I stayed at Hotel Marena for a short weekend visit to Paris. I was on a budget and this hotel seemed to strike a good balance in terms of location and overall look and feel. The hotel is about 15 minutes on foot from Gare du Nord so it’s ideal if, like me, you are travelling on the Eurostar from London.
I was able to find the hotel easily and when I arrived I was greeted by a pleasant man who checked me in quickly. I was asked to put my card down for a refundable pre-authorisation amount of Euro 100 which is pretty standard and was quickly given my room key. I didn’t pay for breakfast, however I wasn’t asked if I wanted to pay for it or even given details of timing and location. Equally I wasn’t told anything about WiFi. I already had both pieces of information when I got to the hotel so I didn’t need to ask but for a less informed traveller it might be nice to know and would make for a warmer welcome.
My room was on the third floor. I’m not fond of lifts so I took the, very narrow, staircase. It was fine as I didn’t have much luggage but the hallways and stairs are indeed really narrow and, as I found out later, the walls are very thin. Luckily I had considerate neighbours so no one bothered me but I could definitely hear conversations, doors opening and closing, etc.
I had a single cosy room - definitely on the smaller size but well appointed and most importantly extremely clean. There’s no safe and the shower doesn’t have a glass so it will splash everywhere.