| Satisfaction: |   | | Reviews: 9 | Photos: 10 | | 20, rue d'Orsel |
 | Paris Le Village Hostel Reviews | 1 - 9 of 9 |  |
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 | Le Village Hostel: Fab Locale for a Youth Hostel
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For 8 days (Feb 2006) I stayed at Le Village in Montmartre. I’d never stayed in a youth hostel before, thought it would be an interesting experience & a good way to save some money. The principal draw was the internet access – the 30-minute internet cards bought at the front desk were 2.50€, not a bad price considering the convenience of having it downstairs with 24-hour access.
As I walked up rue Briquet (a little shortcut to bypass all the foot traffic on rue de Steinkerque) the most perfectly framed beautiful view of Sacré Cœur unexpectedly presented itself!
For 24€ you can stay in a dorm room which has 8 beds. During my time there I had Australians, Germans, Italians and Japanese as roomies. I made friends with Nori while staying there and one day we did our laundry together at a local laundromat.
The hostel is inexpensive and includes free continental breakfast. The breakfast is pretty decent (all the coffee, tea or hot chocolate you'd want plus a hard roll and a croissant), there's a communal fridge in the breakfast area and you can keep a few of your things in there (just write your name on the items); I stashed my yogurt there.
If you decide to stay at Le Village reserve well in advance. I saw many, many people turned away because they hoped to get a room by just showing up. It was usually filled to capacity (and this was in the February low season).
Things I didn't like:
1) staying in a dorm room with up to 7 other people (however, for 2 or 3 nights Nori & I had the place to ourselves)
2) worrying about waking people up when I came in late at night or getting up early the next days (man, most of those backpackers go to bed early - like 10pm - and get up late - like 9am)
3) worrying about using the hairdryer & waking people up
4) sharing a shower with others - I bought disinfectant shower spray
5) ick - the 1st night I found a COCKROACH in the bathroom - I told the mgmt about it & they promised to spray - I never saw another one after that so it could've crawled out of someone's suitcase.
I generally travel solo & felt really safe at that youth hostel. The nice, friendly helpful global staff warmed up after a bit (I mean, they are so busy keeping the place clean and everyone happy). I befriended one guy from Brazil who is a HUGE cinéphile like me; we talked endlessly about film (one particularly memorable conversation was about Orson Welles & his contribution to modern cinema) and he showed me various movie theatre websites & helped me find a movie to go to after David Sedaris suggested I see one.
Across the street is a small grocery store called Ed where you can stock up on inexpensive bottled water, cheese, wine & yogurt plus sundries (shampoo, toothpaste, DISINFECTANT SHOWER SPRAY!).
If you're into fabrics, this street and surrounding streets are replete with fabric shops.
If you don't veer west of Place d'Anvers over into Pigalle or east into Barbes-Rochechouart you'll find yourself in a very safe & charming area. Get out at Anvers station - do NOT get out at Barbes-Rochechouart especially at night. The only time I've ever felt unsafe in all my trips to Paris was getting out at that latter station at night and walking back to the hostel.
Head north of the hostel to explore Montmartre.
Some rooms have views of Sacre Coeur! Theme: HostelPrice: US$20-40 » Currency ConverterComparison: least expensiveDirections: Get out at Anvers station, walk north on rue Briquet, turn right onto rue d'Orsel and you'll find the hostel almost at the end of the block on the left-hand side next to a pizza place. If you reach rue Seveste you've gone too far.Website: http://www.villagehostel.fr/hotel2.htm
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