Not sure why this is called the "Hotel Malte Opera." Everything we received from them including: invoices, emails and communication lists this as the "Hotel Malte - Astotel." In any case, if you are staying in Paris and you want to stay somewhere affordable near lots of action, THIS is the hotel to book.
My wife and I used our credit card points to book a 4 night stay at the Malte - Astotel, which amounted to about ~$150 USD a night and it was well worth the price.
Pros:
- The location is unbeatable. The hotel is located between two major metro lines (Bourse and Pyramides). You are also within walking distance to many major attractions in Paris. (Louve, Galeries Lafayette, Pompidou, Saint Chapelle/Notre Dame).
- Close to many amazing restaurants. Like any foodies, we made a list of restaurants/coffee shops that we wanted to try out in France. Some of those places were: Comptoir de la Gastronomie, Ippudo, Claus, Matamata, Baguett's Cafe, Angelina. All of these locations were within short walking distance of the Astotel. Super convenient!
- Friendly service, complimentary drinks in a small fridge (sprite, pepsi, water and orange juice) that's refilled every day. Free snacks in the lobby from 2PM to late AM. They provide fresh fruit as well!
- Very clean. The bedroom and bathroom were exceptionally clean and tidy. Important if you are a cleanliness freak like my wife :)
- Able to use facilities from all their hotels. When you arrive, they will give you a card that lists all their sister hotels. You can present this to any of the hotels listed on the card and use their services (snacks, lobby, bathrooms). We didn't get a chance to use this as all their hotels are north of the Seine and we spent the majority of our time south of the river. But we always had the card on hand just in case!
Cons:
- Rooms are small, but what can you expect - it's Paris! We were able to fit 2 carry on luggages and a large check-in luggage. It was a bit snug and we had to block one walking path in the room, but it worked for us. We didn't spend much time in the hotel room anyway, so room rize doesn't really matter for us. If you are on a vacation in Paris and spending lots of time in your hotel room, you are doing it WRONG!
- Front doors are locked at night, so you have to ring the doorbell to have someone let you in. It supposed to keep the guests safe, I guess, but it's more of a nuisance. My wife and I typically stay out all day and come back around 9-10PM. Most of the time, there's only 1 person working at the front desk. One night we had to wait a few minutes before someone let us in. Not sure why they can't implement a system tied to your hotel card. The system they have in place is a bit antiquated.
- Hard to get to the hotel. There isn't an exact metro line to get to the hotel. It's sandwiched between two metro lines as I mentioned, but they're a bit of a walk if you have lots of luggage. We arrived from Gare du Nord (Eurostar), but we were able to take the bus. Getting to the Airport (CDG) was another matter. The closest metro was to take Pyramides and transfer onto RER line B at Chatlet - Les Halles. This wasn't a very good option as we had 3 luggage between 2 people, as Chatlet is a bustling transfer station that gets extremely busy, so we decided to use Uber, which was about 45 Euro to CDG without surge pricing.
All-in all, the Astotel was a great experience and we would definitely go back again. Paris has a lot of rich history and the buildings have a lot of character, and the Astotel is able to combine this with comfort, cleanliness and affordability. I wish all big cities had a hotel like this! read more