Nan

Hi - planning on staying at the Acacias St. Germain hotel in the 6th district in Paris in a few weeks. Has anyone else stayed there or heard anything about it? Aprreciate the help. Thanks-Nan

dan woodlief

I stayed there two nights four years ago. It was good enough but nothing special. It was very convenient for the Montparnasse station and sights in that part of town. There is also another metro stop very close to the hotel on the opposite side from the train station. I liked the breakfast (included) of breads and hot chocolate. We always took the leftovers with us when we went out for the day.

Bob Brown

We stayed there for 5 nights in 1999. <BR>Last year we happily went elsewhere. <BR>I agree with Dan's assessment, except I did not think very much of the breakfast. We ate it once and after that I took a walk a few yards down the street to La Brioche Doree and loaded up on goodies and yogurt there. <BR>The hotel is close to Montparnasse and several bus lines, which was a good feature. <BR>But there are other hotels around I think might be better, if a little more expensive. <BR>The reception area is early grubby in my opinion. I was not sure I was in a hotel when I first walked in. Our room was in the corner and away from the street. <BR>It overlooked a school yard, so most of the afternoon when we were in the room we heard the sounds of happy children at play. At night the school was quiet. <BR>The layout of the room was somewhat awkward in that only one of us could be moving about at a time. The other one either had to be in the bathroom or on the bed to keep out of the way. <BR>I also did not care for the lady in charge who was there most of the day. <BR>She chain smoked and seemed moody. <BR>She spoke English well, which was a plus. In fact, she claimed it was her "mother tongue". Perhaps. At any rate, she was fluent. I will say this in her favor. If she had no vacancy, she was assertive in trying to find rooms for her callers.

Fred

Appears to be an "OK" hotel. People who stayed there said: <BR>Acacias St Germain (3 star left bank)- <BR>near Montparnesse <BR>very pleasant hotel <BR>nothing very special but fine - liked it. <BR>Secure and quaint. <BR>For more Paris information e-mail me – [email protected] <BR>

Nan

Wanted to say thanks to you all for your input on this hotel. It seems like its fine and quaint enough. Just a couple more questions - I am very picky about things being clean - if you could let me know if its clean enough that would be nice - oh and I see that there is a breakfast room and the garden which is nice(I have a brochure with the pics) but I can't tell if they have a restaurant. One website's write up said there was a restaurant and another says that they don't - just curious. Thanks a bunch! Nan

Bob Brown

I saw no restaurant. The breakfast room was in the basement, and claustrophobic. <BR>The garden was relatively small. <BR>I think I gave my summation when I said I went elsewhere the following year.

Ursula

Stayed there after last year's Christmas because decided very late to go to Paris and could not find anything better in this, my favourite area, St.Germain/Montparnasse. <BR>Room was not ready at 2 p.m.!! <BR> <BR>I totally agree with Bob. The breakfast room AND the elevator really "claustrophobic". Agree also about the manager (chain smoker ). She is French but speaks very well English and Portuguese. A lot of Brazilian clients in the place. <BR>Right now, from what I saw latey, the place is under renovation (the facade). <BR>The breakfast is the "normal" one. Hot drink, roll, croissant, pain au chocolat, butter and jam for FF 40.-. I can do better in a cafe. They charge everything else extra like juice or joghurt. <BR>Location is fine. But street-side a lot of traffic and backwards the school. <BR>I shall definitely *never* go back there. <BR> <BR>P.S.There is no restaurant. But that is no a problem, there a lot of really nice ones in that area, esp. in Montparnasse, on Rue Vavin, like "Le Parc au Cerf" and "Le Caméléon", Rue Chevreuse.

Bob Brown

For Ursula. The "grande dame" at the Acacias bothered me as I indicated above. None the less, she was somewhat interesting. Did you have a chance to form an opinion of where she grew up? <BR>I spoke only English with her, of course. And she kept saying that "English is my mother tongue." <BR>Perhaps. I did not think so, but there are unique cases out there where people grow up speaking English with an accent that is neither British or American. <BR>(e.g. my friend John Abraham is from Syria, but he grew up in England and France, so English is his first language. His accent is not British nor is it American!!) <BR>The funniest one I recall was a tall blond fellow named Johansen who grew up in Mexico. So we had a Swede speaking English with a Mexican accent. <BR>Confused the heck out of people. <BR>If the facade of the Acacias is being renovated, I am of the opinion that someone is renovating the wrong part. <BR>The "lobby" should be the first to be improved.

Ursula

For Bob (I am too tempted to answer right now -- although I should have my work done ;-) <BR> <BR>Well, I spoke French with her (BTW: Cécile is her name) and in a way, she is interesting, yes. My French is almost fluent and "La Grande Dame" is *definitely* French. Her English is very good for a French. I was somehow impressed. She also speaks fluent Portuguese. <BR>But I heard her shout at people on the phone (people she deals with, tour operators or so) in front of myself, i.e. a guest. It's unbelievable. She knew I would understand everything. <BR>People never find out with me what nationality I am because of course I have an accent, too, but not like the average Swiss. Even Germans sometimes do not figure out I am Swiss German. This just by the way. <BR>And about the renovation, I only had a look from outside late May, Bob, I would never had gone in again, as said above. So, it is likely, the "lobby" (LOL) is getting a new face lifting as well. <BR>I shall check it out for you, Bob. Probably end of this year. <BR> <BR>Again, the location is ok. But I prefer to stay in a smaller and more quiet street than Rue de Rennes, which close to Montparnasse, is a bit cheap. But this is only my personal opinion. <BR> <BR>Have a good everybody! <BR>I am just curious myself.

Nan

Hi and thanks everyone again for your interesting input. I take it since no-one commented one way or another on my question of the hotel being clean - that it probably is clean-right? God - I hope. I'm assuming that if it wasn't you would have said something since that is a big concern of mine. If you could just let me know -thanks!

dan woodlief

As far as I remember, the hotel room was quite clean. I do agree with others that it might be preferable to have a hotel on a smaller street. I was not bothered by any noise, and I do have trouble sleeping in less than perfectly quiet hotels. My room was not on the street, however. I had the room for two nights as part of a trip I won (long story), but I booked the final four nights on my own on Rue Cler (nothing to do with Acacias St. Germain - I did it ahead of time to get a better location and to save money). For Bob and Ursula, I do remember a lady similar to what you described, but I am not sure if she is the same one. I spent so little time in the hotel. From what I remember, the person at the desk was helpful enough but not particularly friendly. I spoke mostly French with her but some English, as I recall. I don't remember seeing a restaurant, but I almost never eat in the hotel, so I really didn't even look for one. The elevator is indeed cramped, but I don't recall my room being that way.

Bob Brown

I asked my wife if she remembered the hotel as being clean. She said it was clean, no problems. <BR> <BR>I remember that little elevator. <BR>Not only was it small, but the stop was half way between floors. <BR>When we checked out, there was not room for our luggage and another guest's. <BR>So we loaded the suitcases on, my wife pushed the buttons, and I ran downstairs to unload. I think the night desk clerk got a good laugh out of it. <BR>He was used to nutty Americans. He had a law degree from UCLA and was working on a Ph. D. in international law at the Sorbonne. I think I can safely say that he was well educated, and he was very easy to engage in conversation. <BR> <BR>As I recall, there were two women who worked the front desk. <BR> <BR>The hotel I stayed in last year was quite nice. I do not remember the staff very well because none of them did anything to draw attention to themselves. Just normal, friendly, efficient Paris hotel staff members who spoke decent English. <BR>

toptop

Topping for Ellen

Joanne

Nan: We stayed at the Acacias Saint Germain last May for several days before we drove to Provence and then again a day or two before we flew home. <BR><BR>Our room was small but fine (similar to previous rooms we had in Paris), good bathroom, very clean and apparently had recently been redone. The drapes and bedspreads seemed almost new. The front of the hotel was scaffolded and rooms on the front side were under renovation.<BR><BR>Cecile is from South Africa. When we were there, her hair was blue and, yes, she chain smokes. Not a big problem considering the length of time you might spend at the front desk. I found her abrasive but my husband got along well with her, and the rest of the staff were helpful and pleasant. <BR><BR>We liked the location very much and though it is nothing special, I had no problem with our stay and would probably stay there again. Maybe we're easy to please.<BR><BR>j

Joanne

Have no idea who Ellen is and just noted this is an old post from last July.<BR><BR>Oh well if Bob or Ursula happen to pop in, at least they will know Cecile's origin.<BR><BR>j

top

Topping for Ellen.

Laurie

We stayed there May 13-17. It was okay. Breakfast is no longer included in the price - or at least it wasn't with my Travelocity rate. The chain-smoking woman at the front desk was not too helpful. We had a room on the first floor, 103, I think, that overlooked the TINY courtyard. It was pretty quiet, except for noise from a school nearby. No shower curtain, but the bathroom was otherwise fine. Small, as was the room, but that's to be expected, I think. I think I'd stay somewhere else if I got to visit Paris again, but it was not bad for a last minute trip.