Review of: The Royal Cardinal Hotel (Paris)

During our stay in Paris (April 27-30th, 2011), we stayed at The Royal Cardinal Hotel in the Latin-Quarter of Paris.
You may have read my previous posting about our trip to Paris - it was quite lengthy - but here are the pros and cons of the hotel based solely on my opinion and experience there.
Please note it is a 2-Star rated hotel and that the hotel itself does not necessarily look like the photos portrayed on their web site.  We had a single bedroom at a rate of a little over 104�/night.

PROS:

• Staff are friendly and bilingual (for the most part)
• Very conveniently located near the Finnish Institute, in which my husband was participating in some conferences (approximately 10 minutes walk down the road at a slow "tourist taking everything in" pace)
• Crepperie across the road
• Continental breakfast is delivered to your room before 10am (cost is 6� per person per breakfast) which includes � a baguette, a croissant and your choice of beverage (hot chocolate, tea or coffee or juice)
• Not sure if this is recorded either - because during check-out -we were asked if we had had any breakfasts and how many in total
• **Please note if you order tea or coffee - you get hot milk  - not cold...as a North American - we usually put cold cream or milk in our hot beverages to cool off the drink...so this was new to me and just as delicious!
• Close to a pharmacy and a grocery shop called "Monoprix"
• Just close to lots of things in general - took less than 30 minutes to walk to the Notre Dame
• Supposedly has WI-FI (wireless internet)
• Cable television, flat screen and high up on the wall (away from a curious baby! BONUS!)
• Balcony is available on all floors (from the outside it appears that way) - however, the plants are not maintained and they were brown and dead.  
• The decor in the hall way (spiral stair case) is beautifully painted
• 1 Key per room and you leave it at the desk and don't have to worry about losing keys
• You punch in your requested wake-up time on the phone
• Shuttle from Hotel to airport is available at 17� /person (minimum 2 people) - however I don't think they have a way of keeping record of it.  Because we were asked at check-out if we had booked one...

CONS:

• 1 elevator and it can be small if breakfast is being served or trays are being removed from rooms in the morning, as there's a table inside that folds out from the wall.
• Once, the elevator was locked open on the bottom floor (as they were preparing and serving breakfasts to other clients - understandably) and this was a great inconvenience as we had a huge suit case and while I made it to the bottom with my son on my back - I noticed the staff were merely chatting (one was prepping the next tray for delivery) and the one who was doing the delivery eventually went in and had nothing extra to bring....seeing as the hotel is 6 floors - this could be a great inconvenience to those needing to depart quickly and with luggage.
• The shower was confusing to use - but even still - the water changed temperatures regularly (to ice cold to scalding hot) and changed in pressure and amounts.  The last day there - I couldn't even get one!!  The water was barely dripping from the overhead shower head...I was not impressed at all.
• For those expecting high amounts of services - these were not available (no list or booklet by the phone that I could see):
• No Room service (aside from breakfast that seems to be the same everyday)
• No Laundry service
• No ironing table or iron
• Didn't see a Bible for those that like a bit of late night reading
• No emergency sewing kit (I don't always see them but occasionally)
• No lint brush or shoe horn or shoe brush (we had this all in Estonia) and I do realize not all hotels offer this as well - but for those that perhaps are used to it - it'd be best to bring your own.
• **However, there was an electronic safe in the closet**
• We were not notified (nor did we think to ask as "Continental Breakfast" is usually included in the hotel fees) of the cost of the breakfast until we sleepily got into the elevator.  Cheaper than eating out - but the baguettes could've been fresher.
• The walls are pretty thin...so if you're thinking Paris is the City of Romance and thinking of getting romantic with your loved one - bear in mind - the whole floor will probably hear you.  The door is quite thin as well - and it was easy to hear anybody in the hall at any time of the day.
• This was a huge issue for me, as my son was teething (and still upset after being given pain medication) and the neighbours next door repeatedly pounded/knocked on the wall.  Thankfully, I know they were not asleep prior to our arrival around 10pm - as I could hear their television and chatter.  However, it's annoying and a pain - so I ended up yelling through the wall my apologies and had half a mind to leave them an angry note.
• I asked if the WI-FI connection required a password, I was advised there is no password - and had to assume that the network would be listed under "Hotel Cardinal" or something similar to the name of the hotel we stayed in.  There was no such network and any other network we could find, required a password.
• My husband was with a colleague who asked how to access the WI-FI (in fluent French) to the lady manning the front desk and she had no idea what "Wireless internet" or "WI-FI" even was...despite the promotion of it on their website and a large and bright pink/purple sticker on the front door.

So as you can see - I tried to make mental notes (written ones too) of average hotels in comparison to this one...There is a reason this place has a current 2 star rating.  

I do not want to sound overly harsh or rude - but this place would only get a 1-star rating from me because the grill next door was delicious and of it's convenient location.

The water tasted a bit off too - but perhaps that is all throughout France - as suggested by a colleague of ours living there currently.