Hotel Dame des Arts

Erwin, the concierge, made our time in Paris especially memorable with thoughtful tips, recommendations, and reservations. He was warm and professional, and Nissia at the front desk was just as welcoming and attentive. Check-in and every interaction after that felt seamless and kind. Hôtel Dame Des Arts is beautiful and stylish, and the location is perfect. The staff really made the experience special. It combines elegance with exceptional service, and we’d gladly return or recommend it to anyone visiting Paris.

The location is great, the rooms are generally quiet, and the interiors are beautifully designed. I also had a spectacular Eiffel Tower view from my room. But this didn’t feel like a four-star stay, more like a three-star one, given the lack of attention to detail. The air conditioning kept resetting to its original temperature despite my repeated attempts to turn it down, so I was very hot through the night. Some outlets didn’t work, there was mould in the shower, and the room walls had scuff marks. The balcony was nice, but constant dripping from the drain beside it made it hard to enjoy. I’d had a long trip and arrived in the evening, hoping to eat at the hotel and go straight to bed. I checked the menu ahead of time and found something that fit my dietary requirements, but after check-in I was told that on Sundays and Mondays they offer a reduced menu with only a few options, none of which worked for me. I wish they’d made that clear beforehand. At checkout, the blonde woman at the desk took my key and told me about the tax, but didn’t ask how my stay had been. When I asked about the deposit hold refund, she said it was up to the bank, which is fine. But after I sat in the lobby, she whispered and laughed with a colleague while staring at me. Maybe it was nothing, but it came across as childish and unprofessional.

We were charged 300 euro after checkout for alleged smoking in the room, despite having used the terrace to smoke. I want other smokers to know about this before booking a terrace room. We’re two mature, professional, responsible women, and we paid for an expensive premium terrace room because it had a designated smoking area. There were two chairs, a table, and an ashtray out there. We never smoked inside. The terrace doors can’t be shut from outside because there’s no handle, so you have to pull them as far as you can using the frame. We did that whenever we went back in. After the first night, housekeeping cleaned the room and nobody mentioned any smell or complaint. We checked out after the second night, then got an email eight hours later saying we’d been charged for smoking inside. We sent many emails, but nothing changed their decision. After staying at several hotels with terraces where we smoked on this Europe trip, this was a terrible and expensive end to it. Management will no doubt defend their position in a reply, as I’ve seen them do on other reviews. If you don’t smoke, go ahead and book, but I won’t recommend the hotel because this feels like an obvious scam.

We booked a terrace room so we could smoke without leaving the hotel. There were ashtrays outside, and we always closed the door behind us when stepping onto the terrace. We did not smoke in the room. About eight hours after checkout, the hotel emailed to say we’d smoked inside and charged us 300 euro. I’ve never had a hotel take a smoking fee from me like this. It feels like a scam. I expected them to reply that the room smelled terrible, and that’s what they did, claiming multiple staff noticed it. The room was cleaned after our first night, and nobody said anything about a smell until the evening after checkout. They also say the smoke detectors didn’t go off during the supposed indoor smoking. It seems they’re just trying to cover themselves so we can’t challenge the charge. Absolutely appalling.