kerouac

Traveling with various friends, I have not ever had a problem getting a twin room with two totally separate beds. Amusingly enough, I was in a hotel last night, and the big bed in the room was clearly two beds pushed together. The double sheets did their best to disguise that.

Traveler_Nick

It looks like a piece of art. Photograph? Painting? Wall paper?

Actually the whole thing looks like some bad photoshop

janisj

I agree it looks photoshopped or something else weird. If you enlarge the photo and look closely there is absolutely no definition between the white walls and cornice board/header and door frame. Walls simply don't abut carved panels like that.

kerouac

Why on earth would one of the doors be ajar? So the boogey man can come out at night?

bilboburgler

I stayed in an old brothel (old as in "no longer a brothe) some years back with a headboard made of concrete cherubs, I suppose it gave something to cling to. But an old cupboard!

starrs

Here's the hotel -
https://en.astotel.com/hotel/malte-opera-en/overview

The strange open cupboard appears in many of the rooms. At first I thought it was trompe l'oeil painting. But there are so many of them, with the "door" opened exactly the same, I think it may be a printed mural/ wallpaper they use as a visual headboard. The rest of the rooms are very simple with no architectural interest so I think they added fake interest/ detail.

The rates are low. The ratings are high.

From photos shown in the duplex and the sup. double rooms, the base of the beds are separate and should be able to be moved apart. There's enough room on the wall to do so. No unified frame, but ask to be sure.

I've stayed in similar rooms and sometimes we move the twin beds a few inches apart. If we can't, we book another room.

eigasuki

I travel with a friend - we are two "women of a certain age" and not a couple. I've found it is not always easy to get twin beds and when you do, they are often of the type that can be pushed together if required. It's always a good idea to clarify when booking that you definitely require separate beds. You'd think that friends, and family members travel just as often as couples and I guess sometimes couples find they have to settle for the two beds pushed together scenario.

A couple of times we have encountered the beds back onto a double or queen headboard so when pulled apart, one of the beds is against the wall and bedside chests, lamps, powerpoints etc are inconveniently placed. Once, in London, it made opening the bathroom door difficult. We've found sometimes the beds are only inches apart; really only made up with separate sheets. Not good enough. Checking pictures on websites doesn't always work as they don't always photograph every single room. But no matter how wonderful a hotel seems, if it doesn't have the room you want, it's not a good choice. After all, most of the hotels I'd love don't have rooms at my price point.

Even after checking when booking, and sending an email reminder a week beforehand, we have turned up to be told the room we booked was "not available because we have a conference and are fully booked" Fine, but we booked six months prior and told we had a booking. My friend is quite assertive - we got an upgrade to a suite on that occasion and both had queens. Unfortunately only for one night of our five night stay

Traveler_Nick

The twin rooms are all two beds. That normally means they can be moved apart or kept together.

ChgoGal

HI, all. Thanks for your posts. I'd not yet back from the hotel, but I gave up on the twin room because rooms with truly separated beds became available, though I had to divide the booking. eigasuki : I agree on the right room. Awkward rooms really cast a pall over a holiday. In Japan, we never had difficulty finding separate beds. Of course, in America, the rooms are comparatively huge with 2 queens. But Paris not so much in my budget, as I was trying to stay at around $275/night in a hotel near the Louvre, that has good reviews.

bilboburgler I'd actually love to stay in an old (past) brothel if it were 19th century or earlier. I'd not want to know if it were from, like, the 1970's. In Bath, I'd stayed at Apsley House, which was built by the Duke of Wellington, for his mistress in the 1830's. A birdcage, I think they called it. My room was on the first floor off the front parlor, in what was perhaps something of a retiring room. I was thrilled to be able to stay there. The hosts were fantastic, and the house beautiful.

starrs

Photos popped up today from a trip 5 years ago today that had a photo of our twin beds separated by a few inches. Two women (Fodorites) traveling together. If you want to see it, let me know but it sounds like you've made your decision. If you want to stay in the 6th, I have a hotel suggestion. It's a former abbey, which would be the polar opposite of a brothel. LOL

suze

Why on earth would one of the doors be ajar?

To show there was a closet in the room?

Actually Paris was the one place I ended up sharing a bed with a travel partner though neither of us particularly wanted to... long story... but it was the best we could do on short notice (the 1st hotel hadn't worked out big-time).

kureiff

I'm staying at this hotel next month and will report back. I think if you look at the traveler photos, it's not a real closet but a trompe l'oeil type detail.

The hotel I stayed in Paris last March had twin beds on the same frame, so it would not have worked to separate the beds.

starrs

I agree.

From post 26 -
The strange open cupboard appears in many of the rooms. At first I thought it was trompe l'oeil painting. But there are so many of them, with the "door" opened exactly the same, I think it may be a printed mural/ wallpaper they use as a visual headboard. The rest of the rooms are very simple with no architectural interest so I think they added fake interest/ detail.

ChgoGal

kureiff I imagine the hotel will tell you at check in, but at least in the past, the Astotel chain allowed guests to pop into their 15 other Paris locations for snacks, drinks, bathroom breaks upon showing their keycards. The snacks/drinks may only be available after 2 p.m., but as I'm travelling with my mom, who often needs little breaks, I thought this was a nice perk. Whether we'll take advantage of the benefit is yet to be seen, as I'm still fleshing out the itinerary. Just an FYI, in case you wanted to check with the hotel at check-in.

WeisserTee

Any chance you could get two modest singles? Wouldn't cost that much more, you each get your own bathroom, and the bed becomes a non-issue.

suze

it's not a real closet but a trompe l'oeil type detail.

That makes more sense

starrs

This popped up in my FB memories. A hotel room in Athens, Greece - not Paris.
But a king bed pulled apart with a few inches between the twins that make up the king.

kerouac

That is indeed quite common in standard (as opposed to oversized) European hotel rooms.

starrs

Correct.
As described in earlier posts.
That photo just happened to pop up as a FB memory.
If the bases are not connected, the two twins can be separated, if there are no barriers to the side.

kureiff

Chicagogal, reporting back. We just stayed at the Hotel Malte. The door opening I wallpaper behind the bed.

We liked the hotel. We only had two days in Paris and it was centrally located. We walked everywhere (covered 8 miles our first day and 11 the second).

My last trip, we stayed in the Oberkampf area, and I think I prefer that area in general, but for two days, being in the 2nd was more convenient.