Booked through last minute.com, both flights on BMI Baby and the hotel Arcadie. The hotel is a typical basic Paris hotel ,but if you are looking for a well located place to stay at a good rate this is the hotel for you. The hotel has fairly small rooms and a very small lift but if you are looking for just somewhere to sleep it is adequate and is made better by the excellent and fiendly staff who are very friendly especially if you make just a little effort to try out the basic thank-yous in French - this applies throughout Paris and I think without exception we found the French, helpful, friendly and most welcoming to their city. We found the hotel clean throughout and I would say that much of it has recently been decorated. The location of this hotel couldn't be better as it is about 100 meteres or so from the main Montparnasse main line railway station, the metro station and the airport transfer bus stop (Air France). We used the Air France bus number four from Charles de Gaulle (you don't have to fly Air France to use this service) and the return trip for two of us worked out at around 48 Euros. You probably could do this cheaper but we didn't particularly want to carry suit cases through the metro and train system. It is a bit long winded around the airport as it picks up from a number of parts of the airport after this though just one stop before Montparnasse. One lovely find we did make whilst in the area is in one of the side streets down hill from the hotel - a bar called Night Beach (10 Rue Vandamme, 75014 Paris). A young couple had only opened this a few weeks before we visted and they were really trying to make a go of the business. The work they had carried out on the place was excellent and they were so proud, they spoke fantastic English and even gave us a guided tour. Really worth a visit if you like a chilled out drink after a busy days site seeing. Getting around Paris is simple on the Metro, make sure you buy one of the travel cards (one two or three days) and then you can travel unlimited in the centre of Paris without having to buy tickets each time. Trains are very frequent and reliable and we felt really safe in the underground, probably more so than London! Costs in Paris were expensive especially drinks, this was compounded by a very poor Euro / Pound exchange rate at the time Beer was around ?6 a pint! Food wasn't too bad though as many restaurants had a fixed menu for quite good rates (around ?10 per head). One tip if you want a good view of Paris with the Eiffel tower in the view is to go to the top of the Montparnasse tower - 58 stories (about eight Euros) as the Eiffel tower is right in front of you in the view. If you go up the Eiffel tower it can be up to three hours to queue and once you are up there you can't see the number one Paris attraction! Paris really is special and very much worth the visit.

This is a lovely hotel. My room was spacious and clean and the bathroom was huge. the breakfast was good, if a little simple and the staff were extremely helpfull and friendly. The hotel is an excelent base from which to explore the city of Paris as it is only a very short work from Montparnasse Bienvenue station which has access to most of the metro lines that run through paris meaning you have little oppertunity to get lost. Right oposite the hotel is another Metro stop called Gaite for those of you who cannot walk 5 mins to Montparnasse. the only complaint I have about this hotel is that the windows are full sized (doors practically) and so you do feel slightly worried at night leaving them open, which as it was winter was not a problem as it would have been too cold anyway but in summer this may affect you. Also our windows looked out onto a street full of sex shows and porn video stores which no one warned us about. however we never experienced any problems due to this, there were no drunk loud noisy men etc. all in all a great hotel for the price and I would recommend it to people who want to see Paris on a budget.

First stay in Paris. Hotel is comfortable and clean, but basic. Perfect if you are out sightseeing all day and just want a comfortable base to sleep and change. Our room was v.small and did not have a view, but was very quiet and dark which helped to catch up on sleep. Our friends had a bigger room, overlooking the main street, but it was noiser and we were quite happy with what we got. Perfect location for sightseeing,walking to the Eiffel Tower etc could be done, although at least 30-40 mins. Main metro station nearby - easy to use and frequent trains. Even though we were there when the public transport staff were striking, we didnt get inconvenienced much. If you want a friendly, informal meal try the Restaurant El Paradis, down Rue de Maine, one of the side streets just down from the hotel. Food was great, service friendly and so good we went back the next night and were treated like long lost relatives. The moules were fabulous.

we stayed in this hotel for 3 nights in the first week in september. at the time, it was very difficult to find any sort of accomodation in paris but it was the week before the rugby world cup kicked off so that could explain it. the reception is ok and the trip between the lift and our room made me a little unnerved - the carpet looked very worn and we had to take turns using the lift with our luggage. when we got into the room you literally could not swing a cat in it. however, it was clean and small rooms are the norm in paris. the bathroom was tiny. you could not fit 2 people into it - literally and for some reason there was no shower curtain. however, once again, it was clean. we paid about €110 a night for this hotel and i think that we could have gotten better value for money in a comfort inn for example. however, the room was clean, the bed was comfortable, there was a fan and flatscreen telly in the room (which was very unexpected!!) and the metro is literally seconds away. If you got the hotel for less than €80 a night i would recommend it, otherwise, there's better value for money out there in my opinion.

We arrived at the Arcadie on 6th July for a four night stay to coincide with my birthday. Normally I prefer to stay in 4* hotels with a little more luxury than this one, but my boyfriend wanted to stay in a more traditional B&B than a hotel that puts chocolates on the pillow! The hotel is approximately 50 minutes drive from Charles de Gaulle airport, and although we were originally going to catch the bus from the airport to the hotel this was nothing short of organised chaos so we decided to get a taxi straight to the door. On arrival staff were extremely friendly, checking us without any delay and advising us on where we should go to make my birthday extra special. On the way up to the room, the lift was a tight squeeze - anyone suffering from claustrophobia should avoid the lift here especially in a July heatwave. Once we got to the room, there wasn't any air conditioning but there was a big electric fan in the room which provided clear air for us. Our room was an okay size - double bed, chest of drawers and two bedside cabinets all fit in snugly. However I wouldn't want to stay much more than four nights as we were beginning to get in each others way by the end of the stay. The room was cleaned every day, with fresh towels (often still warm from the dryer) delivered by the maid everyday. The bathroom was much more modern than the bedroom with a nice shower and facilities. The bedroom itself felt a little B&Bish (even though it isn't) and could have done with a lick of paint but overall no complaints. The room where breakfast was served was small - with no bar facility equalling nothing to do in the hotel other than sleep and eat breakfast. Breakfast was nice and simple. Croissants, cheese and other pastries with fruit juice and tea or coffee. One day there was no room for us when we got down there, so we queued for 15 minutes and then were told that breakfast had finished and we couldn't get anything. Thiswas highly annoying considering all it took was putting some pastries in a basket and boiling the kettle. I could have done this myself if allowed, but we decided to go down the road to the local bar and have pancakes which was a nice change. The area itself was great on an evening, with lots of bars and restaurants surrounding this theatre district. I would recommend Cafe Brussels for a quiet beer and wine. Every Sunday there is an arts and crafts market right next to the metro stop too which is worth a look, as is the chocolate which is a couple of minutes walk up the road from the hotel. All in all I would recommend this hotel so long as you are not looking for luxury. It is a good price for a hotel which is not far from the centre of town (you can see the Eiffel Tower from it's entrance) and overall staff are helpful.