We stayed at this hotel for just one night after a visit to the Champagne area. We have been to Paris before and you can read a Paris trip report here. I guess this should not be confused with Waldorf Astoria by Hilton. We booked the hotel online and just took the metro to Opera and walked over from there. The check in was fast and we got room 103. We said that we wanted to take care of the luggage but we still got a porter that followed us to the room which was a bit weird. The room looked pretty new upon entering the room with a beige carpet and light walls – but it was quite small and for a second we were like “where is the bathroom”. Most of the room was occupied by the queen sized bed that was soft and to my liking. There was also a desk, a TV on the wall, a coffee machine and a small fridge (one Coke was 4.5€). Wifi was free but we had to get a username and password for each device. The internet was fast but it seemed to drop out from time to time which was annoying. The room was well lit up due to lots of downlights.

The bathroom was totally different from the room – it was very modern with all white tiles. And what is the deal with setting up a shower in the bathtub and with no glass panels? From the moment I walked into the bathroom I could see that taking a shower there would lead to splashing of the entire bathroom and I was right. And how can it be that we only got one robe when you have booked a room for two people?

The location of the hotel is quite good. It is a short walk to the Madeleine church and metro station and you can also walk over to Opera. There is a lot of shopping around but maybe not the best selection of restaurants.

All in all – a totally decent hotel taking the location and price into consideration. I would not mind staying there again. Read more about the hotel here.

Gard
gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures

We stayed at Saint James Albany in Paris for three days in March. Taxi from the airport was 50 € flat rate. The check in process was fast and we got room 633. The room seemed a bit dated upon entering the room but at the same time it also has a pretty cool layout as they have kept some of the old wooden pillars and this was actually the center of the room! It might be a pretty fancy feature to look out but also dangerous at night as it was easy to walk right into it in the dark. The room had a large king size bed that was way too hard for me, lots of wardrobe space, a small safe, no ironing board or iron, a desk and a small fridge. The small fridge was stocked up quite well but when a Coke costs 6.5€ it is much better to buy it somewhere else. The room was a bit dark and I would have preferred if there was more lighting – even if there were two windows in the room with a view to a courtyard. A small flatscreen TV was mounted on the wooden pillars and were facing the bed. Wifi was included and worked according to my expectations.

The toilet was in a separate small room – again with some of the wooden pillars. Due to this there was only a tiny sink in the corner which was not very easy to use. The bathroom on the other hand was large, had two sinks and a large shower area. We got two robes and slippers and the towels were on a heating rack. There was a bad smell coming from the bathroom and maybe that is why housekeeping placed a towel over the shower drain.

The breakfast was pretty good for the price. For 14€ there was a buffet breakfast that was not totally epic but it contained all you need of bread, fruit, cereal etc.

In the basement there was a pool of decent size and a sauna.

The service at the hotel was good but we were a bit disappointed when we called housekeeping on a Saturday and said that we wanted to wash some clothing and we were told that this was not a service during the weekend. When we asked when the clothes would be ready they replied that they didn’t know and that we had to call the concierge!

The location of the hotel is excellent. Right next to Tuileries Garden, a few steps to the Tuileries metro station, short walk to the Louvre and with lots of shopping it the area.

All in all a good hotel – but with room for improvements. The smell from the bathroom was not that pleasant, the walls were a bit thin so it was a bit noisy and we were disappointed that we couldn’t get some clothing sent to laundry on a weekend. But we enjoyed the large room and the location. Read more about the hotel on the hotel homepage.

Gard
gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures

We were in Paris for just a long weekend recently and as we have seen the usual attractions on previous trips, we decided to go for a walk. We came across the Discover Walks homepage and decided to try it out. We came a few minutes late to the meeting point at Notre Dame and we thought we missed it – but after a couple of minutes we saw the pink vest indicating the guide. We started out with the guide Raphael but was soon also joined by Bertrand – two guides in a group of only 5 people – what luxury :-)  We went for the relative new 4 pm walk and I guess most people are not aware of this as the group was so small. But the tour lasted for a couple of hours and it was great doing a tour with a couple of local boys and we got to hear about Cyrano de Bergerac, about the Sorbonne university, about small book shops and jazz clubs and we could talk to the boys on where to eat and drink in Paris and much more of course. But best of all was of course getting guiding from local people who has a real passion for their own city. Thanks guys for the great tour – I’ll try out one of the other tours when I return to Paris Check out their homepage http://www.discoverwalks.com/ for more information.

I’m fortunate enough to be heading of to Paris again soon. I have been there a few times before and it was actually one of my first destination for a long weekend city trip in Europe back in 1994. I was totally blown away by the big city, the beautiful bridges across the Seine, the beautiful architecture, the museums etc. After that I  have been there on longer stays and it has been great to have time to just walk around and enjoy the sights, sounds and smell. The last time I went there was back in 2006 and you can check out the Paris trip report here. This time I’m even doing a food course – it is a cooking for friends course so I guess I have to find some “victims” when I get back home to rehearse a bit If you haven’t been to Paris it is really a place worth visiting in my opinion.