Hotel Voltaire Republique - Paris, France     

It was bewildering how a beautiful city like Paris dramatically lowers the standard, accepts such conditions, and rates it as a two-star hotel. It was only 80 euro night, and for the price in the area I guess the quality had to suffer. The proximity to the Republique subway stop, which offers 3 or 4 different lines, made this hotel bearable. It was easy to get to the Guru du Nord stop where Eurostar is located, and only 30 minutes walking distance away from the central Le Marais area. The staff was friendly, some spoke better English than the others, and the housekeeping lady was sweet. I walked in to the room and I was shocked. It smelled bad, the mattress was sinking in the middle, the towels were torn in half and very stiff ,and overall it just felt stuffy and dusty. My room had a hair dryer, a tv that offered 4 channels with a remote, and a phone. The hotel fulfiled the requirements: I needed a place to sleep and my own bathroom with hot water. It really didn't matter with me at the end since I was there less than 8 hours a day, and somehow I began to enjoy the depressing bohemian experience in Paris as I was watching some French celebrity show (they mostly covered Americans), what seemed like an equavalent to the E's Soap Dish, on my concaving bed. However, if you want to stay at some place decent, this is so far from it, FYI.

I stayed there for 7 nights (from saturday to saturday), with my mother (81-years-old). The reception is friendly (not all of them), the location is very good (close to metro, cheap taxi to gare du nord if you get train to Belgium or Netherlands, many restaurants and so on). The room....well, the room for the price (we talking about Paris...) is fine, but its toilete is ridiculous, too small and easy to get messy and with water all around it). The lift was the smallest I have ever got in, should go to the Guiness...but, better with it than without. There are many, many hotels in Paris in this category, I wouldn't stay there again, altough I am not regretefull to have been there at this time.