Ivry 114

The receptionist was very rude and needs customer service training. When we arrived at the cheap hotel, he was arrogant and asked us for a €100 deposit plus €4.20 in city tax, even though we'd already paid for the hotel online. He said the €100 would be refunded in two to three days, but we received only €69 back. It felt like a scam.

The website says rooms have air conditioning, but ours didn't. The €100 deposit also worried me, as many guests have reported that it wasn't returned. For a stay of a few days, I expected to get clean towels, but they charge €5 per person for them. After delivering the clean ones, they left the dirty towels in the room. If the room is dirty or the bin is full, removing the mess costs €30. There's a phone number to call when reception is empty, but when I tried it, nobody answered. I could only hear a phone ringing in an empty room.

The room was clean, and so were the dishes. I didn't use the optional cleaning service, so I can't comment on that, though I saw staff cleaning the hotel each morning. There's laundry inside the building, and the lobby waiting area is nice. Most of the staff were friendly and spoke English. The room wasn't very spacious, especially for disabled guests, even though that information had been mentioned. Disability covers a wide range of conditions, but a wheelchair user couldn't turn around in there. There are no special handles, and the elevator is the only accessibility feature. The front door bell is far enough from the door that it's sometimes a struggle to reach it in time after ringing. I use a walker, and had no major problems getting around, but even I found it difficult to get into the shower-bath because the bathroom is so small. I'm no circus performer. The location wasn't great, the price felt exorbitant, and you still have to pay extra for everything. At least Wi-Fi is free.

The location is good, and parking is offered, but I still can't recommend this hotel. The staff and manager were very rude and seemed to lack basic hospitality. The rooms weren't properly clean or tidy, and the sofa was old and dirty. The hotel doesn't wash the kitchen dishes itself, and asks guests to wash them before leaving. It's cheap, but not a good choice.