Novotel Paris 14 Porte d'Orléans

From Porte De Orleans, the hotel’s position on the main road makes getting around easy. The Metro is close, and buses, trains, or Uber can take you to the Eiffel Tower and other monuments. The area has a nice ambience, and there’s a good restaurant at reasonable prices. Rooms were clean and good, and you can see the Eiffel Tower from most of the hotel’s top floors. Staff were very helpful, and it felt safe to stay here.

The food was quite nice, with a big selection of professionally made croissants, and the hotel is only a five-minute walk from Porte d'Orleans metro station on line 4. The room was hot, though, and the toilet was in its own section. I had to touch everything before I could wash my hands! 😭

The rooms were also very cold and drafty. Even with the heat set to maximum, mine felt unusually cold. During the day, I saw a bed bug crawl toward my pillow. I documented it and flushed the insect down the toilet. The hotel moved me only to the room next door, and I was bitten there too, so there could have been other bugs still around. I asked for one or two days to be discounted, but they refused. Management denied the issue and didn’t offer a future stay credit. They said they found a couple of dead insects, treated both rooms, and wouldn’t reimburse me. I had to dispute the charge with my credit card and Mastercard reimbursed me. Even Motel 6, a 3-star hotel in the U.S., refunded my stay after a bed bug problem. Novutel is supposed to be 4-star and better than Motel 6, but there was no accountability from Novutel. Keep a camera ready to document things. If you’re unlucky enough to bring bed bugs home, your home might need to be treated by heating it to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. That could cost $4000 for a 2000-square-foot home. I wish I’d stayed at an Airbnb or Mariott, but a friend who stayed a year earlier recommended Novutel.

The hotel is clean, comfortable, well maintained, and worthy of its 4-star rating. The room was spacious and clean, and the location near public transport made it easy to get around by bus or Metro. But my experience with reception, especially on October 31 around 9:00-9:30 AM, was extremely disappointing. The parking area is very narrow and hard to maneuver in. I’ve driven for over 30 years and never encountered parking this challenging. The day before checkout, I politely asked a receptionist whether someone could bring my car to the front after I checked out. He assured me staff would help. But after the reception staff changed, they refused on departure day. One of them said I shouldn’t expect that service at a 4-star hotel. It was rude and unprofessional, especially after I’d asked ahead and received confirmation. I’m not upset that they couldn’t provide the service. I’m upset that they changed their word, didn’t apologize, and treated me disrespectfully. It showed a clear lack of basic hospitality and customer care training.