ibis Paris Bastille Faubourg-Saint-Antoine 11ème — Hotel in Paris

Summary: Rooms are a bit rundown. Mold in the shower, for instance. Room temperature was 30-34c for 3 days. Forced to leave to another hotel (Mama Shelter, in the Accor family, where everything worked perfectly) after being told it would be fixed. Insult to injury, refund took about a month, after I wrote three emails / got Accor involved.

I was Accor gold, and had stayed at Accor hotels for 30+ of the last 40 days. So even with Accor status, I was still running into a brick wall and sweating through the night. Edit to the reply from the manager: Apparently my review “can’t be real,” so I must provide him with my identity and booking number. Instead, I have posted emails with his responses, which were unhelpful, and blamed me for the broken air conditioning (and insisted that it was never broken, even though another employee confirmed that it was, twice, and I had a thermometer) — bottom line: it was over 33c in my room for three days, but he insists it was working correctly. Okay, I’ll take you at your word. Don’t stay here if you don’t like your room to be 33-35c every day, because it’s working as intended :)!

• He argued with me about it not being broken (fortunately, I had a thermometer).

• Then, I was told a tech would come (instead, he tried to fix it two days later).

• Then, he insisted that it was fixed (again, it was not fixed, I had a thermometer).

• Then, I had to convince him to let me switch to another Accor hotel (eventually, he did, with much difficultly).

• No refund after 25 days: I had to write 3 emails asking about the refund, I was finally refunded, and was still blamed by him “the aircon was working!” He even blamed me for not having refunded the remaining days “As you cancel the same day of reservation we didn't even know about it! So I made the refund as soon as I have the information.” Except, it took 3 emails over the course of a week to get a response.

He will give you, sadly, the worst of the Parisian stereotypes. And they will apparently continue later, when you leave your review.

My experience with him then matches my experience with him now: he will not take responsibility, will blame the customer for things that are not in the customer’s control, and will not fix things when asked the first, second, or even third time (refunds, air conditioners, or canceling the rest of a stay).

Original Review: We were told a few lies (a tech would come, when I was later told a tech was never scheduled) before politely insisting that it be fixed or we’d leave. It was never fixed. We left.

This coming from someone who only ever keeps it at 25c, at the lowest. It’s one thing for air conditioning to break — it’s understandable in summer. It’s another thing to lie for many days so you don’t lose someone’s money.

Details: The manager (early August of 2022) said he would have a tech come to fix the air conditioner. (I carry a temperature gauge since I spend 100-200 nights per year in hotels, and it was blowing room temperature air, no cooling at all). Instead, he came the next day and “fixed it” after spending a few minutes in the room.

Of course, it was not fixed.

When I noted this the next day, I was told that it was never broken. When I asked to be moved to another room, that air conditioning unit smelled deeply of mold (common for mini split units that are suddenly turned off and then not run for days). That room was also only available after 3 days of waiting.

I eventually had to move hotels, something that the manager “allowed” after three days. This all while I was Accor Gold (which requires 30+ nights per year) — so I wonder if a person without status would have been treated even worse?

Maybe this isn’t a typical story for this hotel, but it definitely was an unfortunate memory of that...

At first look, this appeared to be a bit 'out of the way.' It turned out to be perfect.||The hotel was clean, friendly and accommodating, near the Line 8 Metro and easy walking distance to Bastille. ||The recommended metro stop is Faidherbe-Chaligny on Line 8, but it's much easier to take stop Ledreu-Rollins. What makes it a perfect place for those looking to spend 'not too much money' is the amenities, both on site and nearby.||They have filtered water, both fizzy and still, available any time in one liter bottles at no cost. They also have 24h access to tea, coffee and hot chocolate as well as to a small outdoor garden. The elevators are key card access so there's a bit more feeling of security. A little bar is available with the front desk staff playing triple duty as pizza maker, bar tender and host.||Next door is a Franprix small grocery for wine, juice, beer, soda, water, cheese or sliced packaged meats. Ernest & Valentin, three minute walk, is an amazing boulangerie to pick up baguettes, along with some cheese from next door and you've got a perfect breakfast. There's a larger grocery store (but not much bigger) Carrefour City just five minutes away. There's no problem bringing items back and using the hotel plates and utensils, and coffee.||Quick, easy and cheap bites are just around the corner at Gem kababs.||Tips: Rooms opening towards the garden can get cigarette smoke as it is allowed in the garden. Rooms opening towards the street get traffic noise and there is a school right across the street, so yelling...

The hotel is in a great location. It looks like a slightly rougher area, but it really isn't. There are a lot of great restaurants, cafes, and unique shops within walking distance. The Metro is also right around the corner making it pretty convenient to get around. The Paris Metro is excellent, make sure you keep your Metro ticket. We lost one of ours and had to pay 35 Euros when we were stopped transferring. If we didn't have additional passes it would have been 55 Euros. There is also no sympathy or leanance for not knowing or being a tourist.

The hotel breakfast is actually excellent, and the staff is friendly and helpful.

I would have given Ibis a 5 star rating if it weren't for the bed. It seems like it should be comfortable, but we woke up with sore upper backs every day and had a hard time sleeping. Also, wash cloths and conditioner are apparently not a thing in France so bring your own.

On a side note, make sure your passport has more than 3 months of life left on it before traveling to Europe. They will not let you board the plane if it expires within that window. We found this out the hard way and had to spend a night in NYC so I could renew it the following morning at the Manhattan Passport Office. The upside is you can renew your passport the same day. Show up 2 hours before they open with your picture, old passport and the renewal form. It costs $170. Don't bother with the 24 hour express service companies. They aren't actually a 24 hour turn around and they...