The hotel is very well locted, within a couple blocks of noisier busier Left Bank tourist areas. Walking distance of all major sites, Louvre, Notre Dam, Luxemboug Gardens and many other wonderful Left Bank more Parisian venues and streets. Other areas are longer walking but the Metro is only a couple blocks away (actually several lines and stations are near) the area is surrounded by excellent shops of all sorts, cafes, restaurants and markets and the Hotel will recommend good ones.
Superior room was ok but would have been too small for two people with clothes and shoes for a long trip with various dress occasions. There were no drawers and the closet storage was quite small. Bedside storage should have and could easily have been better, there simply was no room on the bedside table, the desk was very small and no drawers to speak of. The bathroom size was small but acceptable with decent counterspace and cabinet storage. And with a coffee maker and a mini bar that was restocked ( and free) with a little space for wine or cheese, etc.
The amenities of the hotel make this a good value, good location, free wifi, and lobby lounges with free drinks at all times. The rooms are comfortable to sit and read in and the champagne and other drinks are indeed kept supplied. Several pieces of fruit are placed in the bedroom everyday. Breakfast was excellent and mine was included, as was pickup and return to train and airport.
The service was mediocre in my opinion. Many of the front desk personnel were inattentive, untrained, too busy. Any thing that was not a very common tourist request was unknown, too difficult or simply impossible. Most of the time I simply ended up doing it myself (a St Martin Canal trip, a restaurant that could accommodate a vegetarian, etc, not too odd ball at all) although the rooms were generally clean, several times things were just forgotten or not done, including leaving large pieces of glass from a glass broken by housekeeping on my bathroom floor.
All in all, good value and location and amenities. More training would make it better
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
22 October 2011
Thank you for taking the time to write a review on our property.
As Front Manager of the hotel Esprit Saint-Germain, I would like to answer your comment.
Our guests’ feedback is very helpful and important to us. Our goal is to always have happy guests.
Concerning the size of our rooms, hotel rooms on the Left Bank of Paris are usually smaller that on the right bank as the houses and buildings are older and smaller on this side of the river. Even if our rooms are a little bigger than in most hotels of the area, the sizes are still not the same than the ones on the right bank.
Hotel Esprit Saint-Germain is located in an 18th century building on a small, quiet street in the Saint-Germain area of the left bank. The building is historic and protected. When the owner brought the property, she literally broke down the walls and rebuilt it from the inside to modernize and create as much space as possible in the rooms. She only kept the original facade and 18th century beams.
We now have twenty eight rooms and suites of varying sizes. As there are several categories of rooms, we make sure the information on the size of each room type is clearly communicated.
We have a team of 24 people for 28 rooms (without a restaurant) and all the comments from our guests are about their kindness and professionalism.
I remember meeting you a couple of times when you were asking for extra coffee to be put in the room and had come up to you to say that I had passed the information on to make sure you had a good quantity of coffee in your room. I am really sorry you were not satisfied with our service and wished you could have asked for me or the Manager of the hotel when you felt unsatisfied with the answers you were getting at the front desk. I know you were there during one of our busiest times of the year which probably gave you the impression of the staff being "too busy".
However, concerning the lack of knowledge about "special requests" may I say that our team does its best to always be aware of what is going on in the city, what new exhibitions are on or new restaurants have opened. We make sure to get all the information we can get concerning the new shows, operas, concerts, etc ... We even created a blog in which we give information on all that can be done in the area, Paris and surroundings, and we make sure to regularly update it.
Of course, and we are sure you can understand that in such a "rich in activity city as Paris", there are some information that we may skip: concerning the Canal St Martin, as it is not an organized traditional touristic site, we have to check on the times and boat availability every time someone asks for it as it changes a lot. As for the Vegetarian restaurants, it has always been a problem, as it is not as common a request in France as it is in the US and Great Britain. The vegetarian restaurants we have experienced are not up to the expected standards of our guests.
Finally, I would really like to apologize for the broken piece of glass you found in your room. I was at the desk when you informed the staff and immediately informed the Head Housekeeper concerning this matter.
We continue to work towards taking the best care possible of our guests and we hope to welcome you again soon at Hotel Esprit Saint-Germain.
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
