I had planned the trip of a lifetime for me and my mom. We were going to France! We had reservations for 7 days at the Renaissance Paris Nobel Tour Eiffel, which we knew was a four star hotel. We arrived at the hotel on Saturday, April 8th, and were checked in without any major problems. We received two keys to room 363 in a building that was toward the back of the property. Apparently they have several different buildings that are a part of the hotel. There was walkway construction going on and we had to be careful rolling our luggage because the wheels were getting stuck. The walkway was 90% completed by the time we checked out. We were there for the whole repair. It rained almost daily during our stay and the taped down plastic covering they placed over the decking leading to our building was slippery. My 73 year old mother could not walk on this covering and risk falling, so we walked a longer distance to get to our building.
We got to room 363, unlocked and opened the door. The disappointment I felt was overwhelming. The room was barely big enough to hold a queen size bed, 2 night stands, a small sitting table with ONE chair, a table with a TV, and a small armoire with a coffee maker and a mini fridge inside. Squeezing in all of our luggage made for very tight living quarters. We were exhausted from flying all night and just wanted to rest a bit. This would have to do for now. I tried to settle in and plugged in my outlet adapter and proceeded to use it. The power went out immediately. I called down to the front desk and someone was sent to reset the circuit breaker/fuse. With the power back on, we figured we'd get showered and rest a bit. The shower.......was a nightmare. The drain catch wasn't working properly and the shower flooded the bathroom floor. The partition to keep the water in was a joke. I used up all the extra towels mopping up the floor. We called the front desk again. Someone else was sent up to check the shower. The worker fixed the drain so that the catch worked properly and told us that that's how the shower works as far as the water going everywhere. I have NEVER heard of such. I was frustrated with the room and I knew I was going to ask to be switched.
There were other issues with the room. I may as well address them all here. The sink also leaked. Water would leak around the faucets and then start leaking and pooling over the counter top. The television greeted me every single day with Welcome Mr. Brandon Azad. I saw all of his daily charges. I asked the front desk about it. They acted like this wasn't a big deal. I also asked about another room. There were no rooms to switch to is what they said. Three days later, I was offered another room that was supposed to be better in another building. The room was MUCH better, but it was on the 3rd floor with NO elevators. This was not going to work. I was not going to expect my mother to have to walk up those stairs nor was I trying to haul our luggage up and down. They offered to have someone do all of that, but I knew that was going to be a problem having to wait indefinitely when we needed to move the luggage. Also, we wanted to make a cup of coffee. We tried to use the coffee machine, only to find that there was nowhere to plug it in in the armoire. The mini fridge must have had access through a hole somewhere in the back. In order to make coffee we had to plug the pot in on the floor because the cord on the coffee pot was too short to even sit on the small table and reach the outlet.
As I look at the daily charges for the room and the quality of the accommodations, I feel cheated. I thought I was paying extra for the attention to details...those little things that set a 4 star hotel apart from a 1 or 2 star hotel. The hotel you choose is important because this is your home away from home. Had I known that the accommodations were going to be this disappointing , I would have never agreed to this reservation. Everyday my mom and I went out to enjoy the sites of the city, only to dread coming back to the room where we had to endure tight living conditions, and a crappy shower.
It was hard trying to keep a happy face for my mom when I felt like I let her down. I talked up this fantastic trip and 4 star accommodations, only to let her down. She told me that it was okay, but it WASN'T. This was NOT the trip I planned. My dream trip turned into a "let's make the best of it." Maybe it was the language barrier, but this situation wasn't handled the way it should have been handled. I am very disappointed. I have NO desire to EVER return to the Renaissance Paris Nobel Tour Eiffel hotel. My 4-star experience never happened. My advice to anyone considering making reservations here is to inquire about the specifics of the room you will be staying in. Room 363 will always be remembered. read more