AirBnB Parisian Style

My room with a view (sort of)

In a recent post Introducing AirBnB, I provided some background information to one of the fastest growing online short stay accommodation services in the world — AirBnB. To date, I have only used the service once—to book accommodation during a two week visit to Paris over the summer of 2014, and despite one or two hiccups, I obviously lived to tell the tale. And this is it. But first, a brief recap.

  

AirBnB began in 2008 when two designers who had space to share hosted three travellers looking for a place to stay. Today, AirBnB hosts are sharing spare rooms or their homes and apartments in 190 countries and more than 34,000 cities.

As a solo traveller on a limited budget, I figured that finding accommodation via AirBnB would be cheaper than staying in a budget hotel, especially if I took into account the ability to supply my own breakfasts and prepare at least some of my main meals ‘at home’, and this in fact turned out to be the case. 

The process for selecting my accommodations was relatively painless, and involved creating a profile on AirBnB, searching through the available listings (using price as my main guide), reading reviews from previous guests, ensuring the location was suitable, the dates available, and the host personable. I should point out that I was in Greece at the time I began researching my Parisian stay, not at home in Australia, and it was from Greece that I flew to Paris. 

Chest of drawers, sofa bed, heater/fan, travel books

Having settled on a small studio apartment in the 16th Arrondissement, I made my booking and got in contact with Philippe my host. He was quick to assure me that everything would be ready on my arrival, and immediately sent me detailed directions for getting to the apartment from Charles de Gaulle airport. I deliberately timed my arrival in Paris for early afternoon. As far as I am concerned, there is nothing worse than landing at night in a ‘foreign’ country where you don’t speak or read the language, and having to make your way to your accommodations in the dark using public transport! It adds a layer of stress to travel that you just don’t need.

Once I reached the building on Rue Chardon-Lagache that was to be my home for the next ten nights, I was quickly met by Philippe and shown to the small studio at the very top of a typical Parisian apartment complex. Thankfully, the apartment had an elevator that was large enough (just) to carry myself, my small case and Philippe the seven floors to the top, although the cubicle was so small that I was grateful I didn’t suffer from claustrophobia.

Chest of drawers with sheets and bedding

To be honest, I was somewhat taken aback by just how small the studio apartment was. I would have called it a garret, and as romantic as it is to think I was going to spend some time in a Parisian garret, I would have preferred a bit more space than what was on offer (the phrase ‘not enough room to swing a cat’ comes to mind). However, the room had been paid for, I had turned up as agreed, and there was nothing to do but make the best of a tight squeeze.

As you can see from the photographs illustrating this post, the room contained a sofa bed, a chest of drawers for storing clothes, a small electric stove, a bar fridge, a shower alcove, a collection of cooking and eating utensils, a number of guide books (mostly in French), a telephone and an excellent WiFi connection. There was a clean, shared toilet at the end of the passage which I had to share with one lone resident. During the ten days I stayed at the studio apartment I never heard, let alone saw the elderly gentleman with whom I shared this closet.

Philippe informed me that because I had booked ten nights, he was taking the opportunity to enjoy a short vacation of his own with his daughter, but assured me that if I needed anything I only had to call him. Since I am an independent traveller, I was not particularly concerned that he would not be at my beck and call, and anyway I did not anticipate needing to call him during my stay. Little did I know…but more about that below.

Location, Location, Location

Map of Paris's 16th Arrondissement 

The 16th Arrondissement takes in the Trocadero Gardens (directly opposite the Eiffel Tower), the massive Bois de Boulogne gardens, the Roland Garros tennis centre, any number of wonderful galleries and museums, and numerous foreign embassies.

The apartment was close to both Metro lines and several bus routes. Depending on where I wanted to go, I often jumped on the number 72 bus which provides a virtual rolling tour that takes in sections of the River Seine, the Trocadero (and the nearby Eiffel Tower), the Louvre Museum, the Tulleries Gardens, Place de la Concorde, and Palais de Chaillot before terminating near the Hotel de Ville. The apartment was also close to two Metro lines (#9, Exelmans, and #10, Chardon-Lagache), while the Pont du Garigliano station for the RER C line was also within walking distance of the room.

The well stocked supermarket was a few minutes walk from the studio as were numerous cafes, restaurants, pizza outlets, and other eating houses. I fantastic weekend farmers market took place close by, stocked with a wonderful array of fresh produce including fish, fresh and cured meats, cheeses, and all manner of fruit and vegetables.

Drawbacks

Sink and two hotplates above; bar fridge below

Apart from the previously mentioned size of the room, the studio did not have a television, electric kettle or facilities to wash clothing. With regard to boiling water for tea and coffee, I made do by using a small saucepan. Hopefully, an electric kettle has been added to the inventory of items in the studio, even if a television has not. As for washing clothes, since I did not know where the nearest laundromat was located I made do by soaking and hand washing all my clothes in the small kitchen sink, and then rinsing items out whenever I had a shower. I then made sure I squeezed every drop of water out of the clothing before hanging them from a line I had brought along expressly for that purpose.

TIP: My technique for removing water from clothing is quite simple but effective: wring as much water out of the clothing as you can before wrapping each item of clothing in a bath or beach towel; take each end of the towel and twist them together as tightly as you can. Once all the excess water in the clothing has been absorbed by the towel you can hang the item up without worrying about water dripping onto the floor or onto items of furniture. Works for me every time.

Issues

[L] damaged drainage pipe       [R] WiFi and storage unit

Late in my stay, I was surprised — to say the least — when I noticed dishwashing water and suds pouring out the storage cupboard below the sink unit. On opening the cupboard door I saw that the ’S-bend’ drainage pipe had come apart. In fact, it had been put together so poorly that I was surprised the floor of the studio was not permanently soaked. I immediately got in contact with Philippe, and to his credit the problem was fixed within a matter of hours.

A couple of days before I vacated the room, I returned from a day out and about in Paris to discover the elevator was not working. By the time I had climbed seven floors to the top of the building my 66-year-old heart was pounding in my chest fit to bust. It was very sobering to learn that I am not as fit as I thought I was, but thankfully I did not need to head back out that night, so I had plenty of time to catch my breath and recover from my exertions. 

Even though other residents in the building must surely have contacted the relevant technicians to get the elevator moving again, I got in touch with my host once more (remember, he was trying to make the most of my extended stay, and had left on a short vacation of his own), and he promised to get someone to look into the problem. By the time I returned from my peregrinations around Paris the next day, I was delighted to see the elevator working again.

Recommendations

Apart from these two incidents, my first stay through AirBnB was a real delight, and as brief as my stay was, I certainly enjoyed the opportunity to live like a Parisian. I also appreciated the ability to prepare a few meals of my own, thereby saving money in the process. From this point of view I am more than happy to recommend that you give AirBnB a try.

However, as already mentioned in my previous blog post, make sure you do your homework, before committing to a booking. Ask questions of your host to be, and read any and all reviews from previous guests. There are always other rooms, so don’t feel you have to take the first option that presents itself. If in doubt—leave it out.

Happy trails.

Introducing AirBnB

During 2014 I spent two weeks in Paris, where for the first time I booked the bulk of my accommodations (10 nights) through Airbnb. For readers not familiar with Airbnb, let the company explain in their own words:

“Airbnb began in 2008 when two designers who had space to share hosted three travellers looking for a place to stay. Now, millions of hosts and travellers choose to create a free Airbnb account so they can list their space and book unique accommodation anywhere in the world.”

Today, Airbnb hosts are sharing spare rooms or the whole homes and apartments in 190 countries and more than 34,000 cities. Incredibly, since 2008, this company has grown from nothing to one valued at more than two billion dollars! Unlike free accommodation sharing services like Couchsurfing, Hospitality Club, Stay4Free, and others, Airbnb hosts charge a nightly fee for the use of their rooms or homes. Here’s an introductory video from the company:

Airbnb Intro video  

So how did the actual experience of researching, booking, communicating with my host, and the all important stay measure up against the glowing promo material? That dear reader is the focus of this entry.

Researching

This is the easy part: decide which city you want to visit, entry your check In and check Out dates (any dates will do, if you don’t know your exact dates), start searching. The screen that appears next should give you the option to rent the Entire Place, a Private Room, or a Shared Room. You will also see a Price Range slider from which you can select your maximum price per night. As you fine tune your selections, links to the available rooms automatically display as does a map showing each location.

At this point it is easy to check out each location, examine the uploaded images, read the fine print, and especially read through the reviews left by previous visitors.

Booking

To make a booking you will first need to sign in and register the usual information that all websites can’t seem to do without—even those sites that don’t require billing information. Airbnb, of course, does need billing information so go ahead, register and make your booking. You do have the option to send your host a message and ask questions of them, so if you have any concerns or questions the obligation is on you to ask them before you commit to making your booking.

Watch out for the extras as you are booking your accommodations. These are generally included under the Prices category on the site, but some hosts charge more for extra guests, towels and such like, and these are not always noted under Prices. They are generally mentioned under House Rules or the Description of the property. 

Communicating

All hosts must provide an email address so that you can communicate with them before and after you make a booking. As far as I am aware, all hosts must supply a contact phone number, although I am not sure if they are obliged to make it available to you before you make a booking.

The best hosts know that open, quick communications with potential or actual guests is always the best way to foster confidence and trust in both them, their accommodations and Airbnb itself. Again, reviews from previous guests are generally a good way to gauge the reliability and trust of potential hosts, so make sure you read all the reviews for a property you are planning to book.

Another Airbnb Video worth watching  

Be Quick Or Be Sorry

I did not start researching my Paris stay until well into July. Since I was trying to make my booking during the height of summer, I found that many of my first choices were booked solid right through July, August and into September. Further, I wanted a minimum of ten nights. By leaving my booking late, those places that did have bookable nights often had no more than two or three consecutive nights available. I began to worry that I had left it too late to find a suitable rental via Airbnb, but thankfully I was eventually lucky enough to find the right place, at the right price, for the right number of nights. However, the lesson I learned was that it pays to book well ahead if you are planning to hit Paris, London, New York City, or any other major metropolis during the height of the travel season.

Safety

I have mentioned several times the importance of reading reviews for rental properties. However, there is one potential ‘spanner in the works’ to this and that occurs when a new listing has been added to Airbnb, and the property owner has only one or two reviews, or even worse—none at all. Obviously, someone has to be the first person to book a property and there is no reason why it should not be you, but as always, the obligation is on you to make sure you are completely satisfied that the host and the property are what they claim to be.

If you are travelling alone, your best option may be to simply ignore properties with no reviews. On the other hand, on the basis that there are supposed to be safety in numbers, you might go ahead and rent a property if you are planning to share the accommodation with a friend or partner. Of course, it is entirely possible that a property listing has had guests stay there, but visitors have not bothered to write a review for the host.

TIP: When checking a listing, find the About The Host heading. This includes information about how long the host has been a member. The newer their membership, the less likely are they to have a lot of reviews, or any at all. However, if the property has been listed for three months or more, one could reasonable expect there to be at least one or two reviews, if not more, especially if the property is in a popular destination.

* * * 

UPDATE: I have written about my first Airbnb experience here...

Hotel Brunswick, Lancaster, PA

Updated April 2016. Please note, this review refers to the former Hotel Brunswick in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and in no way reflects or refers to the new Hotel Lancaster which today occupies the same building. At the end of this review I wrote, "... the current owners/managers must pay more attention to details, and push staff to provide a better, friendlier service - and they need to do it soon, or the hotel may continue its decline beyond the point of no return."

That 'point of no return' occurred in late 2013, when the hotel was closed down and taken over by new owners who have refurbished the building and rebadged it as the Hotel Lancaster. The transformation from the old rundown hotel into an updated and renamed hotel seems to have given the building a completely new 'lease of life', so much so that the reviews on TripAdvisor and other sites are today overwhelmingly positive, whereas once they were almost all negative. I was tempted to delete this post, but have decided to keep it for historical purposes.

- o0o -

The Hotel Brunswick in Lancaster, Pennsylvania promotes itself as “A full service hotel with a three-star rating to accommodate all your needs while travelling. We boast 221 spacious rooms and over 12,000 sq. feet of meeting and banquet space for conventions and family gatherings.”

I like to make a point of being as honest and as positive as possible with my reviews, but quite frankly I had to work hard to be positive reviewing the Brunswick. The hotel website is full of beautifully presented images that do not always reflect what I saw during my five night stay during August 2012. In fact, on initially viewing the website I thought I was looking at a completely different hotel.

An image on the hotel website shows a group of uniformed, smiling staff who look like they are bursting with energy and enthusiasm, and who want nothing more than to please hotel guests. I suspect this is a stock photo image, or at best reflects much better days for the hotel. I saw no uniformed staff during my stay, and while the few staff I did see carried out their duties well enough, reception staff came across as mostly bored and indifferent. However, my stay was not a disaster by any means, and I even extended my initial three night stay by an extra two nights.

Room 912 bathroom had plenty of towels, mini shampoo, and hair dryer, etc

LOCATION: The Hotel Brunswick is located in the heart of historic downtown Lancaster. Within walking distance of the hotel are many restaurants, the city’s famous Central Market, Fulton Opera House and numerous shops and art galleries. The hotel is also directly opposite the local bus station which is perfect for travellers (like myself) who don't have their own transport. Note: the Greyhound/Amtrak terminal is about 3/4 of a mile away at the end of North Queen Street. For those visitors with their own vehicles, a privately run parking garage is located right next to the Hotel Brunswick. Separate fees apply when using this facility.

Room 912 general view

FACILITIES: Room 912 had everything most travellers would expect to find in a typical hotel room and while I have no complaints about the size of the room or its amenities, it was immediately obvious on entering (judging by the bits of paper and other detritus on the floor), that the carpet had not been vacuumed for what seemed like several days.

Other facilities listed on the hotel website include:

Free Wireless Internet service [which worked fine for my purposes]

Cable TV and Showtime Channels [umm, can’t remember much about these]

Voice Mail [if it was available, I never used it]

Coffee Maker, Ironing Board/Iron, and Hair Dryer [yes]

Individual Climate Control [yes, if they mean the ability to adjust the air-con yourself. In fact, the air-con unit in my room was so efficient that I had to turn the temperature up to warm the room. And this was during August.]

BREAKFAST: Breakfast was passable (two cereals, bread for toast, frozen waffles, mini-muffins, coffee, apple and orange juice, etc.), but the service was very poor. Sometimes there were not enough plates, and at other times, no napkins, or the coffee had run out. To cap it all off, no one appeared responsible for cleaning tables after they had been vacated, which often meant tables were smeared with jelly and butter, or covered with food crumbs of one type or other.

Large comfortable queen size beds

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS: According to the ‘History’ section of the hotel’s website, “The property operated under the “Hotel Brunswick” name until June of 2001 when it acquired the “Ramada” flag and was named the “Ramada Inn Brunswick Conference Center.” In February of 2005 the hotel was purchased out of bankruptcy [my emphasis] by a California based company and the “Ramada Flag” was removed. The hotel owners decided to keep the historic name of “HOTEL BRUNSWICK.”

Clearly, the hotel has seen better times, and even though it apparently underwent some renovations a couple of years ago, it looks like it has never quite recovered from the financial crisis that hit in 2010. It is possible that renovations are still taking place at the hotel, albeit very slowly, which might account for the very divergent reviews for the Brunswick that can be found on TripAdvisor and other websites. The website advertises an on-site restaurant but it was not operating during my stay, and I would venture to say that the restaurant has not operated there for quite some time, although the dining area was being used as the breakfast space.

Room 912, general view

I checked the hotel website while writing this entry. Under the ‘Dining’ tab, the site states clearly that, "Our restaurant & lounge are temporarily closed.” However, under the ‘Guest Rooms’ section of the website, I found this: “The Hotel Brunswick offers an on-site restaurant and versatile meeting rooms.” I can’t vouch for the meeting rooms, but I am prepared to guess that the restaurant and lounge are still closed. It seems little has changed in that respect in the ten months since my stay.

Despite everything I have written, the Brunswick was not the dump some reviewers seem to think it is. Yes, the escalators leading to the reception area were not working while I was there (and still appear to be out of order), however the lifts were and still are operational.

The view from room 912 overlooking Lancaster Square

The excellent location and the great price make the Brunswick a perfect place from which to explore the city of Lancaster and the surrounding Amish country. However, the current owners/managers must pay more attention to details, and push staff to provide a better, friendlier service - and they need to do it soon, or the hotel may continue its decline beyond the point of no return.

Here is a short video I put together from footage recorded just after my arrival in room 912:

HOTEL BRUNSWICK, LANCASTER, PA | My Rating: **1/2

151, North Queen Street, Lancaster, PA. Ph: (717) 397-4801

Stay: Five nights (August 24-August 28, 2012).

Rate: $52.75 (average/night incl. tax). Room: 912.

Visit the new Hotel Lancaster website...

In Review: Dara Reang Sey Hotel, Phnom Penh

Dara Reang Sey Hotel, Phnom Penh

~ My flight from Athens, Greece, got me into Phnom Penh, Cambodia (by way of a transit stop in Bangkok, Thailand), at 6:00am local time early in February 2011. The haze that hung over the country as the plane approached Phnom Penh, provided plenty of warning for the heat and humidity that assailed me as I left the plane at the modest Phnom Penh International Airport.

After passing quickly through Customs, and paying twenty American dollars cash for a Cambodian visa, I was ready to begin my month long visit.

Thankfully, the driver sent to pick me up from the airport (for a $10 fee), was ready and waiting, and in no time at all he was weaving his way through Phnom Penh’s teeming streets towards the first of my five nights at the Dara Reang Sey Hotel.

Phnom Penh was chaotic. There were few traffic lights, lots of uniformed police, military, and other official types standing around, but few of them seemed to be doing much of anything―other than keeping a watchful eye on the passing river of tuk-tuks, bicycles, trucks and buses, vans and pedestrians, and the multitude of motorcycle riders. What few automobiles I could see, appeared to belong mostly to international non-government agencies of one type or other.

Large, comfortable bed in air-conditioned room.

I had booked a ‘Superior Single Room’ at the hotel, at the princely sum of US$26.67 per night. This included taxes and service charges, although breakfast would cost me an average of three dollars extra per day.

While many new international hotels are appearing on the skyline around Phnom Penh, the majority of the city’s hotels are for the most part, ‘housed’ in old, generally run-down looking buildings that may not seem like much at first glance, but which turn out to be quite well appointed given the general poverty that surrounds them.

The Dara Reang Sey Hotel is no exception. My nightly room fee of $26.67 is more than most Cambodians make in a month, so I had no reason to complain as I settled into my accommodations. While writing this entry, I thought it wise to check current prices at the hotel, and to my amazement, there has been no change in pricing since my stay there more than two years ago.

Bathroom was clean and well stocked

The Dara Reang Sey offers rooms in two categories: Standard, and Superior Rooms. Standard rooms range in price from $20/night (single occupancy), to $40/night for three people. Superior rooms range in price from $26.67/night (single), to $43/night for three guests.

Room amenities across all categories appear to be exactly the same, namely, air conditioning, mini-bar, telephone, Cable-TV, and bathroom. However, you should check specifically that these facilities and room rates are correct.

Under the Facilities section of the hotel website they write:

“There are 3 triple rooms, 33 double rooms and 7 single rooms all with air conditioning and 6 fan rooms, most of the rooms have a bathroom with hot shower, cable TV, mini bar and some with balcony Prices range from US$15-$35 all with air-conditioning room.”

The bold emphasis in the above quote is mine. I suspect some things have been ‘lost in translation’, which may account for the discrepancy in prices and facilities, so again you are advised to check with the hotel when making your booking.

The hotel does not have WiFi, or even wired Internet access in the rooms, but access to the Internet was free via computers located near the reception area. Numerous Internet cafés can be found near the hotel, and these all seem to charge a very modest $1.00 per hour.

Restaurant

Image courtesy of hotel website

The hotel has its own restaurant, which is open daily from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. The restaurant serves inexpensive Khmer, Chinese, Vegetarian, Western and Thai dishes. I ate breakfast here each morning, and rarely paid more than $3-$4 for a very generous meal.

The restaurant is at street level and has plenty of seating arranged on the sidewalk, from where you can watch the unfolding tapestry of street life in Phnom Penh. One of the drawbacks of sitting this close to the public however, are the beggars that will inevitably approach you while you are relaxing or eating. These unwelcome approaches are not confined to this hotel of course, but are a daily fact of life for western visitors wherever they may be in Cambodia―which is, after all, one of the poorest countries in South-East Asia.

Most of my evening meals were also taken here and I can certainly vouch for the ‘inexpensive’ claim. One of my journal entries notes: Dinner tonight was chicken salad, beef and noodle stir fry, two Heineken beers, a bowl of free peanuts, and some papaya fruit slices – all for just $10.00.

Modest facilities in my Dara Reang Sey hotel room

I rarely spent more than $10-$12 for an evening meal, and often spent less. As for the chicken salad and fresh fruit slices: I know, I know, don’t eat fresh fruit or salads while travelling in Asia―let alone other strange and exotic meals.

To heck with that, though. Sometimes you just have to throw caution to the wind and immerse yourself as much as possible in the local culture, and if you do end up suffering from the local equivalent of Delhi Belly or Montezuma’s Revenge (which I did), put it down to experience―and have another fried grasshopper!

Finally, most of the staff at the hotel spoke English, with their proficiency ranging from basic to very good. All staff worked hard to ensure that my stay at the hotel was pleasant, safe and incident free―which it was, and I will conclude by stating that I would have no hesitation staying at the Dara Reang Sey Hotel again.

Note: There are two Dara Reang Sey hotels in Cambodia, with information about both available from the same website. The one reviewed here is in Phnom Penh, and the other is in Seam Reap. To book either of the hotels, select ‘Seam Reap’ or ‘Phnom Penh’ from the drop down menu under the Hotel label on the website’s main page.

More Information

Dara Reang Sey Hotel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Online: http://www.darareangsey.com

Skype: dara.reangsey.hotel.pp

Email: booking @ darareangsey.com 

Peri’s Hotel & Apartments, Athens, Greece

Peri's Hotel & Apartments, Athens, Greece

~ I only spent one night (February, 2011), at Peri’s Hotel & Apartments, in Athens, Greece, but I was delighted with the location, the room, and the friendly service. After a short uneventful flight from the Aegean island of Ikaria, to Athens International Airport, I was picked up as arranged by Antonis. Peri’s provide a free pick up and drop off service between the airport and hotel, so make sure you request this service if you need it.

The hotel was built in 2004, and offers just twelve well appointed rooms, each with their own balcony. My room had a large double bed, en suite, television, bar fridge, free WiFi, but no tea or coffee making facilities. There was plenty of storage space – in fact too much given that 80 per cent of the visitors staying here are probably only staying for one or two nights at most. Still it was nice to know they had gone to the effort.

Room service: Tea and Cake

Although no tea/coffee making facilities are available in the rooms (unless this has since changed), following my arrival at the hotel, Antonis brought a pot of tea to my room, along with a slice of cake. It was a lovely touch, and after settling in, I went for a walk to Artemis beach about 1 km from the hotel. 

There are numerous cafés and restaurants along the foreshore, and I treated myself to a late lunch/early dinner of calamari, chips, salad and Heineken beer, which, along with a tip came to just €20.

Peri’s Hotel is located about 15 minutes drive from Athens International Airport EL. VENIZELOS, and less than 30 minutes from the port of Rafina, from where you can catch ferries to the islands of Myconos, Santorini, Paros, Naxos, Tinos and Evia. Visitors wanting to head into central Athens will find a public bus stop close by.

Breakfast tray. Luverly!

Booking Your Stay

Booking your stay at Peri’s Hotel & Apartments requires that you call the hotel direct (see numbers below). Online reservations through the usual online sites, was not available when I stayed in the hotel, and still does not appear to be available.

My breakfast consisted of two slices of toast with slices of cheese and ham; jam, one boiled egg, a pot of tea, and 250ml of orange juice, all delivered cheerfully to my room. Luverly!

Other Details

~ A breakfast room and TV lounge are available if you don’t want to spend time in your room.

~ Continental breakfast is served between 8.00 am to 10.00 am.

~ A small bar is also located in the TV lounge

~ Transfer to and from the Airport is available (free shuttle between 7.00 am to 23.30 pm)

~ Reception office is staffed 24 hours.

Peri's Hotel & Apartments, Athens, Greece

If you are looking for somewhere to stay for a night or two between flights, Peri’s Hotel is an excellent choice. The hotel is located well away from main roads, with their frenetic traffic and highly strung Greek drivers, and provides the perfect respite before embarking on long homeward flights.

PERI’S HOTEL & APARTMENTS

Phone: +30-22940-83763

Mobile: +30-694-412-7435

Email: peris11 @ otenet.gr 

In Review: Palace Hotel, Paris

Palace Hotel, Rue Bouchardon

I stayed at the Palace Hotel during December 2010. Don’t be fooled by the name, though. As hotels go, this is basic at best, but for my money, the price couldn’t be beaten. I paid just €35/night – or €350 for a ten night stay in a budget hotel that was within easy walking distance of some of Paris’s most popular attractions. Oh, and don’t confuse this Palace Hotel with the much grander Golden Tulip Little Palace hotel nearby, where the same ten nights would have cost me €2,300 or more!

Given that it has been more than two years since my stay, I must stress that this review may be doing the hotel owners a great disservice, since any number of conditions may have changed during the intervening 28 months. However, I have read more recent reviews for the Palace Hotel, and judging from the comments left by other guests, it seems that little has in fact changed.

Room 5: At least the bed was comfortable

While writing this entry, I checked current room rates and to my amazement the prices are almost the same as they were in 2010. However, it is a well known truism that ‘You get what you pay for’, so I can’t stress enough that you get the absolute basics for this price: a wardrobe, small desk, bed, and bathroom. My room did not have the usual extras such as hair-dryer, television, refrigerator, air-conditioner, complimentary tea and coffee, free Continental breakfast, or much else in that regard.

The hotel does offer breakfast (baguettes, butter and jam, coffee, tea etc), but at an additional cost of €4.50 each day. WiFi was also available when I was there, but the signal was quite weak in my room, despite the fact that it was almost directly above the reception area.

Room 5: bathroom

I should also point out that some rooms do not have their own en-suite bathroom/shower, in which case guests must use shared facilities. These rooms are of course priced at lower rates than those with en-suites – currently €25-€30/night.

The hotel owners were friendly and despite their limited English (and my non-existent French), were always eager to help in any way they could to ensure my stay there was positive.

The neighbourhood around the hotel has many good local cafes and Boulangerie’s, as well as other low-cost shopping outlets. A brisk 30 minute walk will get you to the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery, Les Halles, the Pompidou Centre, the Louvre and the Tuileries Garden. Even the famed Basilique du Sacre-Coeur in Montmartre can be reached on foot in less than 45 minutes.

Room 5: wardrobe and 'desk'

Would I stay at the Palace Hotel again? Most definitely. I think it would be hard to beat the current prices being asked at the hotel, and given its location, it still remains a great choice for visitors on a limited budget.

More Information

Palace Hotel,

9 Rue Bouchardon, 75010, Paris

Tel: 014 040 0945

Tel: 014 040 0946

Palace Hotel… ‎

Email: palace.hotel75010@gmail.com

Hotel Review: Value Inn Worldwide, L.A.

Image courtesy of hotel website

~ I checked into the Value Inn Worldwide hotel in Los Angeles on Monday, July 30, 2012, after an 18 hour flight from Adelaide, Australia (which included a brief stopover in Melbourne).

Although I was on my way to New York City, I figured even one night in L.A. would help me deal with the inevitable jet lag I knew I was going to experience. The hotel was the first of eight hotels stays I would have during my three month visit to America.

Check in: The check in process was quick and uncomplicated. Just the thing you need after an 18 hour flight.

Reception Staff: The Indian lady on reception was friendly and efficient. She said she used to live in Sydney, and knew of Adelaide as the 'City of Churches'. So far, so good.

Image courtesy of hotel website

Cleanliness: I was allocated room 202. Although the hotel is a little dowdy, my room had been cleaned just before my arrival, and everything looked ship shape and gave me no reason to complain.

Location: the hotel is located on West Century Boulevard, which leads straight too and from LAX international airport - just three or four miles away. The neighbourhood itself seems typical for Los Angeles: fast food outlets, cheap hotels and motels, dollar supermarkets, car wash establishments and such like. There is a Chinese take away across from the hotel, and a Panda Express a couple of blocks away. These are handy since meals are not available at the hotel.

Facilities: These include free wired and wireless high-speed internet, free unlimited local and long distance domestic phone calls, and guest laundry.

Image courtesy of hotel website

Additional features and services include in-room coffee makers, microwaves, refrigerators, iron and ironing boards, hairdryers, safes, satellite TV with premium movie and sports channels, and much more. A full list of hotel facilities can be accessed here…

The WiFi reception was fine in my room and came free, a service Australian hotels would do well to emulate. Traffic noise was bearable. This was LA after all, and there was no noticeable aircraft noise despite the proximity of the airport a few miles down the highway.

Breakfast: The Value Inn website refers to their breakfast offering as a "complimentary deluxe continental breakfast", however, I thought it was fairly basic even though there was plenty of it. Choices consisted of apple or cranberry juice, tea and coffee, Cornflakes or Cheerios, muffins, waffles, toast and jam, and I guess water if you include that as part of breakfast.

Image courtesy of hotel website

So much for my Los Angeles stopover. From airport to hotel to bed to airport again. Still, it was never intended to be more than a short break to help me get over the long flight, and reset my body clock from the southern hemisphere to the northern one.

The hotel does not provide a pick up or drop off service for LAX. My taxi fare to the hotel from the airport was $20.00, and the return fare was $15.00 – including tips.

Recommendation: Let's face it, most hotels near large international airports are designed to cater to clients who are generally looking for one or two nights accommodation while they are on the way to somewhere else more interesting, and the Value Inn Worldwide fulfils this brief perfectly well. Based on my one night stay (hardly a scientific study, I know), I am happy to recommend the hotel for just this purpose. As budget hotels go, it was clean, the staff I spoke to were friendly and welcoming, the price was right, and it was close to the airport which is another reason I chose it. 3.5 stars.

More info:

Value Inn Worldwide, Los Angeles
4751 W Century Boulevard, Inglewood.

One Night: US$75.38 (includes booking fee through Orbitz.Com)

Ph: (310) 491 7000.

Comfort Inn Hotel, Philadelphia

Image: Comfort Inn, Philadelphia

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UPDATED April 30, 2016: Please note, this review was for the former Comfort Inn Hotel, in Philadelphia, PA. Since my stay in 2010, this hotel has been rebadged as the Holiday Inn Express. However, I have decided to leave the review on my site for historical purposes. 

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Travelling on a budget, as I do, necessitates looking for good affordable accommodation when one simply has to stay in hotels while on the move. On my summer road trip from New York City to New Orleans, I had occasion to book hotels twice; once in New Orleans and the other in Philadelphia (later I also stayed at Yavapai Lodge at the Grand Canyon). And since I wrote about my road trip in a series of recent posts, I thought this was a good time to offer a review of one of the hotels I stayed at during that journey.

In America, budget accommodation for me is in the $60-$80 range. Anything cheaper, and the flaws can start to show in the way of loose fittings, water damage in bathrooms, faulty equipment, poor quality bedding, and so on. Of course, where you are in America plays a big part in all this. In New York City $60-$80 won’t get you very much at all in the way of even reasonable accommodations. On the other hand, you can get very good rooms for those figures in other parts of the country, and smaller state capitals.

After the usual online research, and for numerous reasons, I settled on the Comfort Inn Hotel at 100 North Christopher Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19106. (215) 627-7900.

• It was close to the Greyhound Bus station
• It was within walking distance of Philadelphia’s historic district
• It was right on the Delaware River
• It had great views of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge
• It offered free high-speed WiFi in rooms
• There was a small bar fridge
• It provided a free shuttle bus to various locations in the city center
• The extensive breakfast included in the price
• It had very good reviews
• At $70.00 per night – the price was right

I wasn’t disappointed.

The online booking was smooth and trouble free, and at check-in everything went just as smoothly. I asked for and received a room with a great view overlooking the Delaware River and the Ben Franklin Bridge (which connects Pennsylvania with New Jersey). The views during the day were great, but at night they were particularly beautiful.

Here are just a few of the historic sites you can walk to from the hotel: the United States Mint (free self-guided tour); Elfreth’s Alley and Museum; Betsy Ross House; Christ Church and Cemetery (where Ben Franklin is buried); the National Constitution Center; Liberty Bell Carpenter’s Hall, and so much more.

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Image: Comfort Inn, Philadelphia: a room with a real view

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The room was perfect. The oversized bed was comfortable, everything worked as it was supposed to, and the air conditioning was cold (given that the temperature in Philadelphia during my stay was in the 100+ degree range, good air-con was a must). The room was huge and featured a large window that took up the whole width of the room, allowing plenty of natural light to fill the space.

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Image: Comfort Inn, Philadelphia: main room with king bed

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Image: Comfort Inn, Philadelphia: main room…

The bathroom was also large and spacious, had more towels and soap than one person could reasonably expect, and the attention to detail was clearly visible (as can be seen in the next two photographs).

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Image: Comfort Inn, Philadelphia: paying attention to details

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Image: Comfort Inn, Philadelphia: still paying attention to details

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Of course, hotel rooms are generally provided with towels and soap for two or more people which accounts for the excess of both in my room – but was I going to complain about that? Not likely.

As you can see in the next series of images, the bathroom was fitted out with plenty of counter space, a large mirror, a generous supply of extras (shampoo and conditioner, box of tissues, etc), and hair dryer.

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Image: Comfort Inn, Philadelphia: plenty of counter space

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Image: Comfort Inn, Philadelphia: bathroom hair dryer and tissues

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There was more than enough storage space for clothing, and an iron and ironing board were also provided, as was a safe for storage of important documents, money and other valuables. An additional fee applies if using the safe, so if you don’t use it (and this applies pretty much universally), make sure you tell reception staff when either signing in or out, so that the fee is not included in the final account.

The air-con was large and very effective. In fact, it was too effective for me, and despite signs asking guests to not adjust the settings, I increased the warmth factor a few degree so that I didn’t have to over dress while in my room.

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Image: Comfort Inn, Philadelphia: air-conditioning unit

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The buffet-style Continental breakfast offered a good range of choices including cereals, donuts and muffins, juices, waffles (make your own), coffee and tea, and fresh fruit, etc. If I was going to complain about anything, it would be that the breakfast room is too small for a hotel of this size. However, guests are able to eat breakfast in the bar space next to the breakfast room, which, while not ideal, helps alleviate the crush.

I enjoyed a seafood meal just down the road from the hotel at the Octo Waterfront Grille, at 221, N Columbus Blvd, where a house band played some great funk and soul as the sun slowly set in the west, and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge lit up to provide the perfect backdrop along with some stunning river views.

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Image: Octo Waterfront Grille with Ben Franklin Bridge as backdrop

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Image: My Octo Waterfront Grille seafood plate. Yum, yum!

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I also ate at La Veranda Ristorante, a more up-market establishment which is right on the Delaware River (as is the Octo), and again on North Columbus Blvd, from where more great views of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge can be enjoyed.

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Image: The Benjamin Franklin Bridge viewed from my hotel room...

Overall, I rate the Comfort Inn Hotel an easy four stars. If you are looking for a well placed resting place, within walking distance of Philadelphia’s major historic attractions (don’t forget you can utilize the free shuttle bus as well), this hotel is certainly worth considering.