Hotel Muguet
 

Hi All,

I'm trying to plan a 4 day (budget) trip to Paris in October.

I just found out about Hotel Muguet through this website...and I wanted to know if anyone has stayed there recently (maybe within the last year), as all the threads I've found seem to be a few years old.

If you have stayed there recently, would you recommend this hotel, and can I only make a reservation through the hotel directly?

Also, as my husband and myself will be first time visitors to Paris who speak zero French, easy and economical transportation between the hotel and Orly airport is very important to me. So....any tips on transport, including the Air France shuttle, would be greatly appreciated!

Eagerly anticipating your replies...:)

Many Thanks

If you really want to do this trip on a budget, I would not stay at the Hotel Muguet. I've never stayed there, but you can get a lot cheaper hotels that are still decent.

If you stay at the Hotel Muguet, the Air France shuttle would not be too helpful. You'd take the shuttle to Gare Montparnasse, but then you would have to take a taxi or the metro to the hotel, so the total cost is likely to be little different than a taxi. For more info about public transport in France, look at www.ratp.fr . But a taxi from Orly to hotels on the Left Bank is not that expensive - I would do that myself.

Between now and October, you can learn at least a few French phrases, although Paris is quite easy for English speakers.

As far as I know, you can only book directly, but what possible objection would you have to that?

We stayed at Hotel Muguet twice some years ago. It's a wonderful hotel. Mme Pelletier has made numerous improvements throughout the hotel over the years, which have significantly increased the rates.

Unless you book a superior/triple room, double rooms are extremely compact/cozy and you may not appreciate a shower only. Our double room with view had little closet space, no drawers, shower only, and virtually no space around the furnishings. The superior room with view was much better with a bathtub, much more space around the furnishings, two closets.

Wow!!...This website is amazing, I've spent about two days reading Fodor's and my head is just spinning with information!!! :)

All my reading has led me to think that I should now research the 6th as well and not just the 7th...

Thanks for that, WillTravel...and yes, the plan is to learn some French between now and then.

djkbooks - Absolutely no objection to booking on the hotel website. Just wondered because I'd never heard of the Muguet before I discovered Fodor's, and I'd been checking hotel rates on several websites. Your description has been extremely helpful to me because I maybe should have mentioned...

my husband is quite tall (6'5").

I do realize that in Paris he may just have to deal with a small space, but, with that in mind...help!!! Please!!!

We have stayed at Hotel Muguet twice but not recently. The hotel is fine but as mentioned the standard double rooms quite small and the prices have risen substantially.

The last visit to Paris we stayed on Ile St. Louis and liked this location much better than the 7th just for ease in getting around without using the Metro.

Do some research here on hotels in the 6th as you may find the location more to your liking and there are many good recommendations on this board.

WE stayed at the Muguet a few years ago, but I haven't heard any complaints about it going downhill...

A plus for your tall husband would be the queen-bedded superior rooms they offer, althought I am sure there are other hotels with queen or king beds, too.

~Liz

the Muguet is an excellent hotel. And if you want inexpensive transport from Montparnasse to the Muguet I believe that there is a bus route very nearby--one of the other reasons we like the Muguet. It is on about 5 different bus routes.
BUT the poster that said the Muguet is not necessarily budget (any more) is correct unfortunately.
Your husband's height is going to be a bit of a problem maybe.

Thanks for all the replies...much appreciated!!

While small and charming hotels well located in an appealing neighborhood are our preference, we've also stayed in apartments.

In an apartment, you have some extra space and seating other than just the bed and desk chair! With a kitchen, even if you don't plan to cook a thing, you save a fortune on beverages (just morning coffee, which you can have without getting dressed and going out, obviously), breakfast, snacks, etc. Nearly every neighborhood has wonder traiters (for terrific prepared foods) and a Picard (a frozen food emporium, but not what you'd presume). And, it's nice to have a place to relax evenings with cocktails without having to be out and pay high prices for drinks. (I bring music with me.)

Sometimes, we go for the huge "chain" hotels if there's a ridiculously low rate on Hotwire or Priceline. We stayed at the Pullman Tour Eiffel (when it was the Hilton) for $120/night with Hotwire, for example. It was wonderful to have an enormous room, large balcony overlooking a beautiful garden, and a king sized bed!

For next month, I found a Travelzoo special for the Hotel Concorde Lafayette with a rate of €102 euros - including a generous buffet breakfast every day and free wireless internet.

Another hotel we really enjoyed for the enormous rooms, and reasonable rates, was Hotel Langlois.

When we stayed in Hotel Muguet (and we loved the place), rate were under $100/night for the rooms with views! For sure, there have been significant improvements (not that any were essential) every year since. The rooms are gorgeous now. But, they're still the same size!

We stayed at the Muguet 2 years ago and loved it. We had two rooms on the top floor (6th), one with a view of Invalides and the other with the most amazing view of the Eiffel Tower! The Invalides room was quite spacious and had two twin beds. The other room had a king bed, and a daybed/couch and in the bathroom it was a bathtub with a shower and a partial glass wall. Both rooms were very well kept, as was the rest of the hotel that we saw. The location was good as it is on a quiet street but a 5 minute walk to various restaurants and such. We booked directly with the hotel and never had any problems, and would definitely recommend it. The rooms we had probably do not fit your idea of budget, but some of the other rooms might. If you can get it for a rate that you are comfortable with, I would go for it.

Hi,

I have stayed at the Hotel Muguet and really enjoyed it and the location. Air France does have a shuttle bus that goes to Invaldies, which is in walking distance to the hotel. This shuttle only goes to and from Orly. Here is a web site with info.
http://transfer.airport-paris.com/ai...ch-service.htm

Have a great trip,
Yipper

Thank you all for taking the time to respond.

The price for the Muguet, although not good, seemed to be reasonable for a hotel with good reviews when compared to other hotels in the area. However, we have been unable to get a reservation.

yipper - thanks for your advice on the Air France shuttle...that's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks also for your good wishes :)

Thanks again to everyone.

Try the Hôtel de France, 102 boulevard de la Tour Maubourg, right around the corner. Very clean and quiet and about 78 euros for a double.

Thanks StCirq, I'll check it out.

I stayed there a couple years ago, but I imagine it hasn't changed that much, if the owner is the same. It was okay, but I thought it was just a fairly nice 2* hotel, but nothing special in any way. There wasn't anything wrong with the rooms, they were attractive enough, so didn't need redecoration, but the problem was it was one of the smallest rooms I have ever had in a hotel in Paris, the bed was rather hard and I thought uncomfortable so I had trouble sleeping, and the room had just the basics (ie, no minibar which I like to keep cold drinks of my own) and was just a bit bigger than the bed. The view was ugly as it was of an interior space only -- most of the rooms don't have any great view. I just kept the curtains closed and that didn't bother me that much as I wasn't there much in the daytime. Also, they seemed to have some lax security about their luggage room, I thought, as it was in an area the reception couldn't see and I thought anyone could open that door.

So it was okay in the genre of people who say they don't care about the room, it's just a place to sleep and shower, but as I said, I wouldn't have any reason in particular to recommend it over other hotels. And now I thought it is too expensive for what it is as I am staying right now in a nice 3* hotel for the same rate as the Muguet, and it has bigger rooms and is nicer. I'm not that crazy about that location where the Muguet is, but it is convenient to some public transportation. It's just not my preferred area of Paris.

I had planned to stay at the Muguet a few years ago because of all the nice remarks on here about it. I was staying 10 days and got a little nervous after reading a few Trip Advisor comments. I also preferred having a minibar and a bathtub instead of just shower. But what REALLY made me cancel was the fact that they don't allow food in the rooms. For a long stay, being solo, sometimes I much prefer picking up some of that great prepared food Paris offers and eating in my room, when I'm dead-tired after sightseeing all day. I thought their attitude seemed a little persnicketty (is that a word??).

They say that on boards, but we have had plenty of food in our room at the Muguet when we stayed there. As for a minibar--why?
I have even seen people post that they would refrigerate food for them in the kitchen/breakfast room

I guess the Muguet won't work for your dates anyway, but my husband and I also stayed there a few years ago. Our room was fairly large and nicely decorated, so judging from some of the other posts here, they must vary quite a bit. We ate in our room at times, and didn't even know there was a rule prohibiting this.

I agree that their price is very high now, so we probably wouldn't stay there again because of that.

Travelbug,

Since this is a budget trip have you checked out the sites that give you 4 or 6 nights in a hotel included with the price of airfare?

go-today is advertising $629. for a double room 6 nights hotel included with the air ( I like the Hotel Mouffetard for its location in the 5th that they offer;others that offer the vacation package are Airfrance Holidays (google it and the correct name might come up) and Virgin Air Holidays...are two other names....and they arrange pick up at airport to hotel and return - (not included in price).

Mahaya really has a good idea--sometimes it can work out very well, but be sure to calculate the true cost of the room, because you are paying "twice". The example she gives would be a smokin' deal!!