Timhotel Italie Bercy - Paris, France     

Abbiamo trascorso 5 notti all'Hotel Italie di Parigi, e devo dire che ci siamo trovati proprio bene. La cosa che ci ha stupito piacevolmente è stata trovare un ambiente accogliente e soprattutto pulito. L'hotel dista poche centinaia di metri dalla fermata della metro, ed è vicino a Place d'Italie, una zona con negozi, brasserie e ristorantini vari. Le camere sono arredate in modo semplice ma funzionale. Sono riscaldate molto bene, per cui d'inverno si può stare anche in maniche corte. Per la colazione si può trovare un po' di tutto: croissant freschi, baguette, marmellate, yoghurt, cereali, cappuccino, latte, the, e persino uova sode e prosciutto. Il giorno in cui siamo partiti avevamo l'aereo la sera, e abbiamo comunque potuto visitare ancora la città senza i bagagli appresso, perchè l'albergo mette a disposizione una stanza per depositare le valige. Uniche pecche che abbiamo trovato sono il bagno, che è piuttosto piccolo, e le pareti che sono piuttosto sottili, per cui si sente se qualcuno guarda la tv nella stanza accanto. Ma la nostra valutazione resta comunque positiva.

Overall, this is a BUDGET accommodation and by American standards a 1-2 star hotel. But, for Europe, it was not the worst I've seen. (It would only be fair for me to share that I did not pick this hotel, as it was part of a package deal. Had I been picking my own hotel, I probably would have picked something different.) I am an optimist, so I will start with the positives: The good news: -The hotel is only a 2-3 minute walk from a very good line of the Metro. I say "good line" because it generally runs east-west and can get you to the Eiffel Tower in a few short minutes. From there, you can transfer to get to other places. - There is a really cute neighborhood with good night life only a few short blocks away. - The shower, although really small, had good water pressure and plenty of hot water. - There are nice windows with iron railings - we slept with them open all night (Westerners be advised: there is no air conditioning!) The bad news: - This hotel is still much farther from the center of Paris that I would have liked to be. - I can deal with small, because in Europe you have to pay a fortune to get a bigger room - but the room was dirty, worn down, and just generally unappealing. But again, in Europe, I don't really need anything more than a bed and a shower. - Speaking of the shower - it was so small, I couldn't even shave my legs. I could barely bend down to reach the soap. -The elevator was so slow and small, we just decided to lug the luggage up four flights of stairs.