Hotel Lumieres Montmartre Paris

Hotel Lumieres Montmartre Paris is a simple value hotel in a Parisian working-class (read: few tourists) neighborhood. Renovated in 2012, the five-floor building instantly entices from the street with its tidy rows of bright red geraniums spilling from window boxes on every story. Inside, the long, narrow, and stylish lobby effectively broadcasts what can be expected from the rest of the hotel: tight quarters, well designed with a sense of style that makes the best of limited space.

A few studded love seats and chairs provide spots to sit, and fresh flowers, potted orchids, and laser-cut chandeliers add to the crisp, mostly white decor. A deliberately indistinct photograph of the Eiffel Tower at nighttime takes up one wall; similar backdrops are seen in every room. A small hall by the elevator contains a LaVazza coffee vending machine, a rack of brochures, and an interactive tourist guide. A back lounge provides a bit more seating under a historic map of Paris, and leads to the steep stairs down to the vaulted cellar/breakfast room, which concludes the tour of this small hotel's common areas.

The hotel is popular with couples, singles, and business travelers -- families should stay elsewhere, though the hotel can provide baby cots and bottle warmers. The hotel sees a steady stream of European guests, hailing primarily from Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, and France. Many of them are repeat guests.

Hotel Lumieres Montmartre Paris is located in the 18th arrondissement, north of Montmartre and near Peripheral Boulevard, the ring road around Paris. This residential area is away from the hordes of tourists filling Montmartre, and has a true local feel. Along the nearby Rue du Poteau are many small shops specializing in fruit, cheese, and wine, and farmers' markets often set up on the sidewalks of Rue Ordener. Across the street is a Franprix, a grocery store for stocking up on basics.

There are many points of interest within easy walking distance of the hotel. Montmartre proper is a 15-minute walk south, with Place du Tertre, Moulin Rouge, Cimetiere de Montmartre, and Sacre-Couer all just a few minutes more by foot. The famous Saint-Ouen flea market, just on the other side of the ring road, is a 15-minute walk from the hotel. Three buses (31, 60, 95) stop at the Damremont Ordener station right in front of the hotel: these connect to points of interest all over the city, including Champs Elysees (31), Buttes Chaumont (60), and the Louvre and Montparnasse (95). The Jules Joffrin metro station (line 12) is a seven-minute walk from the hotel. Budget 40 to 50 minutes for getting to/from Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports by car.

Hotel Lumieres’ 36 rooms are available in single, double, or twin configurations, but aside from that they are all the same. Behind the beds are large, intentionally blurry photographs of Paris at night. These constitute the main decorative element; otherwise, rooms are simple and sleek with a cool gray and blue or gray and crimson color scheme. Ranging from 110 to 130 square feet, they are all extremely compact. However, a number of space-saving design decisions, like fold-down desks, semi-open bathrooms, and open closets for hanging clothes and storing suitcases, make them feel bigger than they are. All rooms come with flat-screen TVs with satellite channels (including CNN), free safes, extra blankets, and powerful heaters. Fiber Wi-Fi is free. There are no coffee/tea facilities, but there is a LaVazza vending machine near reception.

The smart layout allows for completely separate toilet rooms. Sinks and rainfall showers are semi-open, which means that guests won't feel totally enclosed when showering in the frosted-glass-door stall. Individual Damana toiletries are placed on the bathroom shelving, and pump bottles of citrusy Damana shower and hair gel are in the shower stalls, which have deep shelving of their own. Most rooms overlook Rue Damremont, and 10 have views of the back courtyard.

Like most budget hotels of this size in Paris, the main feature at Hotel Lumieres is the daily breakfast buffet. For a fee, guests can opt for the simple spread of baguettes, pastries, hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, jams, honey, Nutella, coffee, tea, and juice. In the hall by the elevator, there is a LaVazza coffee vending machine for caffeine fixes during the day, as well as a digital tourist guide and brochures in the hall for maps and attraction information. When going out, guests must leave their room keys at the 24-hour reception. Laundry, dry-cleaning, babysitting, and shuttle/taxi services are all available on request and for a fee. Wi-Fi is free throughout Hotel Lumieres.