Finally! The (Almost) Perfect Paris Hotel
Bel Ami Lobby
Bel Ami Bedroom & Bath
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Arriving in Paris's Gare du Nord on a Friday evening, the last thing you want to do is stand in a (smoky) taxi queue behind 100 others. But if you stay at the Hotel Bel Ami, you're there on the Metro in only 30 minutes. It's that easy. Even for taxi addicts.
The Bel Ami is located around the corner from the St Germain de Pres stop, 11 stops down the purple line (a.ka. 4, ou quatre). It's surrounded by famous cafes - Les Deux Magots and Cafe de Flore, and Le Petit Zinc is on the corner. On the main square is Paris's oldest church.
Dior, Louis Vuitton and Le Bon Marche are also close by, so really, you could spend the whole weekend in your hood.
But if you decided to leave, you'd be equally pleased at how close everything else is. Musee d'Orsay is a 10 minute walk, the Louvre is a 15 minute walk, Il de la Cite is a 20 minute walk, and the catacombs are six stops away, again on the 4.
From a locational perspective, it's perfect.
And from a home from home perspective it's pretty perfect too.
There are four grades of room, and we opted for a Superior, the second up. As a result, we got a bigger bathroom, but still a small room. It was a perfectly proportioned room though, just not big enough for a dance party. And the bed. The bed was fabulous.
The bathroom offered everything you needed and wanted - marble and modern. But as is the case with four star hotels, things weren't totally perfect. In this case, the commode was a bit tilted (but now I'm nit-picking).
Breakfast was also almost perfect - served until 10:30 on Saturday and 11:00 on Sunday. Meats, cheeses, bread, pastry, fruit, cereal, eggs and sausage. Again, not totally perfect, as the pineapple was warm. But otherwise delicious - especially the bread.
For the price (approximately 300 euro a night) you can't do much better in the City of Light (and Love and Shopping and Wine and now, thankfully, a great hotel).
Dior, Louis Vuitton and Le Bon Marche are also close by, so really, you could spend the whole weekend in your hood.
But if you decided to leave, you'd be equally pleased at how close everything else is. Musee d'Orsay is a 10 minute walk, the Louvre is a 15 minute walk, Il de la Cite is a 20 minute walk, and the catacombs are six stops away, again on the 4.
From a locational perspective, it's perfect.
And from a home from home perspective it's pretty perfect too.
There are four grades of room, and we opted for a Superior, the second up. As a result, we got a bigger bathroom, but still a small room. It was a perfectly proportioned room though, just not big enough for a dance party. And the bed. The bed was fabulous.
The bathroom offered everything you needed and wanted - marble and modern. But as is the case with four star hotels, things weren't totally perfect. In this case, the commode was a bit tilted (but now I'm nit-picking).
Breakfast was also almost perfect - served until 10:30 on Saturday and 11:00 on Sunday. Meats, cheeses, bread, pastry, fruit, cereal, eggs and sausage. Again, not totally perfect, as the pineapple was warm. But otherwise delicious - especially the bread.
For the price (approximately 300 euro a night) you can't do much better in the City of Light (and Love and Shopping and Wine and now, thankfully, a great hotel).
Here Is The Writer : Sarah Western Balzer
Sarah Western Balzer is the managing director of HITC Life and is always on the lookout for reader-writers, so if you'd like to be one, make yourself known (sarah.western@hereisthecity.com). Sarah moved to London six years ago from New York but is originally from Florida, and still suntans like it's 1989. She is so grateful to the banker who introduced her to Here Is The City that she married him, and they live in Wapping with their son.
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