To_Paris

In Fact, if others have also had a bad experience there, please tell me NOW. I thought that I had read good reviews....
I will definitely change my reservation if need be.
Didn't someone say that this was a Karen Brown recommendation - I thought that would mean something!!!!!!!

francophile03

There are many hotels that are recommended by guidebooks, but the recommendations do not always mean that the hotels are good. Many times the authors don't investigate these hotels on a regular basis. Have you checked the guests' comments at tripadvisor.com yet? There are mixed reviews. Here is the link if you are interested.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...43.hwoink_html

To_Paris

Francophile03 -

Thanks - I did look at the trip advisor reports on both the hotels. It is true that the reviews are more consistently good for Henri IV.

I also tried to see if there were any threads on this site - but didn't find any.

So, I'm a bit confused as to what to do....
Take a chance with Minerve or go to Henri IV and pay extra money, but maybe a more dependable stay.

Any thoughts?

MelissaHI

Well, go to tripadvisor.com. At the time I posted my report there, there were quite a few dissatisfied people. However, since then, I see there were many glowing reports.

Basically--I wont get into all the details--the front desk staff was really unhelpful when we needed a couple of simple things changed in our room. We kept asking & asking, and they kept putting us off or lied to us and had really bad attitudes about it. We were nice and meek & mild at first, but the longer it dragged out the crankier I got. I knew it was owned by the same person as the Familia next door, so I went next door to complain. The Familia management was VERY quick to distance themselves from the Minerve management. Finally on the 2nd to last day, a woman at the front desk helped us. It was super simple, no effort at all. And we weren't the only ones getting bad attitudes from the bald guy at the front, so it wasn't just us.

Later when I wrote to complain, they didn't respond at all. Or I think I got an auto response.

Don't get me wrong--the location and the building are great. The service just ruined it for me, it made me such an angry person while in Paris!

I've stayed at other budget hotels in Paris that provided so much better service, although the hotels themselves were not so great. It's amazing how much service really affects your overall perception!

To_Paris

MelissaHI -

Thank you so much for responding. It really helps. You never know who is at the other end of these comments.

I wonder why this happened and why the Familia hotel wanted to distance themselves from the Minerve management. They are supposed to be owned by the same person - Seems strange that their management teams would be so different.

They list themselves as a 3* hotel - are they really?

You say that you go to Paris a lot - do you recommend another hotel?

Thanks

francophile03

I realize you're asking Melissa but I can recommend a nice 3* in the Latin Quarter. It will be within your budget range too. I stayed there in 2002. It's the Abbatial St. Germain. It's located on Blvd. St. Germain and is a block from the Seine. On the other side of the blvd. you can walk over easily to the 6th district towards rue de Buci. The staff was very helpful and so unlike what was described of the Minerve's staff. Btw, see if you can ask for a 5th floor room with a view. I did and for sure they did really give me the room they promised.

http://www.abbatial-paris-hotel.com/...TheHotel1.html

francophile03

I forgot to say that our room was a triple which I think was a twin with a rollaway bed for the third bed. Our room is pictured on the hotel's website, the fourth and fifth photos are representative of the room I stayed in. And the bathroom really is clean and spotless as pictured.

To_Paris

thanks for the hotel web page. The hotel looks great, but larger than we are interested in.
May write anyway to see about availability.
But, because we leave in a couple of days, I do need to make absolute decision today in order to not loose deposits.

francophile03

I'm not sure what you mean by "The hotel looks great, but larger than we are interested in." If you are literally referring to the number of rooms the Abbatial has 43 whereas the Minerve has 54. To me the hotel size doesn't mean anything if the service and the rooms are excellent.

I guess I really don't understand what type of hotel you're looking for.

To_Paris

Oh - on the picture of the hotel it looked very large. Guess I didn't look further on the site.

Originally, when I started looking for a hotel for my family, I was looking for something special - French, maybe with a balcony and charm. I preferred the 6th but it seemed that we'd be out of our price range.

I'll look again at this hotel. Thank you

Aleta

If the hotel is the Hotel Residence Henri IV, I can tell you I loved staying there 5 years ago. I took my mother in law and a friend for 8 days. It's a dead-end street, front faces a park, so it's quieter than many hotels. I had always stayed at much more expensive hotels inParis, but would return to this one anytime. Staff was very nice, my room had a balcony towards the park, one in the bathroom faced an inner courtyard. My mother in law was at top floor, had smaller windows.
I found the neighborhood very safe, with a twice weekly market at the metro stop, great cheese shop and bakery by same stop.
Restaurants in area were reasonable. Eat at Fetes Galantes, a tiny place near the Pantheon. Best tarragon chicken and fresh trout.
My husband and I usually like 4 star hotels and Crystal Cruises, yet this charming hotel is one of my top finds.

sandi_travelnut

Aleta, it's the Hotel Henri IV Rive Gauche on rue de st. jacques.

sandi_travelnut

Marilyn, actually there are 3 places that we liked for breakfast. Let me get home and consult a map and I'll post the streets later tonight.

francophile03

I don't see any difference between the Minerve and Abbatial's decor. Maybe I'm missing something. The Abbatial offers a balcony on the top floor rooms. You can open your windows and there is a space about 18 inches or so wide so you can't sit out there. And no one would want to walk out on the balcony as well.

LoriNY

I don't get it, DH and I have stayed at both the Familia and the Minerve and never had an issue at either place. We're staying at the Minerve again this September. Also, we have reco'd both places to many friends, who also never had an issue.

To_Paris

Hi LoriNY -
I posted on my other thread, but wanted to post here as well -
With you help, the decision is made to stay put at Minerve.
Thanks so much -

MelissaHI

yes! Like I said, many posts after my lousy review on tripadvisor.com were pretty good....so maybe they purged the unhelpful staff (I hope, I hope).

To_Paris

I Hope, I Hope too! Thanks MelissaHI

sandi_travelnut

Marilyn, if you're still wanting info on places to eat breakfast while staying at the Hotel Henri IV, here's 3 places we tried. First one was at the corner of the quai de Montebello which is the street on the left bank right by Notre Dame and rue la grange, which is a small street that comes from behind St. Julien Le Pauvre. It's called Cafe Pannis and it was the first place I took my parents because they had a very basic Parisian breakfast and also had petit dejuner complet with grapefruit, coffee, 2 kinds of bread and 2 eggs (fried but very runny) for 11.8 euro.
The second was on the street that runs directly in front of Notre Dame. From the hotel, pass Notre Dame and most of the gift shops, the cafe is on the right before you leave the isle and hit Hotel De Ville. We liked this place (sorry, don't have a name) because they served huge omlettes that were quite good and inexpensive. They also had very basic breakfasts if you chose to skip the eggs. The last place was a corner cafe with nothing but basic, Parisian fare but was fresh and authentic. When exiting the hotel, turn left, away from the Seine and then left on Blvd. Saint Germain. The cafe should be only a block or so down on your left. The neighborhood the hotel is in, especially pedestrian streets that connect St. Jacques with St. Michel are packed with Greek restaurants, none that I can really recommend BUT great gyros for about 4 euro if you're in the mood for street food. There's also a little market with wine/beer and some fresh produce.

Enjoy!

sandi_travelnut

Sorry, the last thing I have to tell you is that the address for Hotel Henri IV says 9-11 rue de St. Jacques on the website. That's because there are 2 doors(only one is used)..one says 9 above it and the other 11. This confuses the heck out of the cab driver so only tell them 9 rue de st. jacques or he'll argue that you have the address wrong....trust me.