Novotel Paris Les Halles

Location

I was disappointed to find that, even a year after my previous stay, the hotel is still undergoing renovations. And if significant renovations have already been completed, I don’t think the layout was redesigned very thoughtfully. There is almost always a queue at reception, often stretching beyond the main entrance. Because of the way the lobby is arranged, every guest entering or leaving the hotel has to make their way through a crowd of people waiting to check in or speak to reception. It makes the entrance feel constantly congested and chaotic. Another issue that was particularly inconvenient when travelling with a young child was that there was no baby-changing station in the lobby restrooms. While we were waiting in the long queue to check in, our daughter needed a diaper change, which left us with two options: wait until our room was ready, or change her on one of the sofas in the lobby, in full view of the other guests — who would presumably also get to enjoy the smell. When we approached the receptionist and tried to explain the situation and ask if the process could be expedited, her response was a rather snappy, “That’s what I’m doing,” which came across as unnecessarily unfriendly and dismissive. At that point, I genuinely felt like I should have just changed the diaper right there on the reception desk. Perhaps then the lack of a proper baby-changing facility would have been noticed. The ice machine on our floor was also not working during our stay. We also had a particularly frustrating experience with housekeeping. Our young daughter accidentally wet the duvet shortly before bedtime, so we contacted the hotel and asked for it to be replaced. We specifically delayed putting her to bed because we wanted the bedding changed beforehand rather than having staff enter the room and wake her once she was asleep. What should have been a very simple request turned into more than two hours of waiting and repeated explanations.

The location was great. Near public transportation and restaurants

Loved our initial check in, beautiful hotel. Excellent facilities except the lift to the gym facilities was broken.

Broken lift. Pricey but beautiful hotel - located nearby a Westfield. Sadly, one staff member who booked our taxi on our last day… lowered the rating for the Staff - have never experienced rude Front of house staff in a high end hotel, let alone made to feel like an imposition to his work day, he was unprofessional and not helpful. Left a sour note as he was the 2nd to last evening in Paris. The man who I spoke with has a limp. Didn’t catch his name.

Epic location and lovely staff.

It was relatively expensive for the quality of the hotel. The rooms are dated and seen better days. The beds are also very small. We stayed in a much nicer hotel for the same price, simply another 10 min walk.