Le Grand Hotel Francais is actually petit, but as we prefer small hotels, we have had two lovely stays there.
It's in the 11me arrondissement, near Metro stop Nation. I liked the fact that it was in a neighborhood, rather than in the city center. It was restful to come "home" to a street uncluttered with crowds of noisy tourists.
Our 3rd floor room (4th floor to us Americans) had six-foot double windows that opened onto a side street with a little park.
The GHF was running an August summer special: 80 Euros/night.
Unique Qualities: The personal attention we received here was remarkable.
2002: The young man who managed the front desk, M. Ouali (like "Wally" with a French accent), was delightful. He fielded all of our tourist questions, explained the difference between a carnet and a Paris Visite card, and was very encouraging about my pidgin French.
He made return train reservations for us, and when I asked about a church for Sunday Mass, he recommended the 8:00 Mass at Notre Dame. That turned out to be the high point of our Paris visit, and I was so grateful for his guidance.
Mille fois merci, Ouali! We'll be back to see you someday!
Postscript 2004: We did come back! Ouali has been promoted and now manages two hotels in the chain. It was such a pleasure to see him again, and as before, he was so friendly and kind. On this trip we made the acquaintance of Mlle. Blandine, the lovely concierge, and she was always willing to help us, making phone calls for us when our French failed, and mapping out routes to restaurants. We will definitely return.
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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$40-80
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Phone: 33 1 43 71 27 57
Address: 223 Boulevard de Voltaire, 75011 Paris
Directions: Near the Nation metro stop
Website: www.grand-hotel-Francais.fr
Other Contact: Grand-Hotel-Francais@wanadoo.fr
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on Oct 24, 2004
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