Sure Hotel by Best Western Paris Gare du Nord — Hotel in Paris

We were very disappointed in our stay at the Sure Hotel. We stayed here for three nights, but we would have cut it shorter if possible. When we booked the hotel online, they advertised the rooms as climate controlled with air conditioning. Upon arrival to the hotel, there was a strong smell of sewer gas coming from the bathroom, and the remote control to turn on the AC was not working. We tried to call the front desk, but the phone in our room was also broken. We went downstairs to ask the front desk, and they told us that the AC was currenlty "shut off" in every room, but could not tell us why. We opted to sleep with the window open, because the room was very hot and stuffy, but the sounds from the street and the mosquitos coming in all night kept us awake.

On our second night, we tried to take a shower just as we had on the first night, and found that the hot water was broken. We waited ten minutes for it to heat up, and nothing happened, so we went back down to the front desk. The staff told us that the hot water was broken for the whole hotel, and that there was nothing they could do, but that we should bring it up to the manager in the morning. They said that they couldn't even have someone come to fix it until it was cleared by the manager. The next morning, we went to the front desk to speak with the manager, but the staff told us the manager wasn't there. They asked us if we wanted a new room on the other side of the hotel, where the hot water was still working. We asked why nobody offered that to us last night, and they didn't have an answer for us. Our new room on the other side of the hotel did have hot water, but the air conditioner was still not working, so we slept with the sounds of the street and the mosquitos again. The bathroom in the new room also smelled strongly of sewer gas. We asked when the manager would be in, and they told us tomorrow because it was a Sunday. We tried to ask the staff if we could have a partial refund due to all of the problems we had experienced during our stay, and they said that only the manager could issue a refund, and that they would bring our concerns to her.

On our third day there, we tried to go speak with the manager again, and the staff told us she would be there later in the day (it was still early around 8 am), and that she would be working until around 5 or 6 pm. We came back to the hotel around 3 pm, and the manager was still nowhere to be found, and the staff could not say when she would be back. They claimed that she was gone because she was still dealing with the hot water issue. We asked if they could please have her contact us, because we were going to be flying home the next day, and we have still heard nothing after a week.

We tried to contact Best Western customer support about our stay, and see if we could get a partial refund though them. We weren't aware of this until we called, but apparently all Best Westerns are privately owned and operated, and it is ultimately the decision of operator/manager of each location if they want to issue refunds or not, which means that our call to customer service was pointless. We thought that there would be some sort of standard with the Best Western name, as we have stayed at many great Best Western hotels in the United States, but I guess the standard is not upheld everywhere. Customer service told us that all they could do was contact the manager of the location for us, and tell them our concerns and that we were requesting a partial refund. A hotel room should have working climate control and hot water at the bare minimum, otherwise you're better off camping outdoors. For anyone trying to stay here, please be careful of the false advertising and the missing manager in case you have any problems like we did. And don't rely on the customer service number to...

Context: Booked a room for 2 people, myself and my partner, for 3 days and 2 nights, for a nice little Valentine's weekend in Paris. We wanted somewhere affordable and close to public transport.

The pros: Conveniently placed beside La Chapelle station (metro 2) and just a 10-12 minute walk away from Gare du Nord. There are also a couple of buses in the area. There are a lot of fast food and Indian restaurants around the corner, and if you go to the Gare du Nord area, you get more French/Italian/etc. eateries. This is one of the cheapest options you can get around the area.

The cons: The staff was very friendly and welcoming, but was somewhat slow at times. Rooms are not soundproof nor are they heated beforehand. It was cold when we got there. The room was also clean for the most part, but there were cobwebs on the walls. The outside view of the windows isn't anything to see, really. Just shut off your windows. Bathroom was nice, spacious, but had only 1 roll of toilet paper. There is some tea, sugar and coffee provided, there is a kettle for heating water. Tap water is drinkable but you can buy 1L of bottled water for 1 euro at a nearby kiosk, in front of the metro La Chapelle. The cups provided for the tea and coffee were not clean. They looked like they had flecks of dried toothpaste in them. The body soap and hand soap dispensers were almost empty.

You get what you paid for, I can recommend the place if you're not staying for too long, or if you'll be out most of the time. Take note that this area of Paris is known for some shady activity involving illegal substances, and it isn't the cleanest or the most reputable. If you're looking for a more glamorous hotel experience, this isn't the area for it. But if you want a budget option, this...

The start to my horror of first day experience in Paris.

We initially chose this hotel due to the convenient location, airconditioning, and that it is a chain brand. However, when we arrived, the manager mentioned that ALL hotels in Paris have no air-con during WINTER (it is September). We asked the locals and they said no, it isn't winter season now. She then proceeded to say we did not read the hotel policy, to say 15th September onwards there would be no air-conditioning, and that they did not mention they provide. After showing her their official site, she then started to change her statement and brushing it off.

The lobby of the rooms were so poorly maintained. They have 2 building sections thay are far apart - One for check-in, and then you have to walk further to another side of the building to head to the rooms. Elevator was SMALL, and super super run down.

The sizes of the room are ridiculously small. If you have 2 persons, with 4 luggages there's literally no space to walk. Hairdryer was disgusting, with black stains all over. Also, it is SUPER NOISY at night with the heavy traffic ongoing.

To be paying this price of about 140-180 euros per night and having this quality of rooms and service is madness. We had a total of 5 rooms and 5 nights booked initially, we had no choice but to stay one day and move hotels the next day. Our other friends room have issues such as broken lamp, dirty sheets etc.

Never ever trusting this brand again.

Bonus points for the fella who assisted us with our refunds, and to actually give a proper explanation...