Hotel Porte de Versailles, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France

Paris is an expensive city to stay in, but my friend and I lucked out and found a great deal in a small hotel in Issy-les-Moulineaux on the southwest side of town. It was located just a few blocks from the metro in a safe area and roughly 20 minutes from the most popular tourist attractions.

Upon check-in we were greeted by a front desk clerk who spoke a little English, so we had no problems getting in. The door to the entrance was locked for security, which was pretty reassuring. After checking in the clerk told us breakfast was served between 7 and 10 a.m..

We got to the room after a ride in a tiny elevator (all elevators in France are incredibly small) and found a nice room with clean sheets and a small bathroom. It certainly wasn’t the Ritz, but it was cozy. The beds were typical of European hotels and similar in size to a twin-size bed in America.

In the morning we went downstairs for breakfast, which was a great spread of deli meats, cheese, juices and cereal but nothing extravagant — what you might expect in a complimentary breakfast back home. After eating, we got directions from the clerk on how to get to the center of town. All of the staff was incredibly helpful.

Our second night was just as simple and relaxing as the first. Upon check-out, we encountered a problem. Apparently, complimentary breakfast doesn’t exist in France and we had an extra charge of $30 for the few slices of cheese and two croissants we had the previous morning. That seemed excessive and we argued with the clerk for not informing us ahead of time about the charge. He knocked half-off the price and we called it a day.

All in all the Hotel Porte de Versailles is a great bargain if you can get in when they’re offering a discount, but the regular price is steep for what you get.

Hotel Porte de Versailles

11, Boulevard Victor

75015 – Paris