I just escaped from this retched excuse for a "boutique" hotel and want to warn you - please do yourself a favor and AVOID HOTEL MAGENTA AT ALL COSTS! If you need to stay in Paris on a very tight budget you'd be better off finding a top notch hostel, as that will likely provide a greater-than-or-equal-to experience compared with what awaits you behind the hideous, purple walls inside this 10th district flop.
I don't even know where to begin. I guess I'll start with the dirty, vile smelling room I got on the 2nd floor. I had a view of the 'courtyard' which was literally covered in trash, litter, and filth from years gone by (i.e. it has not been cleaned anytime in the recent past). Also in the 'courtyard' if you can call it that, we're a lovely pair of pigeons that had a habit of loudly "cooing" (or whatever it is that pigeons do) at all hours of the night, which made getting any sleep rather difficult. Now this wouldn't have been as much of a problem with the window closed, but since the disgusting smelly room was sweltering hot due to the broken A/C, I had no choice but to deal with the incessant mating call of the French pigeons.
Aside from the horrid room, I'd like to address the angry Frenchman sitting behind the front desk posing as someone who's there to help. When I went to discuss checking out TWO DAYS before my departure, I was told that due to my early morning flight, the only option would be to take a cab for around 50 euros. Fine. When I showed up around 4AM with my bags two days later, the same man asked if I had consumed any of the beverages from the mini-bar. I replied that I had indeed drank a small bottle of water. I knew there was a 3 euro charge attached to this but was a bit surprised when he asked for the money on the spot. To which I responded, it's no problem, just put it towards the 25 euro voucher I received (and presented upon check-in) from Expedia. After pretending to leaf through some notebooks, the man stated that he could not find anything of the sort and that I did not have a voucher and therefore owed him 3 euros. As I was concurrently thumbing through my own travel docs looking for a duplicate voucher, I came across my receipt for my stay at the Hotel Magenta. On this printed document was a note that said that this hotel provides shuttle accommodations to the airport for only 17 euros. When I asked the front desk attendant if I could use this method instead of the cab which would cost me 3X more, he replied that shuttle travel must be booked at least 24 hours in advance. Now I was furious. It was 4AM. The man refused to help in any way shape or form. I showed him that there was no mention of this policy on the papers, and also inquired why he hadn't mentioned this when I spoke WITH HIM 2 days prior. All in all he had no answer, no refund, no cab, no shuttle, and no help. I jogged off into the humid, dark streets of Paris at 4:30AM nervous that I would surely miss my flight as I was now late. That is, until I reached the train station 3 blocks away (Gare de L'Est) and found a bus that was headed to the airport, thank God! Oh, and it only cost 7 euros. Thanks again Hotel Magenta...for nothing! read more