Suite Home - Canal Suites(Paris La Villette)

There are nice places nearby to spend time, and if you enjoy walking, the town centre is about five km away. The hotel sits on the edge of old Paris, with all kinds of transport close by. It suits people who prefer quieter, less crowded areas.

We weren't impressed. The room had a stale smell, a mix of smoke, mustiness and something like cat, and the towels felt crusty and smelled musty too. The bed was just a pull-out couch, so it was pretty uncomfortable. Sure, it was cheap, but we stayed in a really nice Airbnb in London for the same price. This wasn't what we expected.

A train stops right outside, and the Metro is about six minutes away, so the location works well if you're going to a concert at Zenith. The little studio had a sofa bed rather than a regular bed, plus a small kitchen, fridge, microwave, kettle, tea and coffee, plates and cutlery, and the basics for cooking. Two downsides: the room smelled of smoke, and there were no English channels on the TV.

We booked seven nights, but the water problem made the stay miserable. On Monday around 11am we discovered there was no running water. Reception said notices had been put up saying it would be off from 10am to 6pm for a week. We'd returned late Sunday to find nobody at reception and the entrance left open, so we hadn't gone to the desk to look for a notice. When we asked how we could shower, the staff member said we could use his house. We asked for the manager and were told to come down, but there was a huge crowd; when we returned later, the two staff members were rude and kept pointing to the notice. Nobody apologized. We eventually saw a notice in the elevator, dated 17th March and written in French. Since we checked in on the 23rd, they could have told us then, if the notice had already been posted. The manager was just as rude and said we could write reviews if we wanted. The corridors were flooded, apparently because people had left taps on while trying to get water. I tried again at 6.50pm, after the stated cutoff, and still had no water. No apology, no hospitality.