Paris - Hotel des Grandes Ecoles
 

My husband and I are considering a stay at the Hotel des Grandes Ecoles in late October. Does anyone who has stayed there have a suggestion about asking for a particular room? We need somthing quiet and with a queen size bed, and a shower. I would like to make sure that we get a nice room. Thanks.

We've stayed there, and although our room was on the ground floor in the building with the office, it was still very quiet. I suspect that the other buildings are even quieter, so you may try specifying one of them.

Ask for "avec douche" and you'll get a room with a shower. The queen sized bed may be a difficult request for them to fill, however. Large beds are not all that common in 2 and 3 star Paris hotels in this price range.

I don't remember the number of the room we stayed in but it was in the main building and had a little balcony that overlooked a leafy alleyway. It was pretty and very quiet. In the mornings you could faintly hear the children singing at the nearby school. :) The room did not have a queen-sized bed, though. We were very happy with our stay there (it was September 2003). If you want the exact room number, I can probably find it. Enjoy your trip!

First of all, we strongly recommend the Grandes Ecoles. We stayed there for two weeks a couple years ago and love it.
Ask for a room in one of the two buildings that are NOT the main building. The best rooms are in the building across the courtyard from the main building.
Most, if not all, of the rooms have at least a shower. However, I'm not sure about the queen size bed.

Hotel des Grandes Ecoles is a wonderful place to stay. Very quiet, with a lovely little garden courtyard, and a nice location in the Contrescarpe area of the Left Bank. We had room 134, which was perfect. Large, quiet and comfortable, with a decent-sized bathroom (tub and shower), and we did have a queen sized bed. I think we paid 105 E a night in October 2002. You can see a picture of the view from our window at:
http://www.aultdesign.com/FrancePGA/.../source/41.htm

Don't plan on eating breakfast there though (it's not included); our friends did once and said it was overpriced for rather stale croissants and coffee. There are plenty of nice little cafes nearby where you can get a good breakfast. If you go down Rue Mouffetard nearby there is a Pain Quotidien, which has delicious home made breads and jams.

Thanks for the picture of the view from your room. Looks pretty! When in October were you there? I'm surprised by how green it still was.

Definitely don't stay in the main building. The rooms in the other 2 buildings are larger.

If you stay in the building across from the main one (that's the building I stayed in) then ask for a first floor room. The ground floor rooms have french doors and you won't want to leave the doors open at night if it's warm or you want some fresh air in the room. If you're on the first floor then you have regular windows and can leave them open during the day or in the evening. The second floor windows are a bit smaller.

Here's a photo looking at the building across from reception:

http://home.att.net/~adrienne2/hotel...des_ecoles.jpg

Re: "When in October were you there? I'm surprised by how green it still was."

We were there from the 19th - 25th. We spent some time in Provence and Burgundy first. The weather was quite nice, although Paris alternated between periods of torrential downpour and lovely blue skies -- often 2 or 3 times in one day.

If you want to see our full itinerary, with a lot of useful links, go to:

http://www.aultdesign.com/FrancePGA/index.htm

Thanks everyone. Has anyone else out there stayed at the Hotel des Grandes Ecoles. I'd like to know if I should request any certain room We would like a quite room with a queen size bed if possible.

I just heard back from the Hotel des Grandes Ecoles. They said the only room that they have available for our stay (Oct 22-Oct28) is a room in the main building. Should we take it or look elsewhere? We're willing to spend more money if necessary. We want a nice place to stay.

Many people are fond of Hotel Monge, which is in same general area.
http://www.france-hotel-guide.com/h75005monge.htm

You can use the email on this site to inquire about bed specifics.

We loved the place so much that I'd recommend staying there...even in the less desirable main building. An one tour book put it, the Grandes Ecoles is an oasis in the middle of Paris!

Thanks for your thoughts Howard. I may end up taking the room in the main building but I thought I'd explore some other options first. I want to make sure that we have a comfortable and quiet room so that I'll be able to sleep well and not be too tired to enjoy Paris. Since we sleep in a King-sized bed at home we don't seem to sleep too well when we're in a small bed when we travel. I am also a very light sleeper.

cb130911, unless you stay in a deluxe hotel, there is not usually any queen and king sized beds available. If there are any 2* and 3* hotels with queen & king beds it would be good to know.

Yes, I agree. If anyone is aware of 2*-3* hotels with queen or king sized beds, let us know.

I think when most hotels offer a large bed, it is two twins pushed together. That's probably what you will find in a 2 or 3 star hotel.

The 3 hotels I mentioned to you have websites that specifically say "Queen". You should contact them and find out exactly what that means at their hotel - ask for the measurements and confirm whether it means 2 beds made up as one or not.

Yesterday afternoon at 5 PM which was midnight the 15th in Paris, I was able to make a reservation for a triple room.

I had the form ready and kept looking at the clock, because this hotel is very popularwith many posters.The Grandes Ecoles, were accepting booking for the month of June the 15th of Feb..
Like always I learned this trick by reading Fodors post .
Thanks,:)

Grandes Ecoles is a wonderful 2 star-you'll be quite happy there I think (but for the reasons you alluded to, my absolute fave in the Latin Quarter shall remain unmentioned (but certainly not unknown!)