Canal Suites (Ex. Suite-Home) by Popinns

If you like walking, the town centre is about five km away, with pleasant places nearby to spend time. The hotel sits right at the edge of old Paris, so it's a good fit if you prefer quieter, less crowded surroundings. All kinds of transport are around the hotel.

The bed is just a pull-out couch, and it was pretty uncomfortable. The room smelled like smoke, mustiness and cat, while the six or so towels felt crusty and smelled musty too. That made me uneasy. It wasn't what we expected. Sure, it's cheap, but we stayed in a super nice Airbnb in London for the same price. Not impressed.

It's a little studio with a sofa bed instead of a regular bed. The small kitchen had a fridge, microwave, kettle, tea and coffee, plus plates, cutlery and what you'd need to cook. The train is just outside, and the metro is a six-minute walk. A good option if you're going to a concert at Zenith. Two downsides: the room smelled of smoke, and there were no English channels on the TV.

On Monday around 11 am, we found there was no running water. Reception said notices had been put up explaining that water would be off from 10 am to 6 pm for a week. But when we came back on Sunday night, there was nobody at reception and the entrance had been left open, which felt unsafe. We couldn't have gone to the desk to read a notice. When we asked how we could shower, a staff member said we could use his house. Why pay for a hotel if we have to go to his home to shower? We asked for the manager and were told to come down to reception, where there was a huge crowd. Later that evening, the two staff members were very rude. Nobody apologised; they just kept saying the notice was out. We saw a notice in the elevator, dated March 17th and written in French. Assuming it hadn't been put up after this happened, they could have told us when we checked in on the 23rd. We spoke to the manager, who was equally rude and said we could write reviews if we wanted. Back upstairs, the corridors were flooded, apparently because people had left taps on when the water stopped. Others were affected too, looking for water and finding none. I tried the tap again at 6:50 pm, after 6, and still got no water. No apology, no hospitality.