My boyfriend and I booked a corner suite with a view of the Eiffel Tower on the fifth floor for five nights. After confirming on the phone prior to arrival and having the confirmation in writing, we arrive to hear that our room is taken. We're shown a junior suite which is small, dark and on the second floor with a view of a building across the street. This was unacceptable, so the manager shows us to a deluxe room on the fifth floor with a view of the tower at a discount. Instead of immediately leaving and running to the Hotel Lancaster, we decided to give this hotel a try. The room was sunny, nicely decorated, comfortable, and had a wonderful view. The service and amenities were horrible. Internet in the room didn't work four out of five days. Air conditioning didn't work at all the first night. Our wake-up call came half an hour late. Laundry promised for same-day, came the next afternoon. The taxi that I reminded them several times the day prior to call for our ride to the airport was not called for us. The manager is arrogant, as is the gentleman at the front desk in the afternoons. The concierge are their saving grace. I told them they should rename the hotel to Hotel Patrick. About half the time, there is no doorman so Patrick will run to get it. When there's no bellman, Patrick gets the bags. When there is nobody at the desk, Patrick helps in the business center. The place is like a make-believe hotel where once you are in your room, mostly nothing goes right and there's no one to talk to. We stayed because of the pretty room, view and location. No, I would never recommend this hotel or stay there again. Someone from the Balzac should spend a night at the Hotel Savoy in Florence, which I've just reviewed, to learn how a hotel should run. Oh, and the shower was semi-circular with the circumference of a beach ball. While inside the tubular glass doors, I felt like I was on the Jetsons and soon would be beamed up to the roof for my waiting spacecraft.

The two of us stayed here for a few nights in April 2008. First the good points: * the location is perfect, a one minute walk to the middle of the champs elysee. * we had a large room with a view of the eiffel tower. The nighttime light show on the tower is spectacular. * the room was big and well furnished * we got a reservation to pierre gagnaire and it was sensational. now the bad points: * the staff seem to have a fetish for entering your room even when the do not disturb sign is on the door. On at least 3 occassions that we returned to our room there was a staff member in the room!!!! Not a cleaner but someone just standing there!!!! other times we would be in the room and they would just barge in without even knocking and then see us and leave without talking. Very strange!!! I rang the front desk once to check that one of the people was actually a member of staff. * The rooms should be equipped with an iron and ironing board. I know lots of places in france (for whatever reason) do not have them in the room but when you are catering for an overseas market they are essential * Be careful about breakfast. Continental breakfast was included in our rate which normally includes juice, coffee, cereal and fruit and normally does not include hot food, meats or cheeses. Well one morning as we were leaving we were told that we had to sign the bill for the "buffett breakfast" We said we did not have any hot food, well the staff member quite rudely told us that he watched us have fruit and yoghurt and that is not included in the continental breakfast. Well if that is the way the Hotel runs their breakfast that is fine but they should have explained what was and wasn't included. Would we stay here again? Probably not. It was a good stay rather than a bad stay or a great stay but with so many Hotels in Paris we would look probably look elsewhere. I would suggest this Hotel however for the first time visitor to Paris.

We arrived late at Balzac on New Years Day and the doorman addressed us by name as he helped us out of the taxi. Either he has ESP or we were the final late arrival of the day. I suspect the latter, but it was still a nice touch. The gentleman that checked us in was very gracious and showed us to our room. It was a nicely decorated. A mix of traditional and contemporary touches. Being that it was New Years, there was a bottle of chilled champagne in a bucket and chocolates waiting for us when we entered. Another nice touch. The room was very comfortable and I got a kick out of the Toto toilet seat that washes and dries. If you like gadgets and haven't seen this before, you'll get a chuckle out of it. Hotel B was definitely comfortable and offers a bit of luxury, but I think there are comparable hotels in Paris that aren't as expensive. However, if you need to be in that part of town, Hotel B is a good option.

The Hotel Balzac is beautiful-- perfectly Parisian, wonderfully located and genuinely high-class. All staff were very attentive and helpful-- we were with three young (very well behaved) children but were never made to feel like a nuisance. And housekeeping even noticed that we were using all the Molton Brown hand lotion, because on the third day, a larger bottle replaced the tiny hotel-sized one. The rooms are (slightly) larger than other hotels I've stayed in in Paris, so you can open your suitcase without having to set it on the bed. The food was good, although I definitely recommend taking their advice on restaurants to visit. The breakfast, however, is fantastic. Fresh breads and an excellent fruit selection (very impressive in the middle of December!) was a great way to begin the day. And you are literally 2 blocks off the Champs Elysees. And there's a bike-share rack on the second of those blocks. It's all but impossible to beat the location. A couple of cons: the heat wasn't working in our room and it took 2 days to fix (it was -4 celsius), so we had to make do with a space heater (it worked okay, but still), and the menu could be better. But overall, I definitely recommend the Hotel Balzac.

We stayed at the Hotel Balzac for three nights and our overall experience was a pleasant one. upon arrival, the hotel staff rushed out and took all our luggage from us which was really nice.At check in we was told that our room was not ready which was a bit disappointing, however we did get there slightly before the check in time and the staff offered to take my mobile number and call when the room was ready. I received a call within thirty minutes. The room was lovely and had no complaints, we had booked a Superior-Double however it appeared we were upgraded to a Deluxe Double as we had a balcony and a truely fantastic view of the Eiffel tower. The bed was extremely comfortable and the room was fully air conditioned, in addition to this there was also a mini bar, which was regularly replenished. The hotel staff were very friendly and most spoke good english. They all went out their way to assist us and accomodate our requirements, and the prompt response we received was very good. The only problem we encountered was the quality of the food that was bought up to our room. The food was quite expensive, which you would expect from a luxury hotel however my dish was nearly cold and my girlfriend's dish contained eggs which it clearly shouldn't have. Therefore we was not impressed with the food. Putting the food issue aside, I would recommend this hotel to anyone as it is a really nice place. We would definitely stay there again.