Hôtel du Jura

It’s close to the railway station, though there’s no great view from the room since the hotel sits among several buildings. The rooms are small and feel old, as the building dates back a long time. Each floor has three or four rooms, and there’s no lift, so the stairs can be a bit hard to climb. The bed provided was good, but maintenance could be better: the floor felt sticky under bare feet. It may suit a solo traveler or friends, but families might want to think twice.

The toilet had been leaking since we arrived, and the room itself was awful, with no amenities, loose floorboards, and a bathroom door that wouldn’t shut. There are lovely French style windows, but all you can see and hear are the loud neighbours. We also had to haul our bags up several narrow flights of stairs because there’s no lift. Don’t stay here!

The staff were fairly friendly, but so were the drug dealers and pimps on the nearby streets. It’s a bad area and a bad hotel, and I wouldn’t stay there even for free. The place was a dump that looked as if it hadn’t been renovated since Napoleonic times. The entrance felt like a building site, and the stairs were so noisy they woke us at night whenever anyone went up or down.

The beds were comfortable, and the hotel is well placed near both Gare de l'Est and Gare du Nord. Those were the only redeeming features for us. The breakfast was very low quality, though perhaps that’s to be expected at a low cost hotel. We’d booked and paid through an online service for two separate beds in one room, and were told “No problem.” At check-in, we learned the hotel only had single beds available. When we asked to cancel because we hadn’t been given what we requested, the hotel said we had to contact the booking service. The service sent us back to the hotel, and neither a solution nor a refund was offered. The location was also unbelievably noisy, even though it’s not an area packed with bars and nightlife. People in the street screamed until at least 3am. The old building has no soundproofing, so you hear everything inside too, including people on the stairs and doors closing. We couldn’t sleep without being heavily sedated. Do yourself a favor and avoid it. Pay a couple more euros a night for a different area where you can sleep after a day seeing the wonderful city of Paris.