Trip to Paris, France - April 2006
About our hotel Timhotel Tour Eiffel


 

Our goal for a hotel in Paris this time was to find a decent hotel at a low price and centrally located. There are thousands of hotels in Paris and it is not easy to know which site to use to book a hotel and which area to stay in. I'm not sure how we narrowed it down to Timhotel Tour Eiffel but our checking included reading some reviews at TripAdvisor and it looked like it fit our profile. We booked through the hotel's homepage directly and we paid an average of 86 € per night for the room (a total of 608 € for the week).

The hotel
It was very easy to find the hotel when we came to Paris. The hotel is located at 11, Rue Juge (press the link to see image taken from Google Earth) in the 15^th arrondissement. We arrived at the metro station Dupleix and the hotel entrance was located just a few minute's walk around the corner. Check-in was fast and we got room 41 on the 4th floor. The reception was typical for a small hotel in a European city - pretty small but with a few chairs; a PC with internet access (cost about 6 € for 30 minutes); and a vending machine with sodas, water, chocolate etc. The staff was helpful and we were able to communicate with them in English. The elevator in the hotel really is tiny. When we arrived we had two Samsonite suitcases of average size and there was only room for Nikki and the two suitcases in the lift…I had to use the stairs :-)

The room
The room itself was as expected: a pretty small room with a big bed; a small color TV mounted on the wall; a small desk and a small wardrobe with 3-4 hangers. The room was carpeted with light painted walls. The TV had a few channels but most of them were French, Italian, German etc. and a couple of English channels like the BBC. The bed felt a bit worn out but it was at least on the softer side (the way I prefer it). We had a view right into a courtyard so we didn't have any problem at all with traffic or metro noise. But the room was not soundproof when it comes to noise from slamming doors and the elevator in the mornings. The hotel also seems to have wi-fi internet connection via SFR. We decided to buy 10 hours of surfing time (lasting a month) while we were there and it cost us 30 €. It was great to be able to access the net and check out opening times of attractions, online  maps etc.

We had a separate bathroom, with tiles on the floor and walls, apart from the toilet and the sink there was a bathtub with a showerhead. There was a glass door that prevented the water from splashing everywhere and it worked well and was a great substitute for a shower curtain. The only problem was that it was quite cold during our stay there so the bathroom was pretty freezing. There was a heater in the bathroom but it didn't seem to work when I put in on maximum.

The breakfast at the hotel cost 8.5 € per person and it was a small buffet style breakfast. There was a selection of croissants, bread etc with different spreads such as honey, jam, butter etc. They also had some cereal, yoghurt, boiled eggs and a couple of different juices. And you could also get tea and coffee. I think the breakfast is from 07.30 - 10.30. If you want a cheaper breakfast it is possible to get a sandwich at the local grocery stores for 2-4 €. We ventured out a few times for breakfast at brasseries. Even though it was the same price, the breakfast menu was limited to coffee/tea, a baguette, croissant and jam - at least you could go for seconds at the hotel.

Location
The hotel location (hotel located lower left corner) suited us well. Shops and places to eat are within walking distance in the neighbourhood. We got our daily supply of water from an old man in a tiny store located right next to the hotel entrance. But if you want bigger grocery stores you can check out the Monoprix. We tried one of the restaurants in the neighbourhood but I'll get back to it on the eating and drinking page. There is even a McDonald's across from the Monoprix, if that is to your liking :-) The Metro station Dupleix is located just around the corner from the hotel. But if you walk a couple of hundred meters you get to the station of La Motte Picquet Grenelle you have a station that covers 3 lines and that makes it easy to get around. We also walked over to the Parc du Champ de Mars (the park located in front of the Eiffel tower) - which only took about 10 minutes.

Conclusion
I think we got pretty much what we expected. A decent hotel at a low price (low by Parisian standards). The room was OK and it was easy to get around by using the metro. I would not hesitate recommending this to others looking for a clean budget hotel in Paris. If you go to the top floor, also known as room 63, there is access to a small terrace with a view to the Eiffel tower (link leads to 1 MB video). Check out the hotel homepage for more information. If you do decide to go with a ‘deluxe’ room keep in mind that the only difference is that those rooms have air-conditioning.