Would love to stay here again
by TripAdvisor Member Justraveling
My husband, 13 year old son and I stayed at the Abbatial Saint Germain from the 9th to 15th January 05. We had Room 61 on the top floor. As soon as we entered the room, we went to look out the window and had the most wonderful view of the rooftops of Paris, the spires of Notre Dame on the left and a distant view of the Pantheon on the left. It is a step out window with a small balcony, would be nice to sit out here in summer.
The room itself is small, but the normal European standard. A double bed and a single rollaway. We were lucky enough to be there when a brand new mattress was delivered to the room, so if you have this room, you will have a really comfortable bed. The bathroom is small for three, but adequate with a tub/shower. Remember to lay out an extra towel or bathmat on the outside of the tub, so you don't splash the whole bathroom, there is only a half shower screen. Fresh towels everyday. The room was always nicely made up and everything was clean.
The lift is just big enough for two, or one person and a suitcase. Walking down the stairs is easier.
The breakfast room is in the basement, a pleasant, high ceilinged room. A typical French breakfast of croissants and baguettes, also cereal and fruit salad, yoghurt, jam and cheese spreads, tea/coffee/hot chocolate. Eggs can be ordered for a supplement.
The staff at the Abbatial are really pleasant and friendly and ever willing to make bookings for tours, etc. Marco, on Reception, especially, who answered every question I put to him when deciding on a hotel, over a period of months, and Karine too.
Two suggestions for first time visitors. Get the feel of the city and what you want to see and do by taking the Open Top Bus tour. It covers four different itineraries within the city and the stop is a ten minute walk from the hotel. Also, if you think the Lido and Crazy Horse are too expensive, try the "Paradis Latin", ten minutes away from the Abbatial. A very enjoyable, French experience, at about forty percent less than the other more renowned shows.
The Metro is nearby and there are a hundred different restaurants to choose from.
Staying at the Abbatial you are in the middle of a French quarter, there are certainly more locals than tourists, at least in winter. We strolled around the fruit and veg stalls, visited the local churches, went to the supermarket. It makes you feel a part of the neighbourhood.
And if you choose to use one of the rooms on the 5th or 6th floors, with the view, you will love having your own little piece of Paris right in front of you.
I can wholeheartedly recommend this charming hotel to anyone who wants to stay at a nice place without five star prices.
Great Location, Fine Hotel
by A TripAdvisor Member
We just got back on February 25th from a 5 night stay at the Abbatial St. Germain. It was a very nice hotel to stay at. The location was great very easy to get to. We came in on a Sunday afternoon after an 8 hour flight. We were expecting to get sleep on the plane, as it said on our Northwest ticket, there was no meal service. Instead we had two meals and two beverage services and one medical emergency on a full flight. Every two hours there was a major interruption. So my advice....don't expect to sleep on the airplane. So we arrived in Paris tired, grumpy, and having no clue as to how to get to our hotel.....and with minimal French skills. However everything went smoothly. We took the RER to the Notre Dame/ St. Michele stop. We landed in terminal 1 and had to take a bus (its free) to Terminal 3 to get on the RER. Our first adventure was trying to find the shuttle. The signs say take the lift to door 22. We misinterpreted this to mean there was a lift at door 22. We finally found a lift at door 20 (it's off to the right of the door). Take that up one level, and the bus will be outside door 22 on that level. The bus drops you right off at the train station. The lady at the information desk was very friendly and showed me where to go (which was right behind me, doh!). The train we were on didn't make all the stops, it went directly to the center of Paris. Once at the Notre Dame stop we followed signs to get to line 10 which is where Maubert-Mutualite stop is on. Once you are in the Metro tunnels you generally don't need your ticket again, but HOLD on to it at least until you get out of the system and are on the streets. Once on line 10 (head towards Gare D'Austrelitz) it was only one stop to Maubert. There are a few different places you can actually pop out from this station. The Hotel is to the east. It is next door to a brasserie on the north side of the street. The desk staff is very friendly and all speak English well. The breakfast was good (I don't eat much breakfast anyways so I would rather have this than an omelet). The room was very small at first we in room 21 which overlooked the courtyard where they kept the trash bins. We asked to be moved and the next day were moved to room 43 which was very nice. Both rooms were quite small, but much better than a place we stayed in New Orleans.
I wouldn't recommend getting the museum pass, unless you really plan on going to 2-3 museums per day and you really enjoy art. We went to Normandy in the middle of our trip and got a three day museum pass thinking it would save us money. But since we lost a day on our museum pass no matter how we worked it, we ended up losing a bit of money. It also became an obsession to go somewhere just to use the pass. There are a few museums included in the Museum pass that you can get into for free anyways, so I didn't find this to be a good deal at all.
I also wouldn't recommend the CityRama tours. We used them for Normandy and for the Eiffel Tower. For Normandy you were rushed through all the beaches, the meal was at the Peace Museum it was good, but you didn't get to pick your meal. But overall we were rushed and didn't enjoy it because we were familiar with the history and would have enjoyed taken some more time at less places. OH and the bus was EXTREMELY cramped!
The Eiffel tower and Seine dinner cruise was also kind of lacking. We did the dinner first at "Altitude 95" why we did that first I don't know because it was only 6:30 when we got there, they weren't ready for us. Again you were just served a meal and did not get to choose. I did not like it at all, the vegetables were very bland and the chicken was not impressive. Also you had to seat with the whole tour group. For some reason my husband and I assumed we would get our own table and it would be more romantic. Although we did have a whole bottle of wine to ourselves and finished it off quite nicely.
Honestly both of those tours you can sign up for while you are there through many travel agencies.
We did buy the Paris visite pass, for zones 1-3 for 5 days. The Metro system was very easy to figure out, although remember to use the buses as well, my knees were in so much pain from the stairs in the Metro. On the way back to the airport we just used our Paris Visite ticket and we were able to get back, I don't think you are supposed to but it worked anyways.
We had the breakfast at the hotel every morning and if filled us up until dinner mostly. I would have to say we didn't stop to eat a whole lot it gets time consuming, and we were just as happy with a hotdog from a street vendor. We are from Michigan so the weather in February was just fine for us. On the trip to Normandy our tour guide freaked out because it was snowing....which made us laugh because it was just flurries.
I would advise strongly that you should attempt some French. Even if you say bonjour, Merci, and Pardon I think you will be treated much better. We never had one problem with rudeness of any Parisian. The only "people" issues we had were with other tourists. I guess it was also a school holiday at the time so there were teenagers EVERYWHERE. They tended to be obnoxious just like teenagers you would find here. At the dinner at the Eiffel Tower some of the other guests would just speak English to the waiters (Thank you, Excuse me), I kind of found that a little rude and I can see how Parisians would find that annoying. I mean to just say Merci and Pardon sounds so much better.
Overall the trip was great and we are so happy we went. So go yourself and have FUN!
For a first timer--Pleased with my choice
by TripAdvisor Member Alshaw70
I booked this hotel after reading other reviews from tripadvisor members. I was nervous but felt very relieved when my taxi driver told me that my hotel was in a good neighborhood and a very nice hotel. I thought the location was wonderful, lots of restaurants nearby, a pleasant walk to Luxembourg Gardens and a very short walk to Notre Dame. The staff at the hotel was wonderful. They were pleasant and helpful.
I would rate this hotel highly for pleasantness of staff and location. My only problem was the room. In the bathroom there were a couple of tiles missing near the toilet. It didn't disturb my stay and I didn't even report it, but if you are someone where everything must be perfect please be aware that you may see a few imperfections. That is the only thing that reduced my rating.
Excellent Three Star Abbatial
by A TripAdvisor Member
We were so impressed with this three star hotel at a modest price. Excellent staff support, very nice small room, newly redone (1 year?) bathroom. The elevator is very small but just fine one large suitcase at a time. Location on Blvd. Ste. Germain is excellent, right across from St. Nicholas of Chardonnet church (1625) and 10 minute walk to Notre Dame. Great, great stay for four nights! Some rooms open onto the street (can be noisy at night but airy and beautiful), others onto a closed courtyard (quieter, no beauty). You should ask if it matters.
Photos
Hotel Abbatial St-Germain
Forum Posts
Abbatial Saint Germain Hotel
by countingdays
I'm booked up to stay here in November and just wondered if anyone had stayed here and if so was it nice? I've never been to Paris before so any comments would be appreciated.
RE: Abbatial Saint Germain Hotel
by CALSF
Yep, I've stayed at the Abbatial St. Germain. I had emailed the staff about reserving a triple room with a view. I asked for a room on either the 5th or 6th floors and they actually confirmed a specific room number to me. Upon arrival it was indeed that room we received. The staff is friendly and helpful. It's a typical Parisian hotel meaning that the walls are thin and the rooms are small if you have a regular double room. However, the bathrooms are spotless and has a bathtub/wall mounted shower combination. And there is a shower screen so as to avoid wetting the floor! We had two windows that could open in the bedroom area and one window in the bathroom. There was a balcony but you really couldn't sit or stand out there. There was a tiny view of the Notre Dame spires from the bathroom.
Location is ideal as it's just a block or so away from the Seine in one direction and a few blocks from St. Germain. There are lots of stores near the hotel on Blvd. St. Germain. Restaurants are plentiful as well.
Here's my comments based on my hotel tip:
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/te/df77a/a20c0d3fb168f9b8e1643fd96e1e61f3/
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