Size of hotel rooms in Paris
 

I was wondering what the "average" size of hotel rooms were in Paris. I have found some double rooms that say they are about 11 square meters (which works out to a room less than 11 feet x 11 feet!). Is this small for Paris, or average? Also, does this quoted size tend include the bathroom as well, or is it just the bedroom?

That is not an atypical room size for Paris, especially anything 3 stars or less. Not sure whether or not the bathroom is included when such measurements are quoted, but as with the bedrooms, they are usually pretty compact. First time I stayed in one it was an adjustment but the European perspective is that one's hotel room is just for sleeping and changing clothes so why waste space?

Except how can you change clothes when you can't even lay your suitcase open on the floor!

A meter is a bit less than a yard right? Do I have that right?

So what is 20m with a little 2 after it? 20 meters squared? Obviously not 4 feet by 5 feet? Can you tell my forte was English not math?

"A meter is a bit less than a yard right? Do I have that right?"

A bit more, actually. Just over 39 inches.

Anselm

A rule of thumb is to take the square meters and multiply by ten to get a (slightly low) estimation of the area in square feet. For example, a room listed as 11 square meters would be just over 110 square feet, or 10x11 feet.

My own bedroom is about 11' x 13' (almost 13 sq mtrs), and I have a kingsize bed, nightstand, long dresser, tall dresser, hamper, and plenty of room at the foot of the bed to the dresser. So, considering most rooms don't have that much furniture*, it doesn't sound too horribly small.

*2 or 3-star places I've stayed in

Unless that "rooms are about 11 meters squared" does include the bathroom...

There is a handy web-site for converting area from one measurement system to another:

http://www.onlineconversion.com/area.htm

To convert square meters to square feet, multiply by approximately 10.76--thus 11 square meters (m with a superscript 2) = very close to 11 x 10.76 = 118.36 square feet (ft with a superscript 2). That is essentially a 10 x 12 room.

Who cares? It's Paris!::D

I'm with artlover on this one.

Our hotel room in Paris was very small, including a very small bathroom, but it was Paris and we could walk to the Effiel Tower and other places so no complaint! Our Paris room was the smallest room we had in Europe;Switzerland and London the largest, but some of the bathroooms were so small you could sit on the toliet, shower and brush your teeth at the same time!

So what is 20m with a little 2 after it? 20 meters squared? Obviously not 4 feet by 5 feet? Can you tell my forte was English not math?

You are mixing up meters with feet. 20m squared is indeed 4 x 5 (for example) but METRES not feet - 4m x 5m = approx 12foot by 15foot. Times the metres by 3 to convert to feet (roughly).

Oops, not 20m squared, but 20 square meters, of course.

It depends on how much you pay for a hotel -- the more expensive ones usually have larger rooms, of course, that goes without saying. Some of the budget hotels in Paris, and even some others, have very small rooms -- often you may have a choice between a standard and superior double room, and a lot of that is the size of the room.

I think an 11 m2 room is on the smaller end, but I've seen lots of hotels with rooms that size. I usually stay in places with rooms more around 14 m2 or more for a double, because I go nuts in real small rooms (some are even more like 10 m2). My own bedroom at home is 11 by 15 and a decent size but I only have a regular double bed and and not that much furniture. I think going from 11 x 13-15 to 11x11 makes a big difference, actually.

Anyway, you do know this is related to what you pay, and you can always ask. I won't stay in hotels that have rooms 10-11 m2 unless I'm only in a place a day or two and don't care. I especially won't when they are more expensive than usual (eg, I think the Caron de Beaumarchais has very small rooms but charges a lot for them, as I'm sure many hotels do).

Who knows what the hotel told you, but according to the official French hotel standards (which do regulate size by the star ratings to some degree), the size considered for the star ratings, or the minimum acceptables standards, are supposed to be "usable" space and not include the bathroom. But that may be what they report to that agency and how they get their ratings, not what they quote to you, I suppose.

I know my couple rooms in Paris were small-ish in 3-star hotels. It helps if you don't have a huge suitcase or a ton of clothes to deal with.

It alsl depends on if you're looking at a double or single rooms. Many single rooms (which US hotels typically don;t have t all) have one twin size bed - so a room 10 X 11 would have plenty of floor space.

Also - double rooms don;t have king or queen beds - but one regular double bed - so there is actually more space that it may seem.

But yes - hotel rooms ineurope are generally MUCH smaller than rooms in the US (which is why you can;t stuff families of 4 in most of them).

1 square foot= .092 square meters
So,square feet X .092 = square meters...and vice a versa. I've been vacationing in Paris almost annually since 1976 and I have only had one hotel room that wasn't what I would consider clostophobic. I prefer a room to be a minimum of 40 square meters big...which is quite normal in Bangkok where I also vacation annually...but in Paris one would have to pay an arm and a leg for a room that size. I think in Paris they usually run around 25 square meters big. So if you're not clostophobic then that's probably what you'll get. Have a great trip. Happy Travels!

I've never had a single room in Paris that only had a twin-size bed, they've always had double beds where I've stayed, but I've probably only stayed in about three single rooms. I think I have had one like that in the Netherlands or Germany, though, where they like those kind of beds a lot more. The OP said she was asking about a double room, though.

I found the official French hotel standards, and the MINIMUM useful surface, excluding bathroom, for a double room is 10 m2 in a 3* hotel. It's only 9 m2 in a 2* hotel. You have to get to 4* before that is not allowed (it is 12 m2 minimum in a 4* hotel). Single occupancy-only rooms are allowed to be about 1 m2 smaller.

So, 11 m2 is definitely a little better than the rock bottom in a 2* hotel, and slightly better than the minimum requirement of a 3* hotel.

I know the non-deluxe 3* hotel I usually stay at in Paris has even the standard doubles bigger than that (probably more like 15-16 m2). Here's one website of a fairly middle-range 3* hotel (the Relais Bosquet) which is unusual because they actually list the sizes:
http://www.hotelrelaisbosquetparis.com/

Their std doubles are 17 m2 and the superior doubles are 22 m2.

I really don't think that double rooms are usually 25 m2 in Paris, I think Guenmai must pay a lot for hotels in Paris if that was her typical experience. I also stayed at a modest 3* hotel in the 9th arrondisement, which is not a popular tourist area, and that double room was around 20-22 m2, as I recall. But that was bigger than usual because it had a small kitchenette on one end.

well, I still think 11 m2 is small for a double room, and you can get bigger, but it's not unusual in a budget place.

Hi RD,

11 sq m is a small dbl, even in a 2*.

>My own bedroom is about 11' x 13' (almost 13 sq mtrs), ...

about 13.538, actually :)

((I))

If ever a room size is mentioned, it does NOT include the size of the bathroom.