1, rue de la Fontaine au Roi, 75011 Paris Métro République Tel (01) 4700 4700 Websitewww.absolute-paris.com
BUG review
Another hotel/hostel, Absolute hostel barely has room enough to turn around in. Set in a chaotic area near République, it may not be the best spot for a walk home alone at night. However, a daytime walk along the Canal St Martin is nice, and gets better the further you go. It is only a minute walk to the metro, and République is a well-connected stop. The kitchen is minimal and the breakfast room is stuffy. Good points are clean and well-appointed rooms, comfortable beds, en suite bathrooms in each stocked with complementary shampoo and soap, and an elevator. There is no common room to speak of; just a few tables and a large TV beside the reception desk, but staff are quite nice, and helpful with tourist information.
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Price Dorm bed €28-31 Single room €60-70 Twin room €70-80 Prices are in euro and are inclusive of all taxes.
I have stayed in a single room here for 4 nights and the overall rating would be a solid "OK". The room itself was cleaned daily and had a shower and toilet en suite for 60Euro per night. The towels were exchanged daily as well. However, the window goes out into the courtyard and at the wrong time of day the fumes from the kitchen and washing machine/dryer are being blown into the room, so if you don't want to sleep in a smelly room you have to close the windows at the right times (which in summer means it can get quite sticky). There was a TV in the room and the wallpapers had just recently been redone. The bathroom has been renovated as well however, the shower head could not be fixed on the wall so I had to put it down to use the soap and shampoo which was a bit annoying. The big plus of this hostel is definitely the free internet access. They have 3 computers in the reception area and you get a username/password if you bring your own laptop. Also, staff members were very nice and helpful. Locationwise it is not too bad - Notre Dame is about a 20-30 minutes walk and against the verdict above, I did not feel threatened while walking home alone at 00:00 at night. Maybe as a single woman I would rate this different so you might want to walk home in company. Another plus point is that there are 2 supermarkets in direct vicinity of the hostel and a bar/bistro (though a bit pricy) next door. That means you can actually sit in the bistro with your laptop and use the access point of the hostel. Inside it definitely needs renovation - the paint and panels come of the walls and the carpet looks like it has been there since the times of Louis XIV. But then again: this is Paris, no one really cares about the houses anyway - life happens on the streets, in the bistros and bars. Noisewise it is actually acceptable considering that it is a hostel. At no point was the noise so bad that it woke me up or hindered me from falling asleep.Hope this helps,Faz
