MGallery L'Echiquier Opera Paris - Great Paris Hotel
MGallery L'Echiquier Opera Paris
38 Rue de l'Échiquier 75010 Paris, France FR
Great Paris Hotel - MGallery - L'Echiquier Opera (5 Photos)
MGallery L'Echiquier Opera Paris
Booked online using Accor website. Good rate for a solid 4* in Centre Paris.
Booked Classic Room, with breakfast, at 18m2, small rooms, but not too bad for Paris
The hotel is just off Grand Boulevard and near metro. We arrived at Gare Du Nord, on Eurostar, and simply walked the 15 minutes to the hotel. We never used Metro our stay as everything we needed is walkable - Louvre, shops etc
On check in, very friendly staff. Upgrade to Deluxe room, 22m2, with Illy Coffee machine and free soft drinks in mini bar. Also drinks voucher - Platinum member.
Dining
We just had breakfast in hotel. They have small bar which does some light food. Bar staff and breakfast as all staff in hotel are top notch
Breakfast is just perfect. Enough, but not too much, and more important good quality food.
There is small cold secton with fruits, yoghurts, cold cuts, cheeses. Excellent pastries and breads. Some cereals, hot food, sausage, bacon, beans and eggs. Good coffee/tea and hot chocolate
Location
Ideal, handy for everything and for this area a great bargin.
Overall
Wonderful hotel, dating back to 1500, and 1850 as hotel. Style is classic and French, wonderful staff and quiet peaceful rooms. Will return.
Service
Cant fault any of the staff. They hotel is kept very neat and tidy. Staff seem to really care. The whole place has the right feel about it.
Check In
Booked through Accor site and good a good rate for 2 nights. Booked on and B&B rate, and will count to the current promotion should get 2,000 bonus points.
Booked classic room, 18m2, which is small but not bad for Paris. We arrived from London at Gare du Nord an dsimply walked the 15 minutes to the hotel. It is just off Grand Boulevard and ideal for all main tourist places. 20 minute walk to Opera/Louvre
On arrival we were met by friendly staff who welcomed us. Upgrade to Deluxe room - 2 level upgrade. a 22m2 room with free mini bar - soft drinks. Also a drinks voucher.
Room
Room was as requested, quiet. Facing into the inner courtyard, which is ideal. The outside street can be noisy with drunks!
Room was well laid out. Small work desk. Sofa, very comfortable bed, although it is 2 beds joined, with 2 seperate matress, not one on top.
Air-con did not work, it was very hot in hotel. We simply kept window open.
Seperate toilet to shower area. Clarins products, which were very nice. Tried to buy in Paris, but Clarins told us thye made them specially for the hotel
Nice Illy coffee machine and some teas.
Good free wifi, TV with limited English TV channels.
Nice touch was the curtain across the door to keep noise out!
Nothing was spectacular but everything was as it should be. We were warmly welcomed and given drinks vouchers. A sweet treat was waiting in our room, together with cards welcoming us as Platinum members -- with slightly different wording (one greeting us as first-time guests, the second welcoming us back and thanking us for returning).
Thank you once again, gav0106, for your review.
Last edited by IMH; Mar 24, 2017 at 9:34 am Reason: spelling
The most obvious is fairly central: a staircase with a retrofitted mini-lift in the stairwell. Rather like the ones I remember from cheap Paris hotels 30 years ago, just much newer and faster. Further to the right and round a corner is a second lift, ascending in the front right-hand corner of the building next to the x01 rooms. This is good to know, as for me the stairs stopped being fun after the first few floors.
Hotel L'Echiquier Opera Paris, MGallery by Sofitel
38 Rue de l'Échiquier 75010 Paris France,
Lovely stay but not a fan of the neighbourhood (8 Photos)
Hotel L'Echiquier Opera Paris, MGallery by Sofitel
Check In
Check-in was smooth and quick (I'd done online check-in through the app the a couple of days before).
I'd booked Classic (no breakfast) for €160 through the Accor website, and received Deluxe (two-level upgrade), the rate of which on the day was about €300.
The front desk did not verbally acknowledge my Platinum status, which is not important for me but it makes a difference between loyalty schemes (e.g. IHG group hotels always acknowledge the status). I did receive a voucher for a drink at the bar, which was anything on the menu except for cocktails, champagne and spirits.
Room
The room was spacious for Parisian standards, and for me it was the perfect size.
The TV is right above the desk, which made it a bit awkward when I was working on my laptop but still wanted some background noise. There is a USB socket in the wall, which is handy if you're travelling light and do not have a charger with you, but the power does switch off periodically so you would have to unplug the device and plug it back in again.
There were a few books (in French) in the corner.
I appreciated the thick wool curtain across the door - it blocks out noise very well.
Room 404 faces the Rue l'Echiquier, which draws a lot of sunlight in the morning and afternoon. It was only noisy when I had the windows open and the rubbish truck drove past to collect the bins.
The bathroom and toilet were separated, although the toilet does not come with a sink, which could be inconvenient if there is more than one occupant as you'd have to walk across the mini-hallway to enter the bathroom to wash your hands.
Same as the OP's review, the bathroom comes with Clarins amenities, which were lovely. The shampoo and conditioner especially smell really nice and left my long hair very soft.
There is also a bottle of body lotion and hand wash by the sink.
This little card was on the bedside table:
I'm assuming they placed this here because they knew I (female) was staying... I'd read further in the in-room magazine that they are "tailoring" stays for female guests, although I'm not sure if it's necessary or that I felt my stay was especially tailored.
The robe and slippers are supposedly sized for a woman, although the robe is too generically sized for me to tell. The slippers, however, were tight. I don't think they can just assume a woman is going to wear size EU37!
The card also mentions a "special surprise for LCAH members" - I have no idea what this was and couldn't be bother to call and ask.
According to the card, there are female-oriented items for loan and sale at the front desk. Of all the items on offer (e.g. yoga mat, nail polish remover), I'm surprised they didn't include sanitary towels or tampons (which I think should be complimentary if they were going to tailor the stay for a female guest).
The room also comes with a free minibar (still and sparkling water, Coca-Cola and Diet, and orange juice), and an Illy espresso machine.
Location
Overall I really liked the hotel, especially the room (which is the most important part). Not a huge fan of the decor in the bar - 1920s art deco style - but it's not a deal-breaker and it's certainly a lot nicer than several tacky and dated hotels I've seen.
The only thing I really didn't like was the location. Although it's convenient and close to metro and bus stops, there were a number of rough sleepers near Bonne Nouvelle metro station. Also the shops around Faubourg Saint-Denis were mainly grocers and butchers, which would be nice and convenient for anyone who lived in the neighbourhood, but not exactly something I'd like to see on a weekend away.
I would stay at the hotel again, but if I find a similar hotel in another neighbourhood that I prefer (e.g. near Canal Saint Martin) then I might be persuaded to try somewhere else.
Dispensers are perhaps not as "posh", but personally I prefer dispensers with pumps like these (rather than the squeezy ones at Ibis Styles) because I didn't have to fiddle with caps whilst showering.
Obviously personal preferences play a large part here but we didn't feel unsafe or uncomfortable in this area, including late at night. There are lots of restaurants within easy walking distance, ranging from simple to Michelin starred, and everything from Montmartre down to the Île de la Cité is also walkable for most people. Apart from arriving and leaving, we didn't use a single bus, train or taxi during our two recent two-night stays.
I know what you mean, but I disagree and wish that more hotels would follow this example. Tiny plastic bottles are fiddly and wasteful. Of course, dispensers need to be kept completely clean and free of grime -- which the MGallery L'Echiquier does.
They left small gifts on the table - a tote bag and two pieces of biscuits - nice gesture but can't compare to the half bottle of wine I got from Hilton Budapest (as a Silver member) or the canapes offered by IC Ambassador programme.
Just an FYI in case anyone likes the Clarins "Invigorating" product range, they are now available to buy from Clarins website (online exclusive - in the UK and France at least) - http://www.clarins.co.uk/body-bath-shower/340/, although it looks like both the shampoo and shower gel are out of stock at the moment.