The hotel you stay in can make or break a vacation destination. Fortunately, my wife is one of those people who meticulously researches everything before settling on one choice. Also, my mom, a seasoned European traveler, already knew about this place…
That is the double-room suite at the very top of this place…
Yes, it’s the majestic Hotel D’Orsay, located just yards from the fantastic Musée d’Orsay, which is full of great art, and which we will be visiting soon.
This hotel is just fancy enough… but not too fancy. It is fancy enough to really enjoy the few moments of down-time, but not so fancy that you are reluctant to leave and see Paris.
The top floor suite comes complete with rustic… what are those big cabinets called? Armoires? Which sounds like a French word to me… so… uh… yeah. The ceiling also had those cool old support beams. Those weren’t just for decoration.
I think that parts of the hotel are really that old.
The hotel is not located on the most exciting street in the city, but it is in the center of everything. Also, it is just one street over from the river Seine.
This room was a great place to eat those big boxes full of French pastries we brought back from the bakery. It had real old world charm.
And we had these two little matching balconies in the back.
From which, once again, the view was interesting enough to remind you you were in Paris, but not so breathtaking that you wanted to just stay in your room.
And again, as you can see from these views out the front windows, it is not an exciting street, but that is the big art museum right over there with the big windows on top.
And a quiet street cuts down on the traffic noise.
See those stairs? In France, you leave your hotel key at the desk. You do not take it with you. And they do not have extra room keys in most hotels. So if you leave the room key with your mom while she is napping and go out on the town, the poor person at the desk has to run up all these stairs to let you into the room when you get back, because hotel policy will not let them ride the elevator. I loved the guy who worked the front desk at night.
My daughter, on the other hand, seems to have been more impressed with the free stuff the hotel provides for the bathroom… because I did not take that picture.
Pouring My Art Out 
very nice…I stayed in an Ibis there last year in Bastille, it was a dump, but free as my friend manages for the chain so I can’t complain (though I did) Might go back to Paris for Christmas, either that or Copenhagen.
that is a tough call
Loving the wooden beams, staircase and that inset bookshelf!
I loved that room… don’t usually stay in places that nice.
Me either!
ha
Wow, memories. That’s a great looking hotel Art. I’ve actually heard of it but I can’t for the life of me remember where. Notice how a lot of the buildings have a ledge around each floor on the outside? When we were there as teens, we had Nuns as chaperones. Of course in Paris they will sell wine to kids of any age (or they used to) and the tap water was undrinkable – so the local wine store was a bustling place. We waited until the Nuns were settled in and then went out to the wine store to get supplies. Every night, we would walk along the ledges and all congregate in one room and drink like fish. Then we would navigate , drunk, back to our rooms via the ledges on the outside of our building so the Nuns wouldn’t catch us in the halls. The Nuns did catch a few who went to use the common washroom so they declared an amnesty provided everyone put all their liquor in the bathroom. There were only about 8 rooms on a floor (double occupancy) and the bathrooms on every floor (5 floors) were so full of wine bottles that they were lined up into the hall. The Nuns were flabbergasted and we all apologized and carried on. The thing was that we had put some back-up wine supplies out on the ledges without thinking. We went out for an organized tour and as we left I looked up and realized that all the ledges on the front of the building were lined with wine bottles. ha! The Nuns never did look up. ha!
Anyway, good memories. Thanks for the pictures and story Art.
You pulled one over on the nuns…
Sorry God, I was young and thoughtless – oh and thanks for keeping me on the ledge – much obliged. 😀
Feel better now Art?
You could also thank him for inventing wine…
That hotel is a great find!
I highly recommend it
Nice digs in a great location!
Don’t forget the elevators. Hotel elevators in Europe are usually much smaller, so taking huge suitcases are problematic. I have seen my fair share of American tourists struggling with their bags in the lifts.
I know exactly what you mean… sigh…
Great post! Love your blog 🙂
Rachel
http://iridescentdays.wordpress.com/
yay