Campanile Paris XVII Boulevard Berthier - Paris, France 

A great value, clean and convenient
Posted: Wed, Jul 23 2008
We stayed at the Campanile for 8 nights (5 of these were only 77 euros!) and were very pleased. I had a meeting at the Palais de Congress, which was 2 Metro stops away. I could walk out of the hotel and be at my meeting in about 15 min. Not bad. As other reviewers have said, the hotel is very clean and quiet. The rooms are small but adequate and very bare bones. There is no ambience or charm--the walls are all white stucco with one small painting over the bed--but heck, I'd rather save the money and spend it on good food! (Plus we had our serving of charm on our first Paris trip when we stayed in a lovely apartment--at 3 times the price.) There is a hotel restaurant with a nice buffet breakfast with mostly cold food offerings (ham, croissants, cereal, yogurt, etc.) You can squeeze your own OJ if you want. They also offer dinner, and I think the best part is the outdoor seating in the large and quiet terrace, surrounded by a garden. There are 2 major rail lines that cross here (RER and Metro) and you can get anywhere very quickly. The neighborhood is not posh, but I did not feel it was unsafe. We always seemed to return around midnight. The hotel felt safe and secure, requiring key access for the elevator. We were on the 4th floor and could hear the distant rumble of the trains, as other reviewers mentioned, but it was not at all bothersome. My husband is a light sleeper, but we slept like logs. Beds were clean and comfy with a selection of pillows with varying degrees of firmness and loft. The closet space is basically an open wardrobe, with shelves as well as hanger space. There are no dressers or cabinets. The bathtub was large and the plumbing was up-to-date. No complaints there. Lots of hot water. Clean towels every day. Don't tell the hotel people, but I plugged something in and blew a fuse, resulting in an outage on, I think, most of the floor. However, we called, and the staff took care of this very quickly. Since I was on a business trip for the most part, I found the large desk (with 2 chairs) very handy and convenient. My husband and I could both work on our laptops at the same time (aren't we the romantic Paris couple?!) WiFi access was through Orange. It was not free. Prices were by hours used (I bought 10 hours for 15 euros)--which we thought was a pretty good deal and better than paying daily rates. You could use it anywhere else where there was an Orange hot spot. We found the staff to be very congenial and helpful, and gracious about speaking English. One other note, and this is not related to the hotel--it could happen anywhere in Paris--but my husband was pickpocketed on the subway, so I'll issue that warning. He thought he was being aware and watchful, but they're very fast. Plus it was Bastille Day. I started wearing my backpack on the front--like I saw everyone else doing. Basically, we had no complaints about the hotel. If one even began to surface, we'd say: Hey! We're in Paris for only 77 euros! Wow!

Nice for the Price
Posted: Thu, May 22 2008
My husband & I stayed at this hotel for 3 nights in March on a trip booked through Gate1. Our first time in Paris. It was great for what we needed: a place to rest and sleep after a long day of sightseeing. The staff was helpful and spoke English - with a heavy French accent, of course. The location was very convenient, being right across the street from the Porte de Clichy Metro stop. The room was comfortable, even with the green & yellow plaid decor. Nice big bed and fluffy pillows. Bathroom was fine, everything seemed clean. Tea, instant coffee, and yummy little butter biscuits in the room. I did notice a cigarette smoke odor at times, coming in through the bathroom vent, maybe, but it wasn't too bad. Also, the Metro must run right under the hotel, because we could hear it and feel it rumble, even on the 4th floor. It didn't interfere with our sleep, though. We thought breakfast was wonderful. A nice variety of breads (the croissants were to die for!) and fruits, yogurt, cheese, ham slices, juice, and coffee or tea. We had a nice stay in the beautiful city of lights.