Regina Opera - Paris, France     

stayed here for one night for a business trip - paid ?66 - a very good deal. yes, the elevator still does not work, but they carried my luggage up the 4 flights of stairs. i found the reception staff to be very friendly and helpful. my room was small-ish, but clean and the bed was comfortable. bath was small, but clean. the neighborhood is a bit dicey - i wouldn't stay here if i were a woman travelling alone. it's a very basic hotel, but should be fine for budget-minded tourists who don't mind stairs.

I booked EuroRail passage from London to Paris through Hospitality Lines. As part of the service, Hospitality Lines selected a 3* or better hotel for us. We were not allowed to know the name of the hotel until after we paid for all - Hospitality Lines "selected" the Regina Opera for us. Let me start by saying that Hospitality is an antonym for the service we received. The hotel was despicable and the service from Hospitatalty Lines was at best in-hospitable. Regina Opera is at the end of Rue St Denis, a street rife with prostitutes, petty theives, sex shops and drunkards. At any hour of the day you are likely to be assaulted in the neighborhood. One evening on our return home, we were accosted by an aggressive pan-handler. We couldn't get in the hotel because the front door was locked. The desk person appologized - he said he has to lock the front door when he goes to the bathroom. He advised that if he leaves the door is unlocked while he is not at the desk, the street people come in. Inside the Hotel Opera, the rooms are tiny, dirty, dank and lacking services such as regular hot water. When we visited the hotel, we were advised that the elevator was out of service and that there was no bellman. We were required to carry our luggage up three flights of spiral stairs barely 3 foot wide. If a fire has started, we all would have died on those stairs. My aged parents wear pacemakers and barely survived the stairs. The final insult ocurred on checkout day. Because the elevator was sill inoperable (I think it has been broken for years), I paid the desk person to bring our bags down to the lobby. When we received the bags, we discovered that they had been rifled through and things were stolen from my brief case. The manager was insolent and unhelpful. Add to the cost of any stay at the Regina Opera, the price of any valuables left in the room. My advice is to avoid The Regina Opera and Hospitality Lines at all costs!