L'Ouest Hotel Paris — Hotel in Paris

If you read my review, you likely won’t have to read others as I’ve covered it all!|In the real estate /property (hotel) world, the 3 golden words are “location, location, location”. That’s why I specifically selected L’Ouest, where I stayed for 4 nights, as it is a less than 2 minutes walking distance to Gare St Lazare (station) where I had access to several subways/metro lines (Line # 3, 12, 13, 14) and a RER (Line E) commuter train. How great a station is this? Consider, it is the 2nd busiest train station in Paris! L’Ouest is also a few minutes walking distance to St Saint-Augustin station (Line #9). I figured that the less time I spent on travelling, the more time I would have to do touristy stuff.||This hotel is also within the larger heart of the City and not some peripheral suburb. As I felt like taking a stroll in the late evening, Champs-Élysées took me 15 minutes and the Arc du Triomphe about 20 minutes. ||The hotel room I got for 3 persons was clean, had good air conditioning, Wi-Fi, a safe, and is MODERN (like new/ freshly refurbished) including a great bathroom with a shower and a bathtub. It didn’t have a refrigerator in the room but the hotel holds guest items needing refrigeration in the hotel’s refrigerator in the lobby so that wasn’t an issue for me. This is a clean family run boutique hotel. It doesn’t look fancy on the outside of the hotel but inside it is really nice. The reception staff were friendly, nice, and spoke English. Also, the hotel reception is 24/7 so you can have late nights out. You couldn’t ask for more unless you expect a view from your room, which very few hotels in Paris have. I do wish they had thicker / firmer pillows (mine was too thin/flat) but I was too lazy to ask for those. ||The lowest price I found for my room was at the hotel’s own web site so I booked direct. I did not use the hotel’s breakfast so I can’t comment on it.||I found several restaurants (Japanese, African, French, Korean, etc.) within a short walking distance to this hotel. I recommend the “Hippopotamus” (stake, meat) restaurant that’s 3 to 4 minutes walking distance. I found that their advertised (platter) special posted just outside that restaurant was the best value. There is also a grocery store within 3 minutes walking distance, that I used to buy fruit, bottled cold coffee, cola, bread, etc.) ||Bottomline: It’s a clean, comfortable, modern, fairly-priced hotel in a safe area, and at a superb...

We travel frequently as a family (of 3), and I usually look for modest suites (one bedroom + living rooom) so our daughter has a separate sleeping space. When I reserved this hotel, I triple-checked to make sure I had booked a suite fulfilling this. The website explicitly states "Suitable for three people, the suite includes a spacious bedroom, a living room and a very large bathroom." The confirmation email I received from the hotel stated the same. ||||So you can imagine our surprise that upon check-in, we were given a triple room—one room with 2 beds! When we called down to reception to enquire, we were told that our expectations were wrong and there must be a translation error. (Their website and emails were both written in English so I don't see any translation errors on our part.) The woman at the front desk was extremely rude, could not concede that they grossly mismarketed their offerings, and did not offer any solutions, such as an additional single so we had another space. She did, however, suggest that we could move hotels and she would (so kindly) refund our money. Clearly, business and customer satisfaction are not priorities here. ||||It's unfortunate, because the other staff were so kind! We have stayed at other nice hotels with appropriately marketed suites in the surrounding area. I will simply book those other properties next time, and...

Pros:

1.Prompt and helpful communication before our stay; the hotel arranged a room accessible by elevator as requested. 2.Convenient location with good transportation links. 3.Supermarkets, late-opening restaurants, and cafés nearby. 4.Safe neighborhood. 5.Spacious twin room. 6.Facilities include elevator, air conditioning, hairdryer, bathtub, and hot water kettle. 7.Interior décor is relatively new and rooms are kept very clean.

Cons:

1.Air conditioner is positioned directly above the bed; constant airflow made it uncomfortable to sleep with AC on.

2.Room was on the ground floor; windows faced a compressor and a door connected to a spiral staircase, so for safety and noise concerns, we kept them closed, making the air feel stuffy.

3.Room was quite noisy: regular mechanical sounds from the walls and an extremely loud bathroom exhaust fan (like a hairdryer running near the ears).

4.Opening windows for ventilation wasn’t an option due to compressor noise outside.

5.Using a bathtub was uncomfortable because of the noise.

6.Paper cups were provided instead of...