In August last year, my friend, Yetunde and I, spent 4 days at the Hotel des Deux Avenues in Paris. Hotel des Deux Avenues is a small, family-run hotel in the 17th arrondisement of Paris. We had made reservations and paid online several weeks before our arrival and learnt on our arrival that doing so was cheaper than just walking in and paying for a room.
We had taken the Eurostar to Paris from London. The train drew in at Gare du Nord in Paris and from there, we took the Metro to Ternes, a station only 5 minutes walk from our hotel. We saved several Euros by taking the Metro instead of a taxi from Gare du Nord. At the hotel, the staff was helpful and gave transportation tips, recommended bars & restaurants and seemed ready to chat if you wanted to. Although I practiced my (broken) French with them whenever I could, the hotel staff spoke good English so there was no need for gesticulating or any drama like that.
The hotel was expensive (in my opinion). Our room cost roughly 120 Euros per night excluding breakfast. The room and bathroom were tiny though it had a little fridge and a TV with CNN, a few other English-speaking channels and some French channels. The hotel was on a quiet street only a few steps from a boulangerie where we bought croissants every morning. The best thing about Hotel des Deux Avenues though was that it was only about 15 minutes walk from the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees and was close to several cafes and restaurants so finding a place to eat, window-shop or people-watch was easy.
All in all, although the hotel was small, the size gave it a homely feel and the staff were nice and attentive. In addition, the hotel is located close to one of the most famous sights in Paris and was a short walking distance from shops and restaurants. With a bigger budget, I would try somewhere else but the Hotel des Deux Avenues is a great place for anyone visiting Paris for the first time.
Read other hotel reviews here.
