La Perle v. Madison
 

Thanks to this forum, i have reservations for October at the Madison (205e w/ breakfast), but just got an email from La Perle for 185e for a superior double room. As far as I can tell, there isn't much info on la perle. Any thoughts on it v. madison?

The location of the Madison is great, and the rooms tend to be a little larger than others in its class. Michelin doesn't rate La Perle (or its sister hotel Le Ste-Beuve); so I can't compare them in that guide. If this is your first trip to Paris, I'd go for the Madison just because it's so well located--and the rate you got is very good, too, for that popular hotel. Perhaps someone else who's stayed at La Perle will have more to say.

I have not been to either hotel but have done some research. Based on each hotel's websites, I do not like La Perle as I find that the value is not there. The rooms look small and the furnishings and decor have no appeal. The Madison, on the other hand, is known to have large rooms provided you book a twin and not a standard. Also the location of the Madison is prime whereas La Perle, while its location is convenient enough, is closer to the Luxembourg Gardens. Of course, the Madison's furnishings look alot better too.

La Perle is on rue des Canettes, a very small, very busy, very noisy street between blvd St-Germain and Place St-Sulpice. It's just around the corner from the Madison, which looks to be a much better choice for the price.

On the other hand, there are a number of small restaurants in the area of rue des Canettes, rue Guisarde, and rue Princesse. Their popularity accounts in part for the noise and business.

I stayed at Madison two weeks ago. It is, indeed, in a perfect location. A 4-line Metro stop is directly in front, and may nice cafe's on the Germain.

It is a easy walk to Notre Dame and St Chapelle. The front desk staff was incredibly courteous as well.

The only negative was the bed: it was very firm, too much for my liking. But our room (125) faced the church and was indeed large.

I recommend it, just be aware of the stiff bedding.

i am leaning toward the madison, but our room has a courtyard view (no boulevard views were available) and is a standard. THe hotel said it was 15 sq. meters, same size as the room at La Perle. is madison still the better choice?

The standard size is a typical Parisian hotel room size. Anyway, I still think the Madison is the better choice-you do get buffet breakfasts included. I don't think at the La Perle breakfast is included in your rate, correct?

Breakfast is not included at La Perle, so that's something for the madison. i will probably stay at the madison because there is not much info on la perle, but i will check it out when we are there in october and report back, mostly because i am curious about it.

Although I have plenty of time to decide, the Madison is also one I'm considering. From previous messages here, I had planned to have breakfast somewhere 'other' than my hotel. Is breakfast included at the Madison whether you eat it or not? It sounds like it's not a long walk to the Seine. Is it very far to walk to the Luxembourg Gardens?

I have stayed on the tiny rue des Cannettes and it is TERRIBLE! There is a very famous Paris disco almost directly across the street from La Perle and it doesn't shut down until almost 6 am. The entire street is noisy and it's noise you just can't get away from. Even ear plugs didn't help. I'd advise avoid it at all costs.

Breakfast is included in the rates at Le Madison. It is about a 10 minute walk to the Seine. And not a bad walk to the Gardens either. One good thing about Paris; it's flat. :)

Breakfast, whether or not you take it, is in included in the rates.

I had heard that rue des cannettes is noisy, but la perle says they have soundproof rooms. but given crepes a go go's experience, i am definitely sticking with the madison. breakfast is included in the rate -- you can't separate it out.

Good decision Smitty. But don't miss this area for the restaurants as someone pointed out above. I love the area, just not for sleeping!

I just got confirmation back from the Madison on my reservation, and they bumped the price up to 220e for the same standard, courtyard room because it is October. That doesn't seem like such a good deal, considering I could stay at the Artus (w/breakfast) or the Luxemboug Parc for 230e or the Bel Ami for 240e. i understand october is a popular month, but the bait and switch (sending me info with one price and then upping it when I confirmed) was not cool. So now i am rethinking the whole plan and may go with one of the others i just mentioned. any thoughts?

Have you looked at the Millesime on Rue Jacob. They have a 199E special that includes breakfast , airport shuttle, wine, river cruise, etc .
http://www.millesimehotel.com/bewax/US/promo.html

We've always chosen their superior rooms which are a really nice size but the standard doesn't look much smaller, at least in the pictures. Even their Millesime room is less than 220E.

Great location , too and very nice staff.

The Luxembourg Parc and the Perle are owned by the same group. Have stayed at the Luxembourg Parc and highly recommend it. Beautifully done rooms and bathrooms (with a real showerhead). Located just down the street from St. Sulpice and across street from the gardens.

The News segment of the Madison site is showing a 15€ surcharge for September and October--not nice. I wonder whether other hotels are now doing the same thing rather than having separate rates for low/mid/high-season rates.

At least the breakfast at the Madison is buffet style.

Smitty,

Have you checked Orbitz for specials at the Madison?

The Lusembourg Parc looks very good--I hope someone stays there and posts a report.

If the surcharge is not so expensive maybe it would be better than if they raise their rates for high season in some cases?

Just wanted to correct Underhill's first post: La Perle's sister hotel is actually the Luxembourg Parc, not the Sainte-Beuve.

Also the Sainte-Beuve is most definitely listed in the Michelin guide.

Hope this helps,
Andre

thanks for all the help. at this point, i have reservations at the madison for 220e and artus for 230e. the e-mail experience with artus has been much more pleasant than at the madison (they were quick to reply and much more straightforward with their info), so i am leaning toward artus. if i do wind up at the lux parc, i will definitely do a post for that.

Andre,

Found it! But why it's listed as Ste-Beuve instead of Sainte-Beuve is beyond me; makes it hard to find in both the index and the listings for the 6th. Anyway, the Ste-Beuve gets 2 gables, while the Madison gets 3. Odd that the Rives de Notre-Dame also gets just 2 gables when its official rating is 4*.

Sorry about confusing the Ste-Beuve with the Luxembourg Parc. I'm looking at too many hotels at the same time.

What do they use as criteria for their ratings? The Rives de Notre Dame is a 4* so why only 2 gables are allocated?

Underhill,

No harm done - I've been known to get mixed up from time to time as well...

Re: Michelin's rating system, it's also something of a mystery to me, but they do seem to pay particular attention to the size of a hotel's public areas when awarding gables - the Ste. Beuve just has a single combined lobby/bar/breakfast room (albeit airy & nicely decorated), so that's probably a big minus for the Michelin.

Hope this helps,
Andre

The Rives de Notre Dame hotel reportedly has good sized bedrooms so I would think that's better than having a large lobby and/or sitting room, etc. Maybe it depends on whom is reviewing a particular hotel and his/her personal opinions figure into it.

I think I read somewhere that the availability or not of room service is also factored into the rating.

Time to go and re-read the Mounsieur Pamplemousse books!

We just returned from 3 days at the Madison...It more than met our expectations and we loved the firm beds...if you want soft and lumpy you won't find them here. The concierge desk was superb...Jean-Marc is the best.
I look forward to our next stay in Paris and it will definately be the Madison.

We just returned from Paris and have stayed in the St. Germain area both times, once at the Relais St. Sulpice and most recently at Pas De Calais. We enjoy walking into hotel lobbies to see the layout and pick up brochures for our next stay. As we were leaving the Madison an angry clerk near the desk started shouting rude comments about Americans. This might not dissuade you from staying there but I won't choose this hotel from my next stay.

Who were the comments aimed at-you?

We stayed at the Madison 2 yrs. ago in March and it truly IS wonderful. Great location, close to Metro, gracious front desk people, clean AND probably the BEST breakfast in Paris. It's American type and FULL buffet , and at that time wasn't included in the price. If you don't like a big breakfast (and in France it's not necessary), AND it is included, then the money would be wasted. Our room was at the back, but only a little over $100....BEFORE the dollar went down so badly!(and it was March)
Underhill is probably right about the added price in October....A VERY busy month with trade shows, fashion shows etc and most hotels are highly booked..and I imagine they do raise the tariff. The city will be fairly crowded.,,however Oct. would be beautiful weatherwise.
No, it's no fun when they bump up the price AFTER a reservation is made. Perhaps you can call them from USA and check it out, and also ask what the price would be without breakfast??Never hurts to ask..
(we will be in Paris the second week of Nov. and I am curious now as to what the price would be at THAT time....although we thought we might try another area, like back to the 1st, Or 5th for fun.) I feel certain the price of most of the hotels are based on availability.
Best WEstern has some good, French type hotels in Paris, but I don't know much about them right now...however it is easy to deal with the 800 number in the States, and get special prices etc.

I am hoping that wishfultraveler can explain further his/her story about the Madison's clerk. There must be more to this supposed story than what is said. I can't imagine the Madison, whose reputation is mostly well-regarded, will have a clerk behave in that manner unless there is a good reason especially if it's towards a guest!

As to the loud clerk, I'm not really sure what was going on francophile03. I just overheard his ranting. Needless to say, whatever the reason I'm sure I wasn't the only person around who heard him.

Come to think of it, I believe another poster here reported a problem with a clerk too. I wonder if it's the same person. It appears that although the guest speaks French fluently and was requesting a room change nicely the clerk was very rude.

Even if it's not the same clerk, well, that sure isn't good for the hotel's reputation.

We are staying at La Perle in July. I have not read any negative comments except for the ones here. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. We have a friend who always stays at Lux Parc (sister hotel) and they love it!!!!! La Perle is 185 euros a night for a superior room. I'll let you know how it goes.

Hi, has anyone else witnessed this type of negative attitude with any of the Madison's clerks?

We never have and will certainly be on the lookout for any such behavior in September and post accordingly.

The rude comment at the Madison does not surprise me. I have not been impressed with the Madison's service since i started the hotel booking process. they took a few days to get back to me each time i e-mailed a question, and the responses were curt and usually required a follow-up email. so when they e-mailed me one price (knowing my dates) and then upped it when I went to confirm, i started looking again.

i am now probably going to stay at the Saint Beuve. The price was more reasonable than Madison (185e v. 220e) and the room is also bigger (18 sq. m. v. 15 sq. m.). Also, the service has been impeccable -- quick responses and wonderful emails.

I'm going in October, so I'll post when i get back. But I am definitely stopping into the Madison to check it out while I am there.

Hi, I understand what you mean about feeling slighted when reception/reservations doesn't reply to your email promptly even after a few days. I find that sometimes it's because either they were very busy dealing with the current reservations or they were having computer problem for example. These reasons have been given to me by a few hotels I had emailed and had not gotten responses from.

It could be that the Madison was very busy or had a good reason but it would have been good if they had apologized to you for not responding sooner. There are some hotels you can easily tell how good the service will be by the way they answer your emails.