HÔTEL AMÉRICAIN ^{* *}

A friend who lives in an apartment in the Marais area of Paris recommended that my brother and I stay at Hôtel Américain on Rue Charlot, not far from Place de La République. He said the hotel was not expensive by Paris standards.

My brother booked a room for two with a double bed and private bath. We travelled in mid-October and took a taxi from a train station to avoid carrying heavy bags up and down stairs in a Metro station.

When we arrived at the hotel, we showed the receptionist our passports. My brother paid the room tax of in Euros for seven nights, but upon counting his change, he realized that he was short-changed by 5 Euros. When informed of his mistake, the receptionist gave him the 5 Euros. Afterwards, we got the key and took the elevator to our third floor room, which faced a small triangular park on Rue Charlot.

The room had a comfortable bed, a flat-screen television, one tall double window with dark curtains, and on a small desk there was an electric water kettle for tea or instant coffee, but it was a small room, and there was only two feet, at most, between the edge of the bed and the wall with the window.

We inquired why the air-conditioning was not working since the automatic thermostat on the wall did not turn it on. The receptionist said it was turned off at the end of September.

Our toilet was clean and had a bathtub, and there was plenty of hot water. Towels, including washcloths and a floor mat, were provided.

We skipped the 10 Euros breakfast in a basement cave-like room with tables and chairs because we do not like coffee out of a machine. While it might be OK for some, I prefer real fresh coffee, not from a machine.

You may hear occasional street noises. We were awakened at 3 AM by young people sitting on park benches down below.

The elevator is quite small but fast. The reception area can only be described as 1970s tacky, with faux leather chairs and several vending machines, including one that dispenses instant coffee. It has a sign on it that says no change is returned, so if you put in a 2 Euro coin, you will not get your change of 50 cents for the 1.50 Euro instant coffee.

Daily maid service begins on the third day. We noticed we were given fresh towels, and our bed was made up, but with the same sheets and the same pillow covers.

Most annoying was the lengthy internet or WiFi outage that lasted for four whole days. No one at reception could tell us when the WiFi would be fixed, nor did they seem to care.

For the location, this two star hotel is convenient, but don’t expect Parisian charm or luxury. You can walk to many cafés, restaurants, and various shops on Rue de Bretagne or Place de la République. Several food stores are five minutes away.

One week at Hôtel Américain was quite enough.

Credit and debit cards are accepted, and cash in Euros.

Malgré la bonne localisation et l’accueil correct des employés, ca a été une mauvaise expérience. Panne de wifi, inondation de la salle de bain a chaque douche, chambre pas nettoyée, porte sans amortisseurs qui claquent des 7h du matin, groupe d’adolescents qui hurlent dans les couloirs, très mauvaise insonorisation… au vu des prix pratiqués à Paris c’est compliqué d’apprécier son séjour à l’hôtel américain ! D’autant que quand ces mauvaises expériences sont partagées, a part un regard compatissant, rien ne se passe, ni solution, ni geste commercial… Très dommage !

So very good with a caveat. It is 2 star and that’s right. The room is quite spartan, bed acceptable but not overly comfortable and pillows not the best. BUT, super close to a metro line with lots of links. Good surrounding restaurants. Road it’s on is barricaded off do no noise and has the best bakery right next door. It’s also really reasonable for Paris. So it just depends what is important to you personally. I’d go back.

I stayed at this hotel 2 separate times during the Olympic Games, 10 days total. ||The hotel is clean, bed was great. Shower was clean and worked well. I was expecting a small room for a solo traveller but it was bigger than I expected with a nice big double bed. ||On my second stay I also had a balcony which had great rooftop views with the Eiffel Tower in the distance. I was not expecting air conditioning so that was a great surprise. You have to leave your room key at reception when exiting the hotel, but I actually liked this as I didn’t have to worry about losing it, plus reception was always staffed 24/7 and were very friendly.||Breakfast is included with no additional charge which was great. The location is good too with Republique and Filles du Calvaire metro’s close by. Plenty of shops in close proximity too with a nice boulangerie right next door.||The only thing i will say which could be improved would be the addition of a fridge, but I cannot mark that down for the price of the hotel.||I would definitely stay again, merci.

סבבה לגמרי. חדר קטן אך נעים וממוזג. המלון בסיסי ביותר, אך לא צריך יותר. קרוב לכיכר הרפובליקה, עשרות מסעדות מסביב