Last week I spent a gorgeous 48 hours in Paris with my partner. It was particularly romantic, as I had previously lived in the city, and we had shared memories that we revisited during our trip. For our time away, we decided to book in to the Hotel Ami, in the quieter 15th arrondissement of Paris. As a certified sustainable hotel, I also wanted to review it here! So, here’s my review of the hotel, our room, and top tips if you decide to stay.
Hotel Ami: A Clef Verte Hotel in Paris
As an environmental advocate, I like to stay in eco-friendly establishments where I can. In France, the leading certification body is Clef Verte, known globally as Green Key. From their list of hotels, I worked my way across Paris, and found Hotel Ami, nestled in the quiet suburbs of the 15th arrondissement. Having lived in Montparnasse previously, I knew this would be a great area to stay in: quiet, easily accessible by Metro, and less expensive than the tourist hotspots of 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 18th.
Hotel Ami is part of Orso Hotels, a chain of boutique hotels dotted around Paris. They each present with a different contemporary style, ranging from the prestigious Rochechouart to quiet neighbourhood hotels like Ami. While this usually appeals to me, I did feel like Ami replaced a little of the Paris charm with a faux, Wes Anderson-like design. What I did like were its sustainability policies: locally sourced food, water- and energy-saving practices, and waste reduction.
Ahead of our stay, we received a questionnaire asking us when we would arrive, and if we had any requests. I asked for a second duvet – my partner and I like to sleep under separate duvets – and thanked them ahead of our stay.
La Grande Amie: Superior Room Review
We arrived in Paris in the early afternoon, and once we had crossed the city, checked in around 16:00. We were preceded by a couple complaining about the air conditioning not working, but thankfully ours was running when we got to our room.
I had booked the Superior Room – La Grande Amie – and honestly I forgot I had done so. The room was tiny, oddly shaped, and a bit run down. We were promised 14m² and I wasn’t sure we achieved that. I had to shuffle around the bed to get into bed, shuffle around the toilet to use it. The bedside table hung off the wall limply, the bathroom window handle was broken. It was clean, but I found a previous guest’s hairband on the floor. Not pictured was a clothes rail and full-length mirror, with not enough hangers for us to both hang all our clothes. The shower, however, was a nice tall surprise, and the view from the window was gorgeous, overlooking the courtyard below.
We also discovered the second duvet hadn’t been provided. I popped down to reception to see if it was possible to get one, or simply a blanket, but apparently the one blanket in the hotel had already been given to a family on another floor. Instead I was given a bedsheet, which I was grateful for.
A Few Too Many Snags…
When I travel, I rarely stay in the hotel, so we spent most of our time in the city. However, our experience of Hotel Ami was always with gritted teeth. On the first evening, we returned around 10pm and got to bed, only to realise the air conditioning automatically turned itself off in the middle of the night, and was locked on the in-room control panel. In the morning, I used the shower and scratched myself on the sharp corner of the shelf that had been installed to hold Soins Colomba shower products.
The next evening, we entered the room to find our air conditioning had stopped working completely. We also found the bedsheet had been removed from our room, and our complimentary bottle of water had been left empty. I ran down to reception – there are no phones in the room – and asked if the air conditioning could be switched back on. We waited in the room, no luck. I messaged the reception on WhatsApp, and was told they had tried again. It didn’t work. I woke in the morning, and called using the phone number on the website, asking for it to be turned on again. This time it hummed into life, but by that point we were tired and frustrated. Why advertise air conditionning if you are going to lock the units? I understand energy conservation, but there are many more steps the hotel could take without affecting the comfort of its guests.
I have to note that all of these issues fall on the management of the hotel; the concierge staff were very welcoming and did everything they could to make us comfortable during our stay.
My Overall Rating of Hotel Ami: 6/10
I was ultimately disappointed in our stay at Hotel Ami. I was willing to accept a smaller room (Paris is a tiny city), but the array of issues we experienced during our stay was just too many. We left tired, frustrated, and with a few scratches too. Pro-tip: Our room was no better than a standard room, so save yourself a few Euros if you do choose to book a stay at Hotel Ami.
