Stayed with friends in late September 2009. Rooms are spacious with lovely big windows in a wonderful area of Paris.

Le Central Marais is located on a corner of two streets that form a T. A gay bookstore is few doors down; two or three cafe are diagonally across from the hotel, a comedy club is down the block, an off-off Broadway-type little theatre is around the corner, and a killer magazin de glace is on the opposite corner. From your windows (I always ask for a corner room) are the rooftops of Paris--OLD Paris, the Paris most Americans come to Paris to find, ancient, lived-in, human Paris. Yes, it's a little seedy. Yes, it's a little unkempt (buy some ankle socks for walking about if the carpets scare you). Yes, the stairs are daunting (but most gym-bunnies can deal with it or ask for a room on a lower floor and deal with the sharing. And, as far as that goes, on each floor is a room with a shower, a sink and a toilet. Also on each room is just a toilet. So, you are never really interupted in your ablutions). BUT, Martin and Aylou are very helpful, even putting up with your bad French with a smile (though their English is impeccable). BUT, there is charm in the large French windows and drapes, the high ceilings, the bits of wooden beams around doorways and in ceilings. BUT, the Rivoli, the Hotel de Ville, the Pompidou Center, THE RIVER, the old Jewish Quarter are all within walking distance. For the sexual, so are Le MicMan with is cavernous dark basement, The Station (used to be L'Arene) with it's warren of possibilities for the price of a drink, Le Depot (combo sex-club and disco) for 7 euors (maybe 8 now), and all of the sex-shops, dirty bookstores with video cabines, and hustlers of the Rue St. Denis. St Paul and Hotel de Ville are where you'll find the #1 Mtro line that will take you to the rest of Paris. Stop quibbling, guys. It's the Old World. AND WE OUGHT TO TRY TO KEEP OUR MONEY IN THE COMMUNITY. After all, it is gay owned and operated with a bar tres petit et charmant on the premises. I have been coming to Le Central Marais for years and I will be there agin in 2010. Maybe I'll meet you there and we can have cafe cross the street at L'Etoile out on the sidewalk. It's on me.

No doubt the staff were kind, but I must say that in the words of Betty Davis, "What a dump"...

My spouse and I are well travelled and always open minded to cheap accommodation, however this place was not worth the money - just for location. We got twice the room for half the price three subway stops (15 minutes) away on our return leg home.

We were first provided a room so small that the bed was a foot shorter than my spouses height. We had reserved a private bathroom so after going downstairs again (very very tight staircase), we were told the only room with a private bathroom was their best room, on the fifth floor. We were tired from the flight so we took it. The climb up the tight stairs was a safety issue. The room was in a small attic and the ceiling was so low that we couldn't stand up.No television, extremely hot, tired and extremely worn lumpy mattress and only one set of worn towels. This was their best room...

There was a worn out AC in the room but it wasn't connected and the only way to make it work at all was to stick the hose out the tiny window, which kind of defeated the purpose.

We also ended up with problems with our reservations for the return leg of our journey. We ended up booking another hotel online for HALF the price and only a fifteen minute subway ride from Central Marias.

I'm glad I never read any of the reviews before staying here, otherwise I might have turned and ran for the hills! I think some of the criticisms are a little unfair - what were some people expecting for 90 euros per room per night - the Georges V? Yes, the staircase is difficult to negotiate if you have a heavy suitcase (but you're only going to be doing this when you arrive and leave), but the room was clean, bed linen changed every day and the staff were very helpful. There was no outside noise to disturb you in the morning and some lovely cafes to have breakfast at within spitting distance of the hotel. Yes, there was shared toilet and shower facilities, but as there were only 2 rooms per floor, we never had to wait to use the facilities and, if you book 2 rooms, the staff will do their best to ensure you're on the same floor, so the facilities on that floor were essentially ours for the duration of our stay. Overall, very good value for money (but there is no air-con, so a fan and an open window probably won't be enough during the heatwaves - be warned).