Maison Athénée — Hotel in Paris

AVOID! VERMIN IN ROOMS!

Short version: Woke up to a mouse/rat on bedside table!!!! Small, tired rooms (even the superior ones) Overpriced! Rude, incompetent staff. Terrible customer service.

Long version: My husband and I booked a trip to Paris to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary and we booked 3 nights at the Maison atheene hotel and paid an extra £150 for a superior suite.

When we checked in, they asked to take a £150 pending deposit but didn't actually explain what for. Turns out it was incase we damaged anything during our stay so that wasn't exactly a hospitable welcome.

Anyway, when we arrived we were initially a tad underwhelmed by the hotel room. It was small, the decor was tired and the carpets were very worn. Wouldn't call it superior to be honest but it did have a small balcony terrace which was nice.

On our first night we were awoken at 4am by the sound of rustling. To our horror, we realised it was infact a mouse/rat inches away from our head on the bedside table, nibbling at our packet of crisps!

After freaking out that a mouse or rat had potentially run across our bed while we were asleep, we went down to the lobby to explain what has happened and that we want to move room straight away! We were astounded to be met with an unapologetic and dismisive attitude. The staff member on reception got extremely defensive straight away and shrugged off our complaint by saying.... it's a problem in Paris, everywhere has vermin. He made out like it was no big deal and made us feel like we were being unreasonable! He didn't apologise for what and happened, he barely gave us eye contact! He told us all the hotels in Paris have this problem and there's nothing they can do about it.

He moved us to another room on a higher floor which he said was also a superior room. When we got there it was smaller than the room before, with a tiny shower and no balcony terrace.

We checked our new room and found holes behind the headboard big enough for mice to come through so we stuffed them with hand towels to make sure it didn't happen again. We both didn't sleep a wink in our new room untill the early hours to which we were then awoken by loud drilling/road works right outside the hotel.

We decided to scour the internet to see if there was infact a problem with vermin in Paris, and like any other city, yes there is in streets and parks, but no mention whatsoever of any vermin problems in hotel rooms. Infact I only found 1 TripAdvisor review from 11 years ago about a mouse in a hotel room in Paris.

We decided to pack our bags and leave the hotel in the morning and request a full refund. We spoke to the manager and although he dealt with us better than the last guy, we still found him defensive and he didn't really seem genuine in his apology. At one point he decided to point out that we paid "less than the usual price" becasue we booked with a Travelzoo deal. We took it that he was trying to insinuate that we shouldn't complain because we got a "good deal".

The most shocking thing he said was that they are aware there is a problem with mice on the lower floors. The lower floors is where all the food is prepared!! So needless to say we didn't eat the breakfast there!

The manager said that we would need to contact Travelzoo if we wanted a full refund. Luckily the customer service at Travelzoo was fantastic and we got a full refund within an hour!

We asked the manager at Maison atheene if they could at the least pay for a taxi to get us to our hotel that we had booked as a compensation gesture. This was denied so we had to foot the bill for this ourselves.

We ended up staying in a different hotel for the rest of our stay and it was fabulous. We stayed at Rayz Eiffel hotel. They assured us they most certainly have no vermin in their hotel rooms. And it isn't a common thing!

Overall, the hotel rooms have holes behind those big dusty bed drapes that allow for vermin to come in. The rooms were overpriced and underwhelming. The staff were rude and incompetent.

AVOID AT...

Pros: |- nice decoration inside, staff very well trained and polite, good breakfast and water pressure|- located close to nice part of the 8th just cross the street|- beautiful building|Cons: |- bathsoaps are not nice, just plain almond when in France you have so many intricate scents to choose from|- very cramped spaces throughout the hotel|- no down pillows or comforters, bedding more in line with a 3 star if anything|- extremely noisy/busy street if you have a street facing room be prepared for heavy traffic during the day, its a major through street for Opera even though it says its in the 8th its really on the border and in a very commercial area; at night restaurants have outdoor seating and people stay late talking lout; right near Olympia where major concerts happen and people pour out in the hundreds often drunk. If you have a noise sensitivity its def not a peaceful location|- transfer to the airport would have been nice but they charge 200 and a taxi costs 60 so not sure how that makes sense...|- for some reason there are no towel hooks anywhere in the bathroom so if you're two people in the room you have to share the bathtub area to lay down your towel but then it just stays damp.|- despite downgrading rooms on my last night due to noise the hotel refused to pay me back the difference, a small courtesy of a free drink or something would have been nice to compensate but no gesture in line with the hotel star...

The next door building was undergoing major construction, which didn't bother us as the construction mainly took place after we left for sightseeing and not on weekends. (the entire city is undergoing renovation for the Olympics). The hotel had theatrical luxurious decor that charmed us during our 7 night stay. The location was fantastic. Upon arrival, we were notified that we had been upgraded to the superior room category. we booked 2 rooms, and both were charming maximalist time machines, but both had issues. My room was larger and beautifully decorated, but there was a slight electrical buzzing, and the toile wallcovering was stained with water damage and peeling in some places. the bathroom door doesn't close fully. The room was well cleaned except for a few dusty corners and dusty lampshades. The bathroom was compact, and the shower was quite luxe, but it was difficult to control the temperature and was always hot. There were no Hermes toiletries as advertised, which was very strange. The air conditioning worked beautifully in one room but underperformed in the other. The real highlight of our stay was the staff. Each staff member we met was incredibly accommodating. they were always on their feet. They learned our names and preferences and were always available. This hotel provided 5 star personalized service with the resources...