Return to Paris
26 August 2008
My husband and I decided to go to Paris firstly because the flight from our local airport was very reasonable and also because my husband had worked there several times many years ago and wanted to return. We automatically looked at Alpharooms first as we have been with them a couple of times before and have always been pleased with our accommodation. Hotel Soft was no exception. The hotel is in a good position being five minutes stroll from Gare de l'Est metro station. From here you can get to any of the sights by tube in less than 10 minutes. Montmartre and Sacre Coeur are about a 15 minute walk away and certainly worth seeing.
The hotel is good value for money for a 2 star if a little lacking in certain refinements like drawers and a mirror in the bedroom, but maybe I'm being a little picky as this was more than made up for by the helpfulness of the
staff. In fact I had heard Parissiennes were very unfriendly but we found them to be very friendly and helpful, especially the young ones. The breakfasts were typically french with croissants, french bread, yoghurt, cereal, orange juice and coffee. Within the surrounding area there are plenty of bars and restaurants. I have to admit that we have stayed in other hotels with Alpharooms that were 3 star and nicer for less money but we soon realised how expensive Paris is which made Hotel Soft even better value for money. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this hotel and would certainly stay there again.
Jean Rooke, Bingley, West Yorkshire
Mature Couple (36+)
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Very pleasant hotel
25 August 2008
My wife and I had a very pleasant stay at the Soft hotel. Our room on the 5th floor was pretty good for the price, and very clean and tidy. Only down side was a lack of soundproofing between the rooms which meant we could here our neighbours far too easily! Breakfast was generous although a good idea to get up early as it gets busy after 9. The lady serving strangely never asked us if we wanted tea or coffee either of the mornings and when I asked for coffee in my best attempt at speaking French, she was not very happy with me at all and carried on serving all the other French guests before us, even those who had arrived after us! Well she was very busy doing everything on her own, and this is Paris! It gave us something to laugh about anyway.
Chris Gibbins, London, UK
Young Couple (18-35)
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Quaint and friendly
30 July 2008
THe Soft Hotel was a very nice and cosy place to stay in Paris. My son and I stayed for 5 nights In July 2008. THe Metro was very close Gard El Lest about 5 mins to walk . Safe area especially at night. Staff very friendly and very helpfull with directions to tourist areas. You can buy tickets to most tourist attractions from the hotel staff including to Disneyland. The Staff all speak English which was great as our french was very limited. The price was excellent withy modern bathroms and furnishings in the room. The price for our stay included a breakfast , cereal ,juice, yoghurt, tea, coffe and pastries. Very nice and kept you going until lunchtime. THe supermarket down the road was handy as wel to buy snacks etc. THere is a laundromat in the next street over which was handy to do washing for travellers etc.There are some resturants in the area within very short walking distance. Having the metro close you are never far way from any of the sights. Recommend the nightime bustrip and finishes off with a visit to the Moulin Rouge and then they will pick you up and drop you back at your hotel. You need to book with the France tourism office. Soft hotel is very high on our list to recommend to other visitors going to Paris.
Wendy , Australia
Family with teenagers 12+
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Week-end
28 July 2008
Hotel was nice, room was a nice size, calm and recently renovated. Stay would have been even nicer if toilets had been cleaner and breakfast fresher (bread and croissant) were not fresh from the day.
Celine, London
Other
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Week-end stay
28 July 2008
The hotel room was nice, new, quite big and calm. No smoking smell either (so that was great). I would stay there again. However to make the stay more pleasant it would be nice for the toilet to be cleaner and the breakfast to be a bit fresher (bread and croissant were not fresh from the day)
Celine, London
Other
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we'll be back
24 July 2008
great location,excellent value for money,lovely and clean. very pleased with the hotel and will definately stay there again when we go back to paris. hotel staff always smilng and helpful.rooms lovely and clean and modern.
alan n pam , oldham manchester
Young Couple (18-35)
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Perfect
20 July 2008
Stayed for 2 nights with my daughter in a twin room. Small but adequate. Newly decorated, spotlesly clean. Lovely hot shower and hairdryer in bathroom. No good for unruly hair but take you're own if you're desparate. Nice and modern and didn't smell of cigarettes. Simple breakfast of yoghurt, orange juice, coffee, croissant, rolls and proper butter set you up for the day and expanded the waistline, nice n' fresh all of it. Excellently situated for metro and x2 train stations as aforementioned. We prefered to walk to the Gare l'Est for tube rather than Bonsergent. Lots of little eateries, little supermarkets and bars. At Republique down the road is KFC and MC Ds for those of you who do not have taste buds or have kids! My girl included. Staff so lovely friendly and helpful. Attempt to speak french. A simple Bonjour and Merci won't go amiss. The Parisiennes are the politest of people. We had a fabulous time, yes take the Metro but walk too. You'll see so much more. Keep your euros in your pocket and go here instead of a big chain of hotels. Most definitely book again. Lovely.
Tanya, Ingleby Barwick
Family with teenagers 12+
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great value for money
03 July 2008
The soft hotel was lovely. A good bargain for the money we paid. Fairly close to plenty of tube stations especially Jacques Bonsergent which was only 5mins away.Gare du nord about 15mins walk. Not really close to the main attractions but very quick and easy to get to on the metro,which is a quick and easy system. Area is fairly quiet at night time and has a nice lively feel to it without beiung slap bang in middle of it all, was nice to get out of really busy tourist bits at end of day.Walking distance to the Sacre-coeur.Decor in hotel was nice and modern and the bathroom was brand new im sure.Staff were polite and helpful.Near plenty of resturants and shops and is nice to have a stroll round the evening to see all the locals going about there business.Would reccommend that people get a RER train from airport to centre of paris only 35mins to gare du nord then you can go on extra tube stations from there.get a metro,bus and RER pass for the amount of days you are staying from the airport and save yourself some money,we used the metro loasds and definately got our moneies worth out of the pass.get hold of a decnt map and guide book we had one and we wouldn't have got by without it. would definately reccommend the hotel and would definately stay there again if i ever go back to paris.
Laura, Leeds, England
Young Couple (18-35)
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great hotel
25 June 2008
Soft hotel was an absolutely wonderful find! We decided to stay at the hotel based on the reviews from others and booked through alpharooms and were pleasantly surprised at how lovely the hotel was. We stayed in Paris for 5 days and the hotel had everything we needed for our city break. It has been newly refurbished and so all the rooms and bathrooms are very clean and feel much more than its 2 star rating. The staff are also very accommodating and friendly. Furthermore, the location is fantastic: a five minute walk to Gare de l'Est metro station means that you are right in the centre of everything - we will definitely stay at Soft Hotel again.
Michelle and Joss, London
Young Couple (18-35)
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great for a short break
13 June 2008
we found this hotel to be exactly what we needed for our short break.it has been recently re-furbished and while the rooms are small they are very adequate and always kept clean.the staff are friendly and helpful and it is within easy reach of the metro.we would go back anytime.
fred and karen , co.antrim n.ireland
Mature Couple (36+)
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All You Need
10 June 2008
Considering its ideal location this little hotel is a gem! Its small and basic but has everything you need as a base to explore Paris and at very reasonale rates. Staff were friendly and helpful and we would return.
H, England
Mature Couple (36+)
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Cheap & Friendly
29 May 2008
Perfect for 2-3 night stay, close to Metro. Very clean & tidy, staff are attentive, interested and very helpful. We would definately stay again and reccomend the Soft Hotel to all..............8 out of 10
Mr & Mrs Thomson, South West England
Mature Couple (36+)
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Warm and friendly
27 March 2008
A great little hotel very close to Canal St Martin and within easy reach of metro stations and Monmartre. The guy on reception in the evening is a wonderfully helpful chap and speaks arabic, french, italian, spanish and english. The only thing more I could have wished for was a bar to get a beer after a long day sightseeing, but the street also has several lovely restaurants so it wasn't too big a problem. I'd happily return
Lynda Byrne, Wales
Mature Couple (36+)
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We shall be back!
02 December 2007
Once the renovations have been completed, this hotel will be a treasure.The decor is very tasteful and suited to the hotel. The staff were friendly, polite and helpful and we were particularly taken by the man from Morocco who was on reception in the evenings.
The hotel is well situated for the Metro and it is so simple to reach Gare du Nord for travel to and from C.D.G.airport.
We are well into our retirement but hope to make a third visit to this hotel.
Margaret and Frank Bailey, Preston Lancs. England
Other
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Eden Magenta Hotel
23 October 2007
This hotel is currently undergoing a complete makeover. The rooms we had were done to a very very high standard, the only downside was that the hallways were under going the makeover whilst we were there and there was a smell of paint and it did seep into the rooms. Still it was a great location in Paris and we enjoyed our stay there. Would most definatly go back to this hotel in the future.
Mark Rickhuss, Alicante (Spain)
Mature Couple (36+)
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loved the people
18 September 2007
The hotel was just want we wanted... cheap, friendly and clean, near to the metro so that we could see all the attractions ( we actually walked back from the moulin rouge one morning as its closer than it looks on the map) and close enough to the gare du nord to get the train to the stade de france/ eurostar. The hotel was in the middle of being redecorated and i'm sure it will look great when its finished. The staff are definately what makes this hotel. Not only are they helpful when you ask questions but they are prepared to go that extra bit further to make your stay more enjoyable. We loved the breakfast although i'm not sure what size i would be if i stayed there longer than a few days.. its a plain croissant, pain au chocolate and 2 bread rolls per person. My only complaint about my whole stay has nothing to do with the hotel or its staff as they more than made up for the dreadful show that England put on against South Africa in the rugby world cup.
Joyce Vost, manchester/london
Group of Mature Friends/Couples
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Friendly staff
11 September 2007
The hotel was in the middle of being refurbished and I hope the new rooms improve this hotel. We were disappointed at first by the rooms being shabby but they were clean. The staff were great especially Ahmed. We would return but next time will look forward to the new decor.
Louise Billany, newcastle UK
Young Couple (18-35)
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Review of 'Eden Magenta'
06 March 2007
The Hotel was brilliant for what we needed - a base to get our heads downs in comfort and have breakfast, ready to explore Paris!
The hotel is situated in the Opera area, about 5-10 minute walk from Gard l'est train station and about 15 minutes away from Gard le Nord station (which has main connections to Charles de Gaulle airport and all the main sites across Paris). It was a really handy location - we walked everywhere so those who aren't fans of walking, could easily substitute it for the frequent, and cheap, trains and underground.
The staff at the hotel are very polite, they pitied my attempt at broken French, and are pretty fluent in English.Rooms are cleaned daily and a fresh supply of towels given. If you're going out for the day, you MUST leave your key at reception (hotel policy), which is good if you tend to lose things!
The breakfast was typically French - you get given a basket of crossiants, bread rolls and a selection of pain au chocolat most mornings (I think they ran out on our first morning but we had them on the other two days).
It appears to be two crossiant or bread rolls each, one of the other and a pain au chocolat.
You're given a small glass of pure orange and asked if you want tea, hot chocolate, or coffee. All the bread fills you up!
The room itself was pretty standard, comfy bed, and our bathroom was fine apart from the shower head was missing the wall adaptor, so we had to hand hold the shower head. Baths were good, lots of hot water.
The heating was pretty hot in our room, so some nights, we slept with the window open.
Opposite the front entrance to the hotel (which is situated down a side street) is a little restaurant/cafe - we never got chance to go in because we spent all our time out and about, not really returning to the hotel until after 11 each night, but its perfect for last minute eating.
There are lots of shops around, a pharmacie 5 mins away, a Lidl about 10 mins walk away and there appear to be loads of HSBC banks around! Perfect if you're a member! Sacre Couer is just less than half an hours walk away.
We thought the Hotel was perfect for what we needed. You will need to walk around a bit to see all the sights, but thats the perfect way to see Paris, as you get to see all the little side streets and hidden churches and such like. Thanks to its location, the underground is easily reached.
Annemarie Hough, Wigan, Lancashire, England
Young Couple (18-35)
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Review of 'Eden Magenta'
06 March 2007
We stayed at the Eden Magenta in March 2007 for 3 nights, and experienced a very enjoyable stay. we found the concierge to be very helpful and polite when assisting us in finding our way around Paris and the transport system
The Eden Magenta is ideally situated, down a nice quiet side street between the Gare du Nord and Gare du L'est stations which makes getting to places very easy (including the airport, eurodisney and the major sights!)
Our room was relatively small, but we found it was ideal for ourselves. it was always clean, and was very quiet both day and night.
Sherri, Leicester, England
Young Couple (18-35)
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