Stayed at the Mercure Stendhal on Rue Danielle Casanova by Place Vendome in Paris over the weekend (3-5 Feb) and was very impressed in deed. The tourist board has awarded this hotel with 4 stars for 2012.

The hotel is quite small with 4(?) floors (total of 4 rooms on each floor), a small lift fitting maybe 2 people with little luggage and a quite wide and easy to climb staircase if you're reasonable fit (if it makes sense). The breakfast is served in the basement and there's only 4 tables with space for 2 people at each table.

The room: We had room 23 so on the 2nd floor (-1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4) and by the looks of it, it was a smoking room (ash trays in the bedroom and bathroom). There was not as much as the tiniest odor of smoke in the room so not sure if the hotel these days is a non smoking hotel or not. We can't stand cigarette smoke so no complaints from our side.

The entrance to the room contained a little hall with a separate toilet to the left, a large wardrobe with plenty of space for coats etc, extra blankets, pillows and a shoe polishing kit.

To the right was a another door opening into the room itself. Quite large with a big enough double bed, usual furniture, 32" LCD with HD channels but limited English speaking channels (who watched TV while in Paris anyway?), safe, kettle and selection of coffee and tea including decaf. The room it self was decorated in heavy dark fabrics (fitting the building very well), curtains from the high sealing to the floor and clean carpet. A door to the right (when facing the entrance - sitting on the bed) opened into a fantastic bright and large bathroom in blue and white tiles. The usual toiletries were available (Mercure and Me) and refilled every morning ^ The room faced Rue Danielle Casanova but the noise was minimal and didn't wake up once during the night, and I'm prone to wake up due to the slightest peep.

Free Orange WiFi available (same type as offered at the AF lounge at CDG) and very fast in deed - at least during the weekend we were there.

Each floor also have a prestige room (Room 24 on our floor) but didn't have the opportunity to have a peek so can't say what extra it contained. Maybe bigger (as per the fire escape maps)?

Breakfast: Breakfast was included in out stay and was very much the standard Mercure breakfast which fills you up as there is a grand enough selection of breads, types of cheese, pancakes, usual warm selection of sausages, bacon, scrambled and boiled eggs and as a first at a Mercure hotel, the orange juice was actually squeezed by the staff upon request. Well actually the breakfast attendant asked us if we wanted juice... We were the only ones there at around 08:30 / 09:00 so had the whole thing for our selves.

Staff: This was the biggest surprise. Seldom have we meet such nice and pleasant, helpful and attentive staff. Smiles all around and asking if there was anything they could do to make our stay more enjoyable.

Location: The Location to Price ratio is unbeatable in the area - hands down. Less than 100 meters to the right you have some of the most expensive hotels in the world but I would not swap for a million dollars. Very easy access to the Roissy bus run by RATP or even walking to Les Halles for the RER B (20 min and then through Palais Royal as a bonus) if going to CDG. the 95 Bus stops on L'Ave Opera for Montpernasse (TGV to the West), Metro 14 is at Pyramides for Gare Lyon (TGV to Eastern France) and all the usual tourist things are in close proximity to the hotel as well. The very good value for money Michelin Restaurant Le Petit Celadon is 100 meters from the hotel as well which is recommended for their excellent weekend value menus (EUR 58 pp including wine).

Verdict: Over all, this is a fantastic hotel and worth every cent. We paid around EUR 320 for a double room including breakfast for 2 nights. We arrived at 12:00 and got the room straight away. I think the average price is around EUR 180 - 200 per night which, again, in this area is very good value for money ^^^ (Yes a triple thumbs up)

When checking my mails at the airport lounge heading back to Switzerland I couldn't believe my eyes. The points had been credited to my account and I had now made Gold (from Silver). So, we checked out at 10:00 and by 13:30 the points were on my account ^^^ (and another triple thumbs up)

A-Club / Accor I'm back for sure ^

PS. Will post pictures when I get some spare time later today or even later this week...