Le General Hotel - Paris, France 

Finding a reasonably priced hotel in a convenient location in Paris can be hard, especially in summer so I was encouraged by the charms of Le General as displayed on its website. It's a good location close to Republique and has been refurbished and kitted out with funky modern decor and furnishings. Like most old Parisian hotels the rooms are on the small size - but that's fine when you are out most of the time. A flat screen TV and rainhead shower add modern touches to the rooms, which otherwise are a bit drab when compared to the shouty pinks which appear in the public areas. The cool bar area on the ground floor make a great place to meet for a pre-dinner drink - but this is where things go wrong - it's hopeless and impractical for use as a breakfast room. There are simply not enough places for guests to sit - and even when tables are vacated the staff staff are slow to clear away and reset the places. In fact it seemed there was only enough crockery and glassware for a few guests at a time. When I asked for more plates, some were hastily washed up by hand. It would also have been easy to place a few more tables in the foyer area to provide more seating at breakfast. The fact that we stood around waiting for tables to be set seemed of little concern to the staff. When we sat down, breakfast was OK although uninspiring. No one seemed to be in charge of the place. A bit of sharper control at breakfast and guests would have a much more welcoming experience. This lack of management control was also apparent in housekeeping. Clearly no one inspected the rooms, or they might have picked up the large amount of dust gathering behind the door. It seems no one had told the maid that she needed to close the door and vacuum behind it!! There was also thick dust on any surface that wasn't immediately apparent. Sloppy and not good if you are an asthmatic. So with a better management it would have been a great stay. If you can tolerate the poor service - it's fine.

Hotel is nice and clean, but lacks any Parisian charm so you feel like you could be anywhere in the world. It's not located in the best part of Paris, but is close to transport. All of the staff were very friendly... They lost my luggage on my last day and gave it to someone else by mistake. After an hour of search and panic they tracked down the other person and it was returned. I have to say that the manager on duty was excellent and extremely helpful throughout the ordeal. If you want to feel like your staying in Paris this is not the right hotel and I've stayed in much better. For the money it costs to stay it is definitely not worth it.