some reason, and it made me wonder if the mispour had been a mistake at all. I ate breakfast there 3 times, and one mid afternoon meal there, and I would say that there was an air of discomfort and unwelcome in 2 or 3 of those instances. Say what you might about classic stereotypical French snootiness, but I did not feel that way about the service anywhere else I went in the city, and I visited much nicer restaurants than Boubale.

Also, I had left a suitcase at the hotel between visits, and a rather expensive pair of pants were missing upon my return. Although I was sure that I had brought them in that suitcase in order to wear them for a dinner reservation, I waited until I got home again to check around a be sure that I had not somehow left them at my home. I had not. I called the hotel to ask about any lost and found as perhaps I had left them in the first room during the luggage shuffling process, but they had not found them. Again, it is not usual for me to write reviews in the first place, and give the benefit of the doubt in most situations, but it seems to me that either the pants were found in my room and not turned in, or they were pilfered from my unlocked case in between my visits. My surety that I had brought the pants, along with other reviews here mentioning missing items, gives me the confidence to publicly assert that the pants were taken by some member of the hotel staff. It would have never occurred to me to lock my luggage in a hotel of this caliber, and that was my mistake.

So, I can't wholeheartedly recommend a stay at this hotel for the reasons above, and I wouldn't book it again, but it does have it's merits for location and comfort. Just get food somewhere else, and make sure you keep a close watch on...