Paris Hotels How to reduce your risk of selecting the wrong hotel
Strategies in choosing a Paris Hotel - Part Two
In the first article, I explained the difference between the US hotel rating system and the French hotel rating system. In this article, I will review some of the criteria and recommend 4 steps you should take to select the right hotel in Paris.
What are the 22 criteria?
Covering each of the 22 criteria would just take too much space here. I wrote a full article on the topic you can download at Paris Eiffel Tower News
Here is a list of the main criteria measured
Room sizes and numbers
Room soundproofing
Heating and air-conditioning
Design of bathroom facilities
Phone system
Electrical equipment
Elevators
Each requirement differs from one star category to the other, and the law sometimes provides for 'tolerances' when a single criterion cannot be 100% complied with.
Quality vs. Quantities
Though the French rating system is based on objective, measurable criteria, this does not mean travellers' expectations will be fulfilled automatically.
First, there are keen differences in perception between populations. One of the most common example of such a problem relates to room and bed sizes. American travellers are used to larger rooms and beds than the average room and bed sizes offered by Paris hotels. This 'size gap' originates in history and genetics: space is scarcer in Paris than in Boston or Chicago, and French people tend to have smaller bodies than American people.
Moreover, the French rating system does not measure service quality, a major issue with travellers. Though a hotel can fully comply with the 3-star criteria, the cleanliness of its bathrooms may not be fully satisfactory. The receptionist may have a bad attitude problem. The hotel management may be slow to fix a plumbing problem in a room. All such issues may compound each other to inflict a revolting experience to a hotel guest.
Because the French system does not measure the quality of service over time, it may be chancy to base your choice of hotel solely on the french star rating.
The safer bet ... To afford the best chances to pick the right hotel in Paris I would recommend you to take 3 steps:
have a basic understanding of the French rating criteria (see above link to download them)
visit the hotel's own website, - do not hesitate to e-mail your questions to the hotel owners
For those of you who are not familiar with the service provided by Travelocity, thousands of travellers use this website to write reviews on the hotels they stayed at. As always with such an open forum, you will find both extreme judgments and moderate opinions.
My advice: if a hotel fetches 4 or 5 acceptable-to-good reviews and a couple of very bad ones, put the latter on account of a bad hair day. I don't know of any hotel which satisfies 100% of its guests throughout the year. Favor moderate reviews with some flesh on the bones: they will usually give you a useful picture of what to expect from the hotel, good and less good.
Visiting the hotel's own website (make sure it is the hotel's own) will allow you to view the rooms and bathrooms, and form a better idea of what you can expect. I insist on visiting the hotel's own website because it is usually the website where you will find the largest number of photos. Commercial travel websites usually skimp on photos.
Lastly, e-mailing your questions to the hotel owners may or may not get you an answer. This usually depends on the proficiency of the receptionist in your language. People at the front desk may shy away from responding by email, just because they don't feel comfortable writing in a foreign language. Naturally, receiving informative answers to your questions is a good sign that the hotel cares, and that its personnel strives to serve their prospective guests well.
About the Author:
Phil Chavanne Senior Editor of Paris Eiffel Tower News, a Paris online guide I have maintained since 2002.
