Here it is
“Very nice but less hotel and more B&B we felt.”
Reviewed 11 April 2010
My wife and I have just returned from a 3 night stay at Hotel Ares Eiffel in Paris so I felt I should write a review whilst it is still fresh in my mind. We decided to book the suite, the one you see in all the pictures and on their website and this is a pleasant enough room but not something I think justifies the term 'suite'. The room was very nicely decorated, very clean and did allow for a view of the top 2/3's of the Eiffel Tower over the roofs of the houses opposite, but as has been said elsewhere it is, like all the rooms in the hotel, very small. We are aware that many hotel rooms in Paris are small as we have stayed in Paris many times, but many are not and if you are seeking space to stretch out you might wish to shop around. As I said in the title for this review I think this hotel has more in common with a B&B rather than a hotel as added to the small rooms it has neither a restaurant, a bar or other hotel like facilities. Now to my wife and I this was a positive as we like a quiet hotel and our suite did not suffer from some of the noise transfer mentioned in other reviews but I think hotel Ares should take on board some of the comments in the reviews most of all PLEASE put a coffee making facility, ideally a nice Espresso machine into the rooms as most people like to have a nice relaxing coffee during their stay, whilst in their room. Also, make sure the air conditioning actually works and isn’t something you decided when it can be used or not. We found the room became too hot at night and were told that the air conditioning wasn’t working yet, i.e. the condensers were not switched on so it heated nicely but didn’t cool, which we can only imagine was a decision controlled by reception.
The location we felt worked well being nicely positioned to walk to many of the main tourist sports but being off the track just enough not to attract the worst elements of the tourist areas such as ‘foreigner’ food and people trying to sell you crap. There are a number of nice little cafe’s and restaurants within close walking distance and lots of interesting antique shops if this is your thing literally 50 yards from the front door of the hotel and being in a more residential location has it’s benefits, to us at least, come bed time with very little noise (from our 7th floor room) from outside. I have seen some people critacising the location but we felt this is unreasonable. If you want to be smack in the centre of the tourist areas book a hotel there, if you are happy to be 1/2 miles from them then this is fine for you.
Overall we were happy with our stay there and would go again. It is far from the 5th/6th best hotel in Paris, which the reviews on this site may lead some to believe, but having said this if you seek a quiet, small, quaint and nicely presented hotel that has more in common with a small family B&B than a Hotel the Hotel Ares Eiffel may suite you down to the ground. If you want good room space, facilities for getting pampered or even a coffee in your room when you want, bars, night life all around and tourist buses ready to take you all over Paris you might wish to look elsewhere. At 390euro’s a night the suite was not good value compared to other hotels we have stayed at but we found it quiet and discreet which is exactly what we wanted.
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I took the eurostar there this summer and would now never take the plane. Two hours and you're in central paris, I paid £10 extra each way and got premium economy with loads of leg room and some very nice food. Although I guess if you don't live near London it may be a bit more acceptable to suffer economy flights and the Paris airports 30 miles from Paris!
