Hôtel Cactus

I was in Paris for the Learning Technologies Tradeshow and this hotel worked well for a short stay. The location was very convenient, the staff were superb, breakfast tasted good, and the bed was comfortable. A good deal.

The room wasn't properly cleaned during our two-night stay, even though we left the key at reception both days. The trash wasn't taken out, and we had to buy our own toilet paper and tissues. The first room had stains on the curtains and sheets, dirty windows and floors, bathroom mold, and fungus inside the hairdryer. After I complained, we were moved, but the replacement room wasn't much better. It had only two stained towels for two people, not the four I would normally expect. The payment situation was upsetting too. I booked through Booking.com because it said “Pay at the property,” and the hotel confirmed that no advance payment was needed. A few days before arrival, they began taking small amounts from my card, then two holds of €77 each, together equal to two nights. They told me these were pre-authorizations that would be released at check-in, and that I could pay for the stay at the hotel. At reception, I was told the money had been returned but could take up to 15 days to reach me, while I still had to pay immediately. The owner seemed indifferent and said he was acting in his own interest. The receptionist called the delay hotel policy, though it hadn't been stated anywhere. I offered to pay the hotel directly without all the back-and-forth, but was told payment had to be made at check-in, which would have meant paying again for four nights when we were staying two. This was ridiculous. We were asked to leave the room key at reception so it could be cleaned when we went out. After all this, Cactus Hotel wasn't the cozy Paris stay I had hoped for. The owners didn't seem to care about guests or their comfort.

There’s no lift, so if you're staying on the third floor with big luggage, you'll have to carry it up. The metro is on one side and buses on the other, so getting around the city is easy. The place is cozy and small, best suited to a stay of two days or less. Check-in is at 3 PM and checkout at 11 AM, which seems common in Europe, but I don't think those times are right.

The location is very good, with easy metro access to all of Paris, but the hotel felt overpriced for what it offered. The curtains were covered in black mold and need replacing. Even after cleaning, the room still wasn't very clean and the bed hadn't been made. One towel was dirty when the towels were changed. There's no elevator, though that wasn't an issue for us. We were expected to leave our keys when going out so the room could be cleaned, but nobody mentioned this at check-in. When someone who seemed to work there stood outside asking for our keys as we left, rather rudely, it felt suspicious because we'd never been told about the arrangement. They really need to replace those curtains.