Garden-Elysee - Paris, France     

When I booked this hotel, I was expecting a 4-star hotel service, but I was wrong. From the minute we arrived, the experience was very disappointing. The staff at the check-in desk was not very welcoming, not very helpful and even rude. The junior suite was of an acceptable size, but it was a major disappointment. It was very dark (even with all the lights on), with patches of damp and peeled painting on the entrance hall of the room. When I complained to the reception desk about the smell of damp the only answer that I received was 'open the window'. The deco was very dull and the carpets could do with some updating. The bathroom was OK. The room was overlooking the garden (more of a small patio than a garden), although the main view was an ugly internal massive wall. Compared to any 4-star hotel across Europe the facilities provided were well below the standard. Some positive points: the location; it's quiet, with hardly any traffic noice; breakfast was good.

My girlfriend and I recently stayed at the Garden Elysee for three nights. The hotel and its facilities were pretty good generally and the room price we considered to be reasonable. We were really dissapointed that having arrived having driven from the UK, we were not allowed through the car park barrier so as to off load our luggage and had to empty the car on the street and hope (as we needed to check in) that we didn't receive a parking fine! Another annoyance.... we were overcharged for breakfast (all beit just 15 euros!) continental breakfast is 21 euros for coffee, croissants, bread rolls, cooked meats, cheeses and friut selections. If you only wanted coffee and a croissant this was 16 euros (my girlfriend chose this latter option but was charged the full 21 euros and nothing we said to the receptionist was going to change that!). Another 'surprise'.... 2 gin and tonics in the hotel bar cost 36 euros which we complained about and they credited us 8 euros. I made comments direct to the hotel about these experiences but received NO REPLY....shame really when the room and general service at the Garden Elysee were good