Stayed for 2 nights in a 2-person room in September 2015. Another female in the room first night, second night just me. Not my first time in Paris, normally stay in apartments, but for a low-cost weekend away gave this hostel a try (fairly late booking too). Is an HI hostel too, was expecting at least 3/5 standard but obviously I was wrong...

Room: I stayed in a 2-person room on second floor. Contrary to other reviews, there is a lift! Only for luggage, not for use all the time. Single bunk bed, hanging space with hangers, coat hooks, place to hang key, hand basin, bin, no soap or towels or napkins, bed linen and blanket provided, Juliet balcony with curtains, tiled floor surface, only ONE power socket, no in-room Wi-Fi, a rickety chair. Room seems clean when you arrive, spacious enough, fresh sheets and a blanket, clean sink etc. BUT I had a terrible sleep the first night and woke up the next morning covered in bed bug bites! Only slept a few hours second night and made up my sleep during 6 hours trip home. Despite my best efforts, the bugs followed me home and infested my own bedroom and it took a lot of time, money and effort to eradicate. NOT ACCEPTABLE. In my room, only a single power socket so I had to get up halfway through the night (I was awake anyway thanks to bed bugs) and swap chargers with the other person so my phone could be charged. Seemed to charge extraordinarily slowly even though I was using a European plug. Room warm enough for time of year, would be a bit chilly in winter I imagine. Windows not double glazed or not done properly - can hear all the traffic noise so if you are noise-sensitive, bring ear plugs. Excellent view, see photo. There is a very small safe, but it has a sign with a caveat not to store valuables in it (what's the point?!). No lockers so obviously I took anything valuable with me - not sure what dorm rooms are like though.

Bathroom/toilets: 2 toilets and 2 showers to a floor. Was fine when I was there, might not be so great during peak season... Showers big enough to wash then dry/get dressed as well. No exhaust fan, no towels, no hand towels... so was really steamy all the time. Toilets are cubicles in same area as showers, so if someone is doing more than urinate everyone in the area can hear/smell it. The facilities are akin to your local pool - fine for a quick shower every now and then; for a hostel this really needs to be updated. Would not be hard to put in a full-height partition between showers/toilets and modernise them. Toilets have no soap or hand basin!! You have been warned!

Location: Excellent location - the only (really, the ONLY) reason to stay here unless you are on a super tight budget. 5 minute walk to Republique Metro which has all major lines going through it, 30 minute walk to Louvre/Tuileries/d'Orsay.

Amenities: no in-room Wi-Fi, can only access when in reception area. No soap, no towels, no napkins of any sort provided anywhere including bathrooms. There is a mirror in bathrooms and above hand basin in room.

Reception/staff: Friendly. My French is terrible (I try, but it is just embarrassing for everyone involved). Helpful with restaurant suggestions. I didn't complain to them - I don't think they have much managerial control. 24 hour check in which is great.

Security: questionable... you leave your key with reception whenever you go out and collect it when you return. Sounds perfectly fine, except they don't check any ID when you collect key so in theory anyone could ask for the key to room X and get it! No safes etc. so don't leave anything valuable behind.

Breakfast/food: there is kitchen area (fridge, sink, kettle etc.) but it's Paris and there are heaps of yummy cheap eats nearby! For a fee you can have continental breakfast... or spend 3 euro around the corner on croissant and espresso. I know which option I prefer.

My 2/5 rating was largely determined by:
- bed bug issues
- in parts, shabby infrastructure
- no in-room Wi-Fi (this is 2015 people!)

For a rating of
-3/5: no bed bugs!!!, soap where there are basins, towels/hand napkins provided, at least 1 power socket per person
- 4/5 the above plus updated shower facilities, in-room Wi-Fi, better noise insulation
- 5/5 well, you would have to give everything an overhaul. I realise the premises is old but that's not an excuse for failing to update facilities and maintain the premises better. For instance, stairwell has a big hole in the wall covered up by cloth?!

Overall, I would stay here again if I was in a similar situation (2 nights max, student-cheap last minute weekend away) EXCEPT I would recommend no one stay here until the bed bug issue is sorted out! I could have spent the money it cost to fix the bed bug issue on a nicer hotel as well as saved myself the discomfort, time and effort. Very under-par for a HI affiliated hostel.

We got mostly lucky with this accommodation in that we didn't experience the problems that other reviewers have highlighted. However, it still wasn't an ideal place to stay by far and I would't recommend it to a friend. When we arrived, the receptionist offered to take us in the lift to our room on the third floor. There were no lights in the hallways and the lift was the size of perhaps a refrigerator box (and was completely terrifying). We walked up the stairs for the rest of the trip.

The showers are dingy and small, and it didn't appear as though anyone listened to the "males" and "females" designation on the toilets, so it's not really separate locations. The rooms themselves aren't bad and linens are provided, which was nice. They're small, but that's to be expected with a hostel. We had good roommates (in a 4-person) so we felt safe leaving things behind, but there were signs everywhere warning against that.

The biggest problems I had were with the staff. They were not helpful and didn't have much information on the city. We were able to get a map, and asked for directions via the metro to the Eiffel tower, and the front desk gave me insanely complicated directions that were convoluted and would have taken much longer than the straightforward route. I'm not sure why. Also - don't get tripped up by the "breakfast". It's fruit cocktail from a can, stale bread, and applesauce. I would not recommend it. We arrived about an hour in one day and there were no more bowls.

Overall, if you're looking to really save money and be in a decently safe, pretty central area, this isn't the worst option. But I would consider looking elsewhere.

This hostel is not a good choice!! Not only is there no real kitchen, no stove or pans, but also it really has to be restored... paint is coming off the wall, the seating area in the hall is instable and I'm not gonna start with the bathroom and shower.. first i thought at least my room was fine, but after the first night of 1-2 hours sleep i noticed bug bites.. only a few at first but after 3 days my whole body was laced with bug bites. turns out there were bed bugs in my bed and their poison makes you have a sleeping problem. i would never return to this hostel, half of the staff was also very rude when i told them about the bugs. i do NOT recommend this hostel, not even for one night. It's the worst hi hostel i ever saw!