Sue, I have used digital.france.com many times with nary a problem. I think it is absolutely the clearest, easiest-to-use booking site (no pre-pay, no discount--the rates listed are the rates in the hotel brochures). I prefer booking there because I can specify the room I want, and know what room goes for what rate.

But how can one be certain that the room that you want to book does not really exist? What I mean is that the reservation center may show availability based on the information given to them by the hotel. If the hotel chooses to overbook their rooms, it won't inform the reservation center. And it looks as though there is availability when there really isn't.

I have used the internet to find out hotel rates from booking agencies in several European destinations. Whenever the "lowest available" internet price is mentioned, I have called or emailed the hotel directly and have asked them to honor that price.<BR>In each case so far the lowest rate has been honored by the hotel. I like this approach because I become from the start the direct customer of the hotel, and I feel this establishes our relationship for my prospective stay.

Steve<BR><BR>The same thing happened to me last year and through france hotel reservation system..The hotel room was very dirty and too small for three but I phoned them and they told me they can arrange another hotel but I have to pay for the first night of the first hotel...Then the arrange another room in Montparnasse and that was more expensive but very nice ...We arived Paris at late night and we could reach them still.By the way we didn't pay even for the first room beacuse another family booked for this room while we were waiting at the lobby after I told about it to Fran.Res. they didn't charge it from my credit card...<BR>May be your wife can try another hotel through them.<BR>Wish you good luck and hope your wife still enjoy her trip

Hello everyone. <BR>This comes to you from Steven's sister-in-law, whom he mentioned in his posting. I would like to clarify certain things that he said. <BR>First, the Hotel is indeed, the Odeon Hotel, but is on Rue de L'Odeon, not on St suplice.<BR>Secondly, though we were inititally shocked by the size of the room, it did grow on us. There was enough storage space for our luggage, and the room and Hotel were immaculate. Certain staff members were aloof, but were for the most part, polite. Guy,the night clerk, was most engaging, certainly the friendliest and most helpful of the group. The hotel had much charm and was in a fabulous location, just blocks away from both the Luxembourg Gardens and the Seine. We had a marvelous time. Steven is still in France with my sister, hence the lack of response from him.<BR>Thirdly, I agree with everyone's assessment about the prepaid system and France Hotel reservations. We couldn't reach them to discuss the situation, despite multiple attempts. We really felt trapped and didn't think we could manage a refund in the event that they couldn't relocate us.<BR>Overall, after checking other area hotels, I think we had a comparable room rate and size. As I mentioned, the hotel was clean and well-run. I would recommend it, but would book directly with them at: <BR>[email protected]<BR>Their phone is(from the US) 011 33 1 43 25 90 67.<BR>Odeon Hotel<BR>3 Rue de l'Odeon<BR>75006, Paris<BR>I hope this information helps. <BR>By the way, to Magurite: where would I find info about apartments in the area? We thought of it, but couldn't find anything less than $2,000.00 Thanks for your info.

you were paying $2,500 for the room, if the 10% penalty was $250. that said, $2,000 sounds good.

We had a very large true triple room this past March at the BW Hotel Left Bank. Loved the hotel and location too.