France Paris Le Meridien Montparnasse

[WillTravel]

This was the only 4* hotel (of four different ones) that we stayed in during this European trip that seemed like US-level 4* quality.

The lobby is quite nice, although not as grand as it appears on the web site. There is piano music and singing for much of the evening and I think during the day as well. The staff was helpful. Some people did smoke in the lobby, but it wasn't overwhelming (although I'm typically the first to inwardly grumble). I think smoking may be less pervasive generally in Paris now than it is by stereotype. I noted that at least 10 of the floors on the hotel are non-smoking, including the one we stayed on.

The beds were very comfortable, and the air conditioning worked well. That had been my main concern, but I was very pleased for that, as we did have about 2 days out of 7 in Paris that were hot and sticky (keeping in mind my low tolerance for heat, that means somewhere between 80 and 85 F, which was bad enough). The rooms were very nicely sized, particularly for a European hotel.

Guests were from various countries. I noticed some flight crews.

Gare Montparnasse is right across the street. The Air France bus comes straight here from CDG, and we also caught the Air France bus to Orly airport. You can go into Gare Montparnasse to get one of 4 different metro lines. However, I mostly used line 4, and I found it was more convenient to catch it about 3 blocks away at rue d'Odessa. The stop is Montparnasse-Bienvenue. My son found the location extremely convenient for his very wide-ranging explorations of Paris, both by foot and metro. This stop is about 5 or 6 metro stops from the most common tourist stops of Cit

[loanshark]

This is a modern high-rise hotel located next to the Montparnasse train station. Due to this location, there are plenty of bars/restaurants within walking distance. It is a five minute walk to the metro station (Montparnasse-Bienvenue or Gaite). The lobby/rooms are small compared to a US 4-star hotel, but in line with European standards. In addition, the lobby and rooms are well maintained. We actually had 2 separate reservations (one for Tue night, and one for Wed-Sun nights) and the hotel had no problem connecting the two reservations at checkin. The front desk clerk was extremely friendly!

The view from the room (19th floor) was to the Southern part of the city. Most of the Parisian monuments are to the North. Thus, most of the view consisted of residential buildings and the train tracks leading from the Montparnasse station.

The restaurants were overpriced, as the prices at the neighboring restaurants were approximately 1/4th the prices charged at the hotel. Because of this, the hotel lost additional revenue from us, as the excess prices outweighed the convenience of eating at the hotel. I would have had breakfast at the hotel if the prices were in the 12-15 Euro range, versus the 22 Euros charged for a European Continental breakfast. (Local restaurants were charging 6-12 Euros). I do understand the need for the hotel to charge a markup on their services, but 22 Euros for a croissant, juice and coffee is a bit outrageous.

Overall, the stay was a pleasant experience. I would definitely consider staying at this hotel again the next time I visit Paris.

[Braindrain]

I arrived at the airport and took the Air France bus (12 EUR one way, 18 EUR return) which drops you right across the street from this hotel.

Upon check-in, I was advised it was a full hotel and was given room #547. That's one of the dreaded "orange" rooms. The room was terrible. It was tiny, had one twin bed, tiny little desk, only 1 extra electrical socket, non-existent air conditioning, and horrible bathroom. There is a separate toilet and bidet but the tub leaked everywhere. They even have those old-style vacuum cleaner hair dryers that I thought belonged in a museum. There is a mini-fridge but it's the automatic kind so you can't store your drinks bought from elsewhere. To top it off, the hotel advised locking your valuables in the in-room safe but there were none! There were even blood stains on the bathroom towels and one of the bathroom lights were burnt out!

I couldn't take this so I called to get an different room. There were none available but I finally got room #841 after 2 ngihts. This is still one of the dreaded orange rooms but was much better than the previous one. (Even the reception acknowledged I had one of worst rooms in the entire hotel). At least, the air conditioning was now working and there was an in-room safe.

This is an extremely busy hotel with conventions/meetings going on all the time. The location is very good being right across from the Montparnasse station. A short walk to Blvd Montparnasse gives you quite a few eating options and there is a supermarket (Inno) close by. One thing I couldn't find was a good laundrymat. There were a couple but none offered a service of dropping off your clothes.

All in all, I wouldn't stay here again. A got an apathetic atttitude from reception and the cleaning people did their best to avoid you any time they could. I know, I paid around the price of what a 2 star hotel should be. However, the Le Meridien should bill itself as a 2 star hotel so I don't have the expectation of something better.