bjk0908

Anyone considering a stay at the Henry IV Hotel on the Place Dauphine, Rive Gauche, Paris should be aware of the conditions I encountered there in August, 2013 and be wary of staying there.

As a veteran budget traveler, I expect small rooms, tiny bathroom facilities, walk-up stairwells and uneven floors when staying in a very old hotel, and consider those conditions part of the charm of staying in a historic building. But I draw the line at staying in a hotel that is dirty. Such is the condition of the Henry IV Hotel on Place Dauphine.

After booking months in advance, I was assigned room 20 on the 5th floor. The stairs leading to the room were gritty with the dirt and sand of the plaza, the bannister sticky with grime. The floor of the room was so gritty I had to brush the dirt off my feet before getting into bed. It was obvious that neither had been swept, much less wet mopped for weeks or longer.

The bathroom was so filthy with black dirt on the bottom and walls of the shower, I refused to use it. The toilet had black filth in the bottom where a brush didn't reach. The grout around the broken bathroom tiles was varying shades of grey to black. A mirror had what appeared to be dried vomit splashed on it. The window curtain had holes in it, the window sill was black with dirty grime. In all fairness, at least the sheets were clean. Other than that, it was more flophouse than hotel.

Upon telling the woman behind the desk I was leaving despite her amazing find of a "better" room, she became belligerent and extremely rude, and insisted she was being "nice" for charging me only half of the 2nd nights rate. I left there, got a last minute booking at the Best Western in St. Germaine and was perfectly happy with it and its location.

Hotels that are old and worn can have a certain charm. But there is no reason for any hotel to be dirty, and no need to stay in such a place as the Henry IV on Place Dauphine on the Rive Gauche of Paris. Be advised before going there.

B

Christina

yeah, I know, I think you wrote that on another old thread about hotels with this name, and I even specifically said on that thread that this hotel is known as a dive, basically (and that was years ago). You stayed in one of the cheapest hotels in Paris in one of the most expensive areas, really, what did you expect. If you stay in cheap hotels, you should at least try to get more for your money and stay in less expensive areas.

YOu really can't compare the BW in St Germain to an old 1* hotel (which is either a 3 or 4* hotel, depending which one).

Having said that, I notice there are some people on Tripadvisor who have stayed there within the past year and don't agree with you.

Trophywife007

25 years ago when we lived in Berlin, we were going to Paris with friends. They had stayed at Henry IV previously and made reservations for us all. When we arrived we were taken to our room that hadn't yet been prepared and saw a yucky grey mattress, the bathroom was down the hall and you had to walk on a catwalk outside to get to it. It was horrible.

We left immediately to find another hotel. Mr. 007 said the reason he worked was so that he didn't have to stay in places like that. We went to the Notre Dame hotel just opposite the Cathedral and got a lovely room.

Looks like old Henry hasn't changed a bit.

MaineGG

The OP says, "Anyone considering a stay at the Henry IV Hotel on the Place Dauphine, Rive Gauche,..."

To avoid confusion:

The Henri IV on the Place Dauphine is not on the Rive Gauche. It is on the Ile de la Cité.

The Henri IV Rive Gauche is on the RG, and is a very different hotel.

Gretchen

And I agree with Christina--and think I have passed this hotel. It has been known to be awful forever.

Trophywife007

And yet there are loads of people on Tripadvisor who give it good (or excellent!) reviews... which is why TA drives me nuts, yet I keep going back there to check out hotels. Ugh.

Caliban

Clueless TA posters often confuse two places with similar nemes and sometimes post reviews for one on the name of the other.

kerouac

I have actually seen the inside of this hotel, albeit at least 15 years ago, visiting someone who was staying there. The room I saw was on the 1st or 2nd floor and it seemed perfectly fine then, if one accepted the WC and shower being down the hall. For the location, obviously the price is unbeatable.

bjk0908

Main GG, you are correct; this particular Henry IV in on the Ile de la Cité, and there are better hotels by the same name not far from there.

Christina, no, I did not write another post about this hotel; it was the first time I encountered it. And somehow I missed your post from years ago. As to what I expected, I expected CLEAN. Your commentary suggesting that I bear some fault for not knowing its condition and should have expected less than what was publicized is akin to blaming the victim.

Michael

<i>no, I did not write another post about this hotel;</i>

Yes you did, you revived an old thread: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-henry-iv.cfm

bjk0908

Responses to this post are turning ugly and not in line with the purpose of this forum.

My intent was to simply warn other unsuspecting individuals of the poor conditions of the Henry IV so they don't have a similar bad experience in an otherwise wonderful city.

To those who have chosen to take issue with my state of unawareness as to the history of prior postings or the posting process itself, you have missed the point. It's time to let it go, and contribute something worthwhile regarding the state of budget hotels in Paris.

kenav

bjk - I personally thank you for your review whether or not you had ever written something about this hotel before. FIlth is unacceptable, no matter the price.

kappa1

Really confusing, real pity that OP put "Rive Gauche" on the his first post above. And OP also posted his (negative)review on the other thread which is actually about Henri IV on the Rive Gauche (not Place Dauphine on L'ile Cité), not the same hotel. What a mess...

kawh

i have a real fondness for the henri iv because i stayed there on my first trip to paris long, long ago. have stayed many times since... but gave it up last trip. it has actually gotten nicer over the years (some rooms have showers... they painted and slightly updated....) but as the decades have gone by, my minimum standards have gone higher. i don't think i'll ever stay there again...
but...
for those budget 20-somethings who want a quiet hotel in a perfectly charming location on the cheap (still under 100euro)... i would recommend it. it's a magical place in many ways. just not my magical place anymore.

Weekender

The Hotel Henri IV at 25 Place Dauphine is no more. The property been totally gutted/rebuilt and is now owned by Paris Perfect.

www.parisperfect.com

Christina

So that's the place they bought and renovated, I had no idea, that's interesting (I heard of their new place). Maybe that's why they can legally rent it as apts, because it used to be a hotel.

Trophywife007

I've seen on their website that they were renovating it. I'd love to see what they did in person compared to how it looked 30 years ago.