This hotel is in a really good location. The first room we were given was extremely small on the top floor, with a broken air conditioner and temperatures were soaring! We were upgraded to a better room on the second night of our 5 day stay which was larger and much better appointed, however from time to time it smelt of (we think) cat pee. Whilst the shower was hot, it was impossible to stop the water flooding all over the bathroom floor through a leaking shower screen. The breakfasts were good - bread and pastries cooked daily on the premises plus a good range of choices. On the morning of our departure, the concierge found it impossible to order a taxi between 8 - 9 am so we should definitely have ordered it the night before - we couldn't even get a taxi at any taxi ranks, so we had to use the metro.

In summary: basic rooms, great location, unco-operative staff.

The most compelling feature of this hotel is its excellent location -2 minute walk to the Tuileries, 3 minutes to the Metro, 5 minutes to the Louvre.

Rooms are basic, and like the rest of small Paris hotels, the rooms are small. Air conditioning struggled to keep the room cool. No restaurant but there is a buffet breakfast in a basement breakfast room. Breakfast is expensive and basic: 15Eur/person for toast, bread, croissants, juice, coffee, tea, cereal.

We had an issue at check-in. Our travel agent booked the rooms through a UK company called Hotel Connect (HC). Unknown to us, Hotel Connect had not paid this hotel for several weeks.

When we arrived following a 16 hour trip of, connecting flights, airport waiting, a transatlantic overnight flight and a 90 minute taxi ride in from CDG airport in awful traffic; we were told that there was a problem with our reservation. The hotel manager called HC and loudly expressed her anger at not being paid for several weeks and told them she would not honour the reservation until they paid. They agreed to call her back in a few minutes.

We were asked us to wait in the lobby where my wife could lie down on the only sofa to rest. After an hour, they told me we had no room and they would try to get me a room at another hotel! Up until that point I was led to believe it was only a mixup with payment. After I angrily told them this was not acceptable, they agreed to give me a room.

I sent an e-mail to my travel agent in Canada but the office was not open yet because of the time difference. A couple of hours later, HC filed ceased trading and informed travel agents and hotels it would be liquidated. Big problem!

My travel agent worked for 4 days with this hotel to attempt to have them honour the original rate that they would have received from HC (approx 525Eur for 4 nights including breakfast) if it was paid directly by me or by the travel agent. This approach worked with another hotel in Nice that we stayed at and also with other hotels in Europe that our travel agent had booked for other people.

For 4 days, right up until I checked out, the hotel staff gave the runaround to me and the travel agent about the rate, insisting that I pay the 200Eur/night rack-rate plus breakfast - a total of 920Eur, almost 400Eur more than the amount they would have received from HC.

Finally, at checkout, they agreed to drop the price to 608Eur for 4 nights including breakfasts.

In the end, it was an equitable settlement but their obstinance was a distraction for our 4 days in Paris. I will now have to challenge the original payment I made through the credit card company.

Perfect location in the middle of the city. The building is very old. Rooms very very small. Toilet laughable. Bed is good, room and bathroom are clean. This hotel needs to seriously renovate or drop its prices. Breakfast room 3 tables. Quality of the breakfast was good though.

This hotel really couldn't be better placed in terms of location, but the hotel really could have been better. Rooms were just wierd. Bathrooms very out dated and a bit grotty around the edges. Bed was quite comfy but bed linen didn't seem to fit. The most depressing thing was the outlook of the room we were in - the back of some ugly buildings with the smell of cooking fat wafting around. Breakfast was ok and the downstairs was quite charming, but the rooms were small, unattractive and very outdated. This was not a hidden gem, in fact I wish we had forked out some more cash - you get what you pay for here.