3-star comfort, 2-star rates – great value hotel at the Eiffel Tower
The 7th district, around Rue Cler, is one of my favorite spots in Paris. Considered to be a quiet neighborhood, it has nevertheless all the action I need: great cafés, restaurants and bars. For different kind of action the market street of Rue Cler is an interesting place, either if you buy your groceries here or watch others do so from Café du Marche. And then, of course, there is Champ de Mars: even if you’ve seen the Eiffel Tower a hundred times, picnicking in the green park is as enjoyable as ever.
It is an elegant and popular district, and good hotels are not known to be cheap. But you can always find exceptions, some local secrets, hidden gems. Hotel de l’Alma, in a little and quiet street just off Rue de Grenelle, a couple of minutes from Rue Cler and about five minutes from Champ de Mars, is such a place. Nothing extravagant or ultramodern, like some design hotels tend to be – it is a modestly elegant traditional 3-star hotel.
The rooms are quite spacious with Parisian standards, and well equipped. You will find all the luxuries one can expect in a 3-star hotel, from a flat-screen TV to a direct phone, from free Wi-Fi to a mini-bar. Some of the rooms overlook a small inner garden – a nice place to relax or have your breakfast in the summer months – others overlook the little street, and the ones on the top floor even have a view of the Eiffel Tower. I didn’t have a view of the tower but was absolutely satisfied with the room – quiet, comfortable and homely.
First suspicious of the low prices – my room was 85€ for a night but it can be as cheap as 72€ in low season – I’ve got much more than I thought I would. I expected a mediocre budget hotel, but I’ve got all the comfort of a 3-star hotel – great value indeed! In such a prime location it is really a little hidden gem – maybe I should have kept it as a secret.
Hôtel de l’Alma ***
32 rue de l’Exposition
75007 Paris
Website: http://alma-paris-hotel.com/
