Review: Hôtel de la Paix de Montparnasse
by Elena Greco
May 2017
I stayed at the Hôtel de la Paix (Hotel of Peace!) for two nights last month and found it delightful. It’s in the 14th arrondissement, right on the border of the 6th arr., close to public transportation and a cash machine, and the rooms are reasonably priced. It has a small, homey feel, like a B&B, and the people who operate it are lovely, super helpful and really go the extra mile to make sure that you’re taken care of.
The rooms are all different, each being decorated with a different theme and color scheme. I had a “superior” room, which had a comfortable double bed, a desk, a nice shower room with hairdryer, a small safe for passport/jewelry, wifi, flatscreen TV, and a cute décor with splashes of red. When I discovered there wasn’t a hardware store nearby to get an EU adapter for my three-prong laptop power cord, the lovely woman at the desk produced an “abandoned adapter” bag and helped me search through it to find just the right one, which she let me borrow.
My flight the last day was not until 6:00 pm, and they let me leave my bags behind the front desk while I walked around Paris. After my sightseeing, the taxi driver who returned me to the hotel said that he would come to pick me up when it was time for my flight. He came into the hotel lobby with me and told the host that he would return, so that they didn’t need to call a taxi for me. I had asked him the price, and he had verified it by showing me the government decal on the window that set the price at 50 Euros. I saw that he was a trustworthy gentleman and had no qualms at all, but after he left the lobby, the woman at the desk was concerned that I might be overcharged and made sure I knew what the price should be. I was moved that she was looking out for me, and assured her that we had already settled on the price.
I had asked the driver to return at 3:00, but at 2:15 the host came to me and said that the driver was at the front desk. I reminded him that I had said 3:00, but he said that traffic was bad and he thought I should leave then. At that point, TWO of the hotel hosts came out to have a discussion with him about traffic and timing and such, and the three of them together decided that I should leave at 2:45. I have never felt so taken care of! I would stay at the Hôtel de la Paix again in a heartbeat.
See Elena’s bios for more information about the author.