Contrary to some recent reviews, I found this to be a fantastic little hotel. I agree the rooms not massive, but they're perfectly adequate, ours had two double beds in it! The room was plenty big enough for us, it was reasonably basic, but did include free wifi, flat screen tv, safe in the room & several spare plug points. Bathroom facilities were as you'd expect. If you're expecting "luxury" then this isn't the hotel for you, but if you want "quaint typical Parisian" then you won't go far wrong here! As others have said it's close to the metro, not one but two stations, les gobelins & st marcel. It was about a 15 min metro ride to Bir Hakeim station (for Eiffel Tower) & about 20 mins from Gare de Nord (for Eurostar)

Directly opposite the hotel, on the corner, is a beautiful Boulangerie/Patisserie that was very reasonably priced & does the most beautiful pastries too! (seemed to be used by many locals too, which we took as a good sign!) The hotel is well situated, with many eateries nearby catering for various tastes.

The hotel staff that we came across were all friendly & spoke plenty of English too. The one thing that I was a little disappointed by was breakfast. It only included one Croissant each which I thought was a bit stingy. There were other items, cereal, bread, meats & cheeses. So we didn't go hungry, but had expected at least a basket of pastries.... This is Paris after all!

We were a couple travelling for a romantic city break, and this hotel provided everything we needed to have a wonderful stay! Would we stay there again... DEFINITELY!

Myself and my partner stayed at this hotel and we don't have a bad word to say! We luckily got a a room on the top floor facing the direction of the Eiffel Tower. Laying on the bed we actually had a clear view of the Eiffel Tower - it was just brilliant! The room was just right and had a nice bathroom. The reception staff were very helpful and pleasant.

The breakfast is simple in comparison to full english etc we have in England, but that is just the Parisian way, we had some lovely croissaints with differents jams/spread, cereals and lovely bread with cheese and ham.

The hotel is a very short walk to to Gobelins metro station.

After a long flight, I was relieved to have access to my room at 10:30 AM. Our small crowded room (superior) was clean, but not immaculate. The bedspread and blanket could use a good cleaning.It is true that we do hear noise, either from the street or from other rooms. So, if you are a light sleeper, it is something to consider when choosing this hotel.We found the staff here very courteous and the man who serves breakfast is extremely pleasant. The continental breakfast is quite acceptable, however, the coffee isn't very good.On the other hand, other beverages are available. This reasonably priced hotel is located at the limit of the Latin Quarter of Paris with easy metro and bus access to the central tourist attractions....a supermarket, bakery and restaurants just steps away.

The Grand Hotel des Gobelins sits in the Boulevard San Marcel, between two metro stations: San Marcel - about 5 minutes walk with a direct line (5) to Gare de Nord (which takes about 20 minutes, and perfect for connecting to Eurostar) and the Metro Gobelins (line 7) - which is nearer but will involve more complicated interchanges.

It's ideally situated for transport, and just a short walk from the Latin Quarter. Indeed, it's only a 30 minute walk to Notre Dame Cathedral. Although it will take longer if you stroll through the Rue de Mouffetard and it's myriad of cobbled streets and eccentric bars and shops - which is a fundamental reason for being there in the first place.

So what's the problem? Why have I given a poor rating? That's because I am rating the Hotel, not the area (which is charming) and the hotel is a smoke and mirrors affair. The staff are surly and distant.There is no "warmth" in this establishment.

The rooms which are lauded as "standard" are basic, and very small. Visitors to mainland Europe can expect small rooms, but this hotel exploits the premise. I booked a double room only to discover that I had two single beds shoved together, and there was barely enough space to accommodate two hand carries.

My wife and I travelled light on a short break and we had no large suitcases. So consider this if you have them. There is an elevator, which excuses the employees from assisting you with your luggage, but that is a minor point.

There is no shower curtain in the bathroom, as stated by some previous reviewers, but I really didn't know how important this was. The force of the shower is significant, and no matter how you position it whilst standing in the bath, the water goes everywhere. This creates a very wet floor, and to compensate it is necessary to place towels to absorb it, otherwise you will literally be splashing around just to brush your teeth and use the toilet.

They have a sign on the bathroom wall which says (roughly translated) that in the interest of the environment, please be sparing with water, conserve your towels, and if you want to change them, leave them in the bath!

So why don't they have shower curtains or screens? They must go through a lot of towels. In two days we went through eight, but only because we had to use them to walk on!

The rooms have the old large radiators which cannot be individually controlled so the room gets very hot, but fortunately the windows open to alleviate it. I tried fiddling with the thermostat but it was a lost cause.

There is only one power point in the room, so bring an extension cable if you have devices that need charging - for example, batteries, phones, laptops. The hotel gives free internet access, but they will take a copy of your passport before giving access codes and passwords. Don't ask me why - by this time I was past caring!

There's a tiny flat screen tv situated just under the ceiling at an awkward angle, and has a volume limit barely audible - but that's presumably to ensure that the neighbours don't hear each other - by the way, I forgot to mention the walls are paper thin!

The tv remote had not been cleaned, and it wasn't something you would want to handle for very long. The ceiling was cracked, there were unusual bubble formations on it, and all told it was the pits. There was a table but the chair could not extend from it because there was no room - well that's because they tried to make a double room out of a single!

So I went to reception and complained and was told I should speak to the manager. The manager wasn't there - and I wasn't surprised.

So don't be fooled by the pictures, this is a shocking and poor hotel and there must be far better ones to spend your money with.

They do a decent continental breakfast, but you wouldn't expect anything less in Paris. Croissants, yogurt, cereal, ham, etc - but you can get all that and more around any street corner.

I regret making this negative review - but frankly the Grand des Gobelins deserves every single word of it.