I've read the postings regarding the wide variety of dorms at Cite Universitaire in Paris. My daughter will be staying there for a month in August - which would you recommend?

My sister is staying in the Maison des Belges (Belgian House, also known as Fondation Biermans-Lepotre). It is a very nice old building, lots of security, quite a nice atmosphere, and at least my sister has a lovely room with a little balcony and a renewed bathroom. I'm not sure if all the rooms are like that though. It's also nice that it's quite close to the RER entrance. I've heard nice things about the Swedish house as well.

I stayed at Cite Universitaire for three months last summer in the Maison de l'Agronomie (Agriculture house). As an FYI, that is the house where Alliance Française will place you if you are studying with their program. It was a very bare bones place, bed, mini fridge, sink in the room, desk and chair, but do not expect the comforts of an American dorm room. Keep in mind also that the showers and toilets are co-ed, and while the shower stall itself has a lock and is designed for just one person at a time, when your daughter comes out there may be men from a variety of other countries waiting for the shower. I had no problems, but some people might be unconfortable. I would suggest the British house, as there is a private shower and toilet in the room, and a friend of mine had a comfortable experience there. I have also heard good things about the American house, but it may be difficult to get in as this house is very popular. Good luck!

My daughter stayed in the American house last year and it was quite nice. I visited her there and I thought it was nicer than any dorm I stayed in when I was in college in the US. Showers and toilets are not in the room, but there are sinks in the rooms. Kitchen on each floor. Very nice reading room on the ground floor. I'll ask her and if she has other suggestions I'll post again.

I stayed in one there and do NOT stay in the House of India. Because the country's fund the dorms themselves (as I understand it, or at least subsidize them), the "wealthier" countries tend to have nicer dorms, it seemed to me. Some are a lot newer than others, and those can be better in terms of design and upkeep, also.

However, my experience was that you really don't have much choice, they assign you one and that's that. Usually a particular program has an agreement with the administration to reserve part of one particular dorm. I had no choice because the program I was with had reserved the Indian dorm. After a couple weeks, I think a few rooms opened up in the American dorm and they said some Americans could go there if they wanted, but I didn't feel like moving at that time for only a couple weeks, so didn't. I had heard the rooms in the American dorm weren't that nice, myself, but wasn't in much of the building but the common rooms, so if Isabel thinks they are really nice, I'd take that. It's directly over the RER line and the bottom floors can hear it, some kids told me who were staying there.

My impression of some nice ones: Norway, Belgium and Japan. I have been in the Spanish dorm and it is very nice, also, so I would recommend that, if possible. I really like the Spanish dorm because they have a private cafeteria in there and most do not. That can be very convenient. That's a nice dorm, also, as I have been in there and know others who stayed there.

I think most of the rooms have sinks in them, that is very common in French dormitories. Even the room I had in Maison de l'Inde had a sink.

The rooms in Maison des Belges have their own bathroom, and common kitchens (I think 2) on each floor.

I just asked my daughter and she said the UK, Canadian and Belgian dorms were all nice,and in her opinion nicer than the American one. When I said I thought the rooms in the American dorm were nice, I meant compared to dorms at colleges in the US. They aren't as "nice" as a hotel. I'd stay in them though.

I knew what you meant Isabel, but maybe we've seen different US college dorms. I thought they were worse than a lot of US college dorms. Anyway, people survive in it. Also, when I said "you should take it" about that, I meant you should take what Isabel said as more important than what I said on the US dorm, as I didn't actually stay in it nor see a lot of the rooms (and my experience was over 10 years ago, anyway on that). I did see the Spanish dorm just a couple years ago, and was in it then from a music program I was taking in Paris.


I know the Maison de l'Inde was worse than a lot of college US dorms. No minifrigs in this one, it was cheaply built, dark rooms, ugly, dirty and noisy, and no windows in the room (I kid you not). The only ventilation in the room was a door to an outside shelf kind of thing (not big enough to be a balcony), so you either had to have the entire door open or nothing. They had two washers for the entire dorm of about 100 people.

It was yucky, but we could view the Norway and Japan dorms which is why I knew they were nice, and we ate in the Belgian one (for breakfast, anyway.

If efg's daughter gets a choice, she is lucky for that.

Does anyone have contact information or website information for Swedish House of the Cite Universitaire in Paris? THanks!