Agate Hotel

There are several restaurants nearby, as well as a bakery, and the Nation metro station is very close. The hotel staff were helpful and hospitable. Like a lot of Paris hotels, though, the rooms are tiny, especially the bathroom, which is really very small. I’d suggest they consider redesigning it in the future. Otherwise, I’d recommend the hotel.

It’s clean and good value, and you can reach the subway in about a five-minute walk. The room I had was very small, with two doors to get into it, both extremely heavy to open. For security, it was reassuring that the desk manager checked everyone coming into the hotel and wouldn’t let anyone in without a reservation.

After a long day of sightseeing, it was nice to come back to this quieter part of the city. The nearby metro stop has good connections across town, and there are pleasant restaurants, supermarkets, and bakeries close by. The rooms and shared spaces were clean, and the staff were wonderful and accommodating.

Apart from one encounter at check-in, I loved my stay at Agate Hotel. Nearly all the staff were kind and welcoming, but the Friday night I arrived, 4 April, the man at the desk was unfriendly. He was sitting down, didn’t greet me, and corrected how I pronounced my own surname, even though I was saying it correctly in English. He immediately switched to the Portuguese pronunciation and asked if I was Portuguese. I said I was, but explained that I was speaking English, so I was pronouncing it that way. He corrected me again, and we ended up arguing because I couldn’t understand why he kept doing it when I’d just arrived as a new guest. Then, in an aggressive and arrogant way, he asked, “So, you don’t want to speak Portuguese?” After another brief argument, he gave me my key. He treated me like utter rubbish, and that first impression is something I won’t forget.