Hotel Relais Du Louvre — Hotel in Paris

We stayed at the Le Relais Du Louvre hotel for 3 nights in early April with our family of 5 (kids ages 11, 15, 18). The hotel was clean and it was a very short walk to the Louvre. It was also a short walk to restaurants and bakeries for breakfast. It is a long walk from the Eiffel Tower (45-50 minutes) and Montmartre (55-60 minutes). The hotel staff spoke English, which was very nice. It would have been nice to have free bottles of water in our room each day, but there were only mini-bar waters available for a cost.||I guess I should have done more research on his hotel after my travel agent recommended it. All of the reviews are positive, but I guess I went in thinking the hotel would be similar to other places we've stayed and it was not. Here are the things that were different from what I thought in my head (not that I was misled by anyone, but it just wasn't what I was hoping for)...||- When we walked into the lobby of the hotel, I was unsure I was entering from the right door. It was a very small lobby with a small desk for the staff. There were a few places to sit, but honestly, I thought I was entering someone's office by mistake. There is definitely no grand lobby here.||- The elevator is tiny. For example, my 18 year old daughter and I barely had any room in the elevator with our small roller bags and backpacks. It's a very tight squeeze. So, we took the stairs the rest of the trip (in the AM the housekeeping cart blocks the stairs from your floor, so you have to reposition it to get down the stairs).||- There are no card keys. You are given one set of actual keys that you're asked to return to the front desk each time you leave the hotel. Someone is always at the desk, so it's not an issue. But, it's definitely not something we've experienced before.||- We had 2 connecting rooms on the 3rd floor. Our kid's room was nice sized (2 twin beds pushed together to make a king sized bed plus another twin across the room with a desk and chair and a couple of side tables). The bathroom was average sized. No complaints there. Our room was tiny! We had probably a double size bed with a small desk plus chair and another small table. Honestly, it was really too small for 2 of us to be in the room at the same time. We couldn't walk around the bed at the same time. Someone would have to wait while the other passed through before they could go over to the closet for example. We had 2 small roller suitcases. One we put on the desk and the other on the suitcase stand next to the desk, but that caused an issue getting into the closet and safe. There was no other place to put a suitcase without it getting in the way. Our bathroom was also tiny! The shower looked like something I'd see in an RV. Don't think about bending over in the shower to towel dry your hair or anything. You cannot bend over at all. If you drop something, you'll have to squat straight down to grab it and not bend over at all.||- When we were in Paris, the weather was beautiful. We had a couple of 75 degree weather days. Again, this was early April. Our rooms were definitely warm when we returned back around 8:30-9:30pm. We couldn't get our AC to work in our room and asked the staff if we were doing something wrong. We were told that they do have AC, but they haven't turned it on for the season. They didn't have the ability to just turn it on in our rooms and didn't want to turn it on in the whole hotel. So, we had to sleep with our windows open (there are no screens). This definitely helped cool it down, so we could sleep, but I did wake up to a gnat or fly buzzing around my head in the morning. ||If you were expecting this small of a hotel without AC available on a very warm day in April, then I think you'd find this hotel lovely. It was clean and very close to the Louvre. But, if you didn't realize the things I listed above, you'd probably be a bit disappointed...

Our favorite. Boutique hotel with outstanding staff and superb location. Across from Louvre and over a dozen bus stops and two metro stations within two blocks. Get one of the larger rooms. Pics of every room on their web site. Each room is different. We now stay here exclusively when we are in Paris, which is around 25% of the year.

2018 Addition: This is the 6th year we've stayed here and the staff never takes us for granted. The same core reception staff has been here for 6 years - they are extremely nice and the hotel remains very clean. Since last year the hotel now has 4 stars - the extra star was awarded based on services, upgrades and amenities (before they were denied a fourth star because of size requirements for the lobby, etc. Now hotels can apparently negate size barriers based on service and amenities). The Relais remains, however, a boutique hotel with a decided French flair and an unbeatable location.

2019 Addition:

This is our seventh year to stay at the Relais, so obviously we still like it. Instead of a standard review I thought some suggestions may be more useful if you want to stay here.

The hotel only has 20 rooms so it tends to get fully booked. Don’t wait until the last minute to reserve a room. Every room is different. Look at the Relais website, which has pictures of every room, to select the room you want. The small rooms are very small but the hotel location and service will be the same. The hotel is situated so most sights are a short walk. There are also two Metro stations and many bus stops near. Booking websites don’t always reflect the current situation so if you can’t get a room call or email the hotel. Sometimes there are last minute cancellations or adjustments. The Relais building was built in the mid-1700’s. It started as a print shop doing court circulars for the King in the Louvre just across the street. It became a tavern and then back to a print shop. The entire second act of Puccini’s “La Boheme” is set on the second floor of the Relais building when it was the Café Momus. Don’t expect a gym, pool, etc. in a boutique hotel in a building built centuries ago. They do have a lift and modern plumbing in every room, however! Expect personal service, a great location, and a charming...

Update after stay!!! Wow I knew this hotel would deliver but they over delivered. I can't say enough good things about the staff at this hotel. From booking reservation and car services to making restaurant recommendations and keeping our rooms looking immaculate, they were everything we could ask for and more. The location of this hotel is perfect. Although we decided to skip using the metro and opted for Ubers, there is a metro right down the block. Tons of restaurants within walking distance, close to the Louvre and within walking distance of so many other sites. The rooms were quaint, clean and COOL!! Staying during a hot week in June, we were so thankful to come back to ac cooled rooms. Highly recommend the breakfast tray, it's worth it and 1 tray can feed 1-3 people easily depending on how hungry you are. We had to move rooms during our stay bc the room we wanted wasn't available for our entire visit. The staff helped us with this transition making it super easy. Room #02 has the most adorable little patio access. Room #65 has windows that open facing the church next door. Wonderful to hear the bells ringing in the morning. Room 51 is a family room, spacious for a family of 4. The attention to detail from this hotel is wonderful, I wouldn't stay anywhere else in Paris. This is a hidden gem!!!!

I am unable to review in person details about this hotel yet as our stay isn't happening until summer 2025. I can however already review the phenomenal level of service from this hotel. We have had a complicated reservation dilemma and the hotel staff has been absolutely wonderful. They have been in constant communication with me through the process. To say we are looking forward to our stay is an understatement. I will be sure to update this review after our stay and I have no doubt my rating will remain a 5 star. Shout outs to Elvina, Frederique and Adeline for all...