Madeleine Plaza Hotel in Paris

Charm over convenience. We selected this hotel for our family (2 adults, 2 kids) because it looked charming and had a view of the Eiffel Tower. It was charming, it was clean, it had a view of the Eiffel Tower, but it also felt 'rickety.' The stairs were slanted/not level (maybe that's the charm talking??), the elevator was dated, the bathroom was very very small and a little stained, the hallways were narrow. This hotel was conveniently located a very short walk to the Metro station. Their breakfast was fair. It had hotel-scrambled eggs, an egg boiler, some bacon, yogurt cups, and pastries. The drinking water refill spout was very nice as we refilled all our water bottles. We weren't sure that the water in the hotel was all drinking water. If we would do it again as a family, we would skip the 'charm' for this price point, and go to another hotel that had more modern conveniences, without a view of the Eiffel Tower. Perhaps with just 2 adults, this would have been okay, but it was just too tight for our little family. Also, the quality of food at the Madeleine Cafe next door was disappointing. We had breakfast and lunch there. Their service was friendly, in English, and fast, but quality was very poor, and tasted like fast food or a greasy diner.

I cannot stress enough how terrible my experience at this hotel was. Would give zero stars if I could. I came in September and was supposed to stay four nights in the hotel. When I checked in I noticed the hotel room was a little run down - really due for an update - but clean enough. I also noticed my deadbolt wasn't working, but I didn't think much of it at the time. When I went to bed that night I went to double check the door and realized that it actually does not latch at all. I went outside the room and shut the door hard, pulling to see if it would latch and every time I could just push the door open, no key needed. I had unknowingly left all my stuff (passport included!) in the room during the day with it unlocked, and now I was supposed to sleep with no lock on the door (a female solo traveler). When I called the front desk, they told me they had no rooms available and that I had to wait until morning for the manager to come in. I obviously wasn't able to sleep at all, because I was so freaked out about not having a lock on the door, and went down to speak to the manager in the morning. She then told me that I wasn't closing the door correctly. She tried a few times and then told me that it was in issue with the slow close mechanism and that they would take that out so that the door slammed shut every time. I told her I just needed a different room with an actual working lock, which they didn't have, so I told her I needed to check out. She told me that she would have to charge me for that night because I didn't tell her that the night before (recall she wasn't there and I was told to wait until morning). I ended up being charged for a second night in this hotel, when I actually did not even sleep a single night there. A lock seems like a basic thing to ask for in a hotel room, but apparently not. Do not stay here. There are plenty of beautiful and affordable boutique hotels in Paris that actually have your basic safety and security in mind.