Quality Hotel Abaca - Paris, France     

Plus: great American buffet breakfast, convenient, quiet, good air-condition. Minus: small room, location bit off major attractions. Booked through Transat Holidays, we stayed 5 nights in the hotel. The hotel is bit old but is clean. Staffs are friendly. Our shower clogged once but was fixed promptly. We don’t speak French, but there is no problem staying at this hotel since most staffs speak some English. The hotel is only 1 block from the Convention Metro station. There are Cafes, McDonald, KFC, drug store, big department store and grocery store all nearby (within 2 blocks. Stores in Paris are all closed on Sundays!). We love French food but the cafe near the hotel is not recommended (a drink maybe ok). To reach major attractions by Metro, usually 1 transfer is needed, it didn’t bother us since it is very convenient to travel in the city via the Metro. After all, we would give the hotel 4 stars instead of 5, due to small room size. Tips for eating: Restaurants near Cambronne or St. Germain Metro station are highly recommended (a 3 course set dinner costs € 25-35/person, tax/service included, water usually means bottled water and costs as much as a non alcohol drink. Restaurants are nearly smoke free, but not in the café. Be aware of that most restaurants open 7:30-8pm for dinner). One good restaurant need to be mentioned is Le Royal Cambronne Cafe Restaurant (2, place Cambronne, Paris), good food, not expensive, opens early, make sure to ask non-smoke area at back.

Three of my friends and I decided to visit Paris for our 1st time and chose the Quality Hotel Abaca through Air Transat. We were there from July 25 to Aug 3, 2007. It is true the rooms were tiny but they were fine for two people. I'm always concerned about bathrooms and found that ours was very nice - our only prob was that our shower got clogged for a couple of days but was immediately remedied when we informed the staff. Our room was cleaned daily and was always well done. I always locked my clothes in my suitcase and backpack before I left everyday, as a precaution, but noticed that I really didn't have anything to worry about. I felt quite safe and secure at this hotel. The front desk staff were always pleasant and friendly and would always help us out with any directions or information. The night staff was less enthusiastic but I'm sure it's because they have to work the night shift - that would make me a bit grumpy too I suppose. hehe :) We ate breakast almost the entire time we were there at the hotel and we found it very adequate! I loved the butter croissants, apple pastries and chocolate chip pastries the most. They also had dried apricots which were yummy and the usual bacon & eggs, cereal, cheese and crackers, and assorted flavours of yoghurt. The kitchen staff (which seemed to be only one lady - poor lady! for the 1st few days we were there) was quite nice and we got to chat with her a bit. :) For dinner, there were nice little cafes and restaurants close to our hotel and the food was always great! Moka was a good one! Little clothing stores were nearby as well as grocery stores. Monoprix (a type of department store but which also had a grocery store on its ground floor and a little cafe with yummy pastries on the main floor) was very convenient whenever we wanted to buy some fruits, snacks, or water for our excursions. The closest subway station was Convention, which was less than 1min away and was very convenient on our daily excursions. We bought a Paris Museum & Monument that was to be used within 4 consecutive days (bought through Air Transat before travelling) and found it very worth our money but boy were we tired from all the walking!!! :) The convience of the metro/subway was very helpful in getting us to our numerous destinations and we could easily figure out the routes on our own. If we were ever unsure of our route, the front desk staff would always be very helpful. :) Personally, I throughly enjoyed my stay in Paris and at this hotel, and only wished I was able to stay there longer! I've been missing Paris since I returned and hopefully I'll get a chance to visit it again someday soon. :)