sammak

I am considering the two hotels. Did anyone stay there before ? Can you give me some comments ?

LoriNY

We've stayed there plenty of times. The rooms are small, but functional. The hotel can be a bit noisy what with slamming doors (not the hotels problem but guests who are rude). The bathrooms are tiny, but again functional. I have always found the place to be clean, and incredibly convenient to the metro and lots of sites. I love the neighborhood. HOwever, I like the Minerve next door a bit better as the rooms are larger.

nini

Lori--we are considering the Minerve for our October trip to Paris. We found it through Karen Brown and have had really wonderful rooms through her recommendations. Is it necessary to request a quiet room on the back?I think Familia is one of KB's hotels also--maybe these are run by the same person?

StCirq

I stay at the Hôtel de France Invalides at least a couple of times a year. I love the place and think it's a great bargain. Yes, some of the rooms are small, but the place is very clean, the mattresses are great, the bathrooms are nicely appointed, the staff are incredibly helpful, the neighborhood is full of nice cafés and restaurants, and the métro and bus are only a block or two away.
P.S. I think Lori must be referring to the Familia, as the Minerve Hotel is definitely not next door to the Hôtel de France.

LoriNY

I was referring to the Familia, sorry I didn't specify. The Familia and the Minerve are run by the same family - Eric Gaucheron and his wife. His parents usually work the desk at the Familia, his wife is sometimes at the desk of the Minerve and he floats back and forth. Some reviews on TripAdvisor refer to the rude staffs at both, we have never had an issue - and we have stayed them in total about 10 times.

LoriNY

At the Familia, we usually request a room with a balcony overlooking the Rue des Ecoles. The balcony is large enough to fit a small cafe table and two chairs. It just makes the room feel a bit larger. The windows are doubled paned, and we never had an issue with street noise as long as the windows are closed. The street can be noisy tho, if you need to open the windows. A friend of mine had a room in the back, it was dark, overlooking the space between two buildings (not attractive) but it was quiet.

starrsville

I have not posted on tripadvisor, but had bad experiences with the staff at the Familia.

I don't know the alternate choice, but I would choose it over the Familia.