Melia Vendome - Paris, France     

We just returned from Paris and a short two night stay at the Melia Vendome. The location of this hotel is perfect for sightseeing and for catching the Metro. We were treated wonderfully by the staff upon arrival and the porter talked us through how to use the heat and other things about the room. The room was larger than most in Paris and frankly better appointed than many in Paris and London. The bathroom ammenities were excellent. That said, no washcloths were provided. The staff was most helpful. On my request they called and confirmed our car to CDG Airport. They all spoke English, including the restaurant staff. I would recommned this hotel to friends and will return.

We stayed at the Melia Vendome for 10 days recently (Nov 2007) and came back very disappointed with the hotel facilities and overall service. Let me just start by saying that on our second night we were awaken by a couple of mice that were trying to binge on some the flakes of a left over croissant (the bag was in a trash can). After making the front desk aware of this situation, they responded as lazily as if I had just requested an extra set of sheets. The rooms (we tried 2 different ones) are poorly ventilated and have no air conditioning. You need to keep the windows open almost the entire time or the room will quickly get warm. And since we were afraid of mice jumping in from an open window, we just were uncomfortable the whole time. The hotel had two very claustrophobic elevators that could fit two people very tightly (almost like touching each other). So you wouldn’t want to take the elevator with a stranger. One of elevators seemed to be broken and did not go to our floor (the 5th floor) so we had to go to the 6th and walk down one floor. One evening, we headed down to relax in the small, dark, bar lounge of the hotel and also came away very disappointed. Service was very mediocre at best. Wine/aperitif selection very poor. They did not have a Dubonet or Lille for us to try… I mean you are in Paris at a hotel situated a few blocks away from La Madeleine, Louvre Museum, … The Spanish-speaking staff is somewhat uncompromising and very unattentive. You need to basically stress what you need/want for them to pay attention. There's no concierge or any type of guide other than the standard, often-low-quality set of tourist brochures.