Maison Barbès in Paris

On returning from the conference after a full day, I was unable to access the hotel, I have not been given a key to unlock the main hotel door and it seemed highly unusual to not be able to enter immediately. I rang the doorbell and knocked on the door for 6-7 minutes before someone came to unlock it and allowed me to enter. I asked why I was unable to enter and he was dismissive and shouted at me that he answered straight away, though this was not the case.

The area itself appears very rough, there are homeless people sleeping on mattresses outside and the street is dark without lighting, perhaps this is why the main door is kept locked? For a safety issue? But it is not therefore not safe for me to be left knocking on the door to gain entry at 9pm if the surrounding area is risky. The lack of guaranteed access to the hotel especially given the area is very worrying from a personal safety standpoint.

At around midnight, still unable to sleep due to noise from other guests due to very thin walls I started to smell cigarette smoke, this has pervaded through the room and all my clothes now smell of stale cigarettes and my throat is inflamed ahead of my 25 min keynote tomorrow.

There are other issues such as no bathroom heating, resulting in damp towels, and the hot water is only tepid with weak water pressure, making it difficult to wash.