A great little hotel surprise on the Rive Gauche
Written: Nov 14 '00 (Updated Nov 15 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: pretty rooms, great location,
Cons: could use a bit more closet and storage space. Could use a few hooks in the bathroom to hang your stuff!!
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| ifif1938's Full Review: Paris |
Review Topic: Accommodations
Well, I'm back! Another vacation is over....
It's hard to believe how fast the time flies when your having fun! And, visiting your favorite place to be visiting....
From the first day we decided on this trip to Paris, I researched and pondered over where we would stay and what we would do. Those of you who have read my reviews in the last two months or so, know how I practically obsessed over which hotel to stay in, reading all my guide books, cross referencing each one with the others, writing reviews about my favorite books, Karen Browns Guides, "The Charming Hotels of Paris", Gault Millau, etc. etc. So, now I'm going to tell you that I didn't stay in any of them.. There was no mention of this terrific little hotel anywhere. Not in any of my books or any that I searched through one day as I sat in Barnes and Noble for hours going through all the books they had on Paris in the travel section.
Why? You ask, well, thanks to a few friends and acquaintances on the AOL France Travel Board and the new Francophile Forum, (which I also wrote about in a previous review) I was informed of a little hotel in my favorite area of Paris, the 7th arrondissement, that had the one thing I really wanted more than anything else, a room with a great view of the Eiffel Tower!
Sure, I could have stayed at a few other places I was familiar with and have enjoyed staying in, on past trips, but, this time we wanted to stay at a small, "charming, Parisian" hotel, and this particular one came highly recommended by a few people on those travel boards whose opinions I highly respect, not only for the knowledge they have of France but for what they love about France..And, I felt this was a good chance to experience someplace a little different, off the beaten track , so to speak. One of my friends had stayed there in May and sent me photos she took of her room and the view she had from her balcony, another, had stayed at this hotel many times in the past and told me it had just undergone a complete renovation. Besides, the hotel has a great web site and I could view those pictures as well. You can also book it directly through that web site along with a few other hotel booking sites available on line. Which is what I did. It couldn't have been easier.
The Duquesne Eiffel Hotel, is situated in the best location in Paris, (in my humble opinion) the 7th Arr., a neighborhood filled with many wonderful little restaurants, markets, beautiful apartment buildings, and many nearby attractions. Invalides and the Ecole Militaire are just across the street or around the corner, The Tour Eiffel is a short walk away, as are theMusee Orsay and the Rodin Museum. A few blocks in another direction is the Rue Cler, a wonderful neighborhood for food markets and more restaurants. The metro station is one block away, along with a taxi stand, which can be hard to find sometimes in Paris. And, there is also an RER station close by, as well as many buses..Transportation is absolutely no problem, in the 7th arr.
The hotel has 40 rooms, all of which are decorated in a bright, cheery, "Old Parisian style" with plenty of charm and are very comfortable. The bathrooms are bright, very clean and marble tiled , all with bath and shower, complete with hair dryer. Air conditioned in the summer and very good heat in the winter. I can attest to that, last week it was pretty cold at night but we were warm and toasty in our room There is cable TV, thank goodness, with CNN, to keep in touch with what's going on in the world and believe me, with what was going on here in America last week, I would have been nuts without it. Or, maybe, better off !! There are direct dial phones, mini bars and private safes in each room, I always like to have one of those little safes, it really takes the worry out of leaving important things behind, like your passports, other important papers, your airline tickets and other essentials, like extra cash!!
There really isn't much of a lobby, the reception area and, across the way, a sitting area with a few chairs and a sofa along with a small bar, but, I don't personally find that very important, especially, when we're not expecting to entertain anyone. They did have big a cocktail table with newspapers from around the world available to hotel guests.
A good, basic, continental, breakfast buffet is served in the quaint, small, and very cheery breakfast room or, you can have it delivered to your room, if you wish. The coffee with hot steamed milk is wonderful, as are the croissants and other freshly baked goodies.
The staff was friendly and helpful in answering any and all questions we might have had and I think I discovered why I couldn't find the hotel listed in my books, the hotel seemed to cater to Europeans and others from many various nations. There seemed to be no other Americans there that I noticed, so, that might have been the reason. Well, actually, now that I think of it, on our last night there, we met two American guys in the lobby-bar as we entered and we proceeded to have a heavy discussion with them about the election, but that's another story altogether.
Oh, and one other thing, the view, it's incredible, but only one side of the hotel faces the Eiffel Tower so you have to ask for those rooms on that side if that's important to you, also the size of the rooms aren't huge but they aren't as tiny as other hotel rooms I've seen or, stayed in, in the past. Our room was actually a nice size for a small Paris hotel. It was a corner room so that might have been the reason. I think the singles might be very small from what I saw, as I looked into some of the other rooms when passing them by, but, I did notice quite a few good sized ones too. There are 40 rooms on five floors and I guess they come in all sizes. Triples are available too. I would suggest calling them to request the view, bed configuration or whatever you might think you would prefer.
I would recommend the "Duquesne Eiffel" to anyone who wants a small, charming Parisian hotel in great location, within walking distance of many wonderful sights and multitudes of terrific places to eat, without too much tumult, noise and heavy traffic.
Now, I only hope the next time we decide to stay there, a room will be available, after this review!!
Reasonably priced, we paid 950 FF per night, which as of last week, was less than $125 a night Some rooms cost less and prices may change in the high season.
The hotel is located at 23, avenue Duquesne-75007
Tel.:(33) 1 47 05 41 86,- Fax: (33) 1 45 55 54 76 or you can e-mail them at Hotel@DuquesneEiffel.com.
Happy and safe travels.
Recommended:
Yes
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