Avia Hôtel Saphir Montparnasse

The room size was epic for Paris. The staff were very pleasant—we’d had a grueling, long flight of nearly 20 hours, and they let us into our room at noon, even though they could have made us wait until 3 p.m. strong central AC. The location is magnificent, and there’s an excellent café for locals (with reasonable prices).

There was a large bathtub, but for some reason, only a shower was available. There was a strange smell coming from the bathroom; if you left the bathroom door open while you were out, you’d return to the room to find that odd odor. The elevator was strange, too—it only stopped between floors.

We loved the location and the room was very clean

Great, very clean

Door did not close properly so my room was left opened one day

Great location and a comfortable Parisian small hotel. Rooms are not large but are well appointed and work well. It has a quirky elevator that people should be aware of. It stops purposely between floors and you have to walk up or down a tight spiral staircase to your floor. For example if your room is on Floor 5, you take the elevator to 5/6 and walk down the spiral staircase to 5. May have been the only way to retrofit a lift into an old building but it is quirky and some people may find it beyond their comfort level.

The method of retrofitting the elevator into the charming old building means that the lift stops on landings between floors and you have to go up or down a half level to your floor. For example the lift stops on landing 5/6 and you walk up or down the tight spiral staircase to Floor 5 or Floor 6. Some people are likely to find the stairs difficult with luggage etc.