Back in 2006 we stayed at the Hotel Queen Mary for a week and had a great stay. So, this spring when we did a day trip to Paris from Amsterdam, we thought of no other hotel due to the amazing location and what had been a pleasant stay five years before.
Unfortunately, in those five years things changed and not for the better. We'll excuse the exterior renovations as a necessary inconvenience but the interior was no longer as quaint and well kept. From the chipped paint on the walls to the old carpeting to a bathroom that you knew was clean but just looked dirty, to cheap linens, we were so disappointed.
Positives: the front desk staff was as nice as we remembered from '06 and the location is simply outstanding - near the La Madeleine, gourmet food shops like Hediard (the best!), great cafes, shopping on Rue Tronchet, and from the hotel you can walk anywhere on the list of must-sees (Louvre, Champs Elysees, Les Invalides,...and a not so terrible walk to d'Orsay and Notre Dame).
Bottom line is that it might be worth the risk - perhaps they did some quality renovations before or over the summer. Paris is expensive and we paid about $40 less for our room that we did for a luxury hotel in Amsterdam (I know, comparing apples to oranges) but the disparity was too big not to note. However, the location is hard to pass up and it you go in with tempered expectations, you just might not be disappointed.
- Queen Mary Hotel
- Queen Mary Paris
- Hotel Mary Queen
