Hôtel Ecole Centrale

I stayed here a few years ago for a week in Paris and it was lovely!
Charming small boutique hotel with lots of charm — and the staff are a bunch of characters
Valerie, the front desk clerk, is so much fun!
So serious and has this demeanor about her that you can joke and say whatever you want and acts like she has no idea what you’re talking about
Such fun!
I told her I wanted to find a place with sports drinks, with electrolytes
She sent me to Radio Shack!
Love her!
The rooms are adorable, and the breakfast is an added touch
When you wake up in the morning you can smell the fresh croissants throughout the hotel!
Just be careful, the elevator is small — so if you have a lot of luggage and a lot of people you’ll have to make several trips
Friendly people here and they do whatever they can to make your trip amazing!

Hotel Ecole is a Parisian ‘budget’ hotel. That being said, it is a very good budget hotel. We stayed one week and enjoyed the rhythms of the Arts et Métier and Beaubourg neighborhoods, near the hotel. The room was small but air conditioned (unlike most of Paris), very clean, had a full bath, TV and included wifi (which required repeated log ons). It was exceedingly quiet during our stay. Most mornings we opted for the continental breakfast, which the manager graciously prepared for us. When we craved a full breakfast we went down Beaubourg to Breakfast In America on rue Mahler. Our only caveat would be the maid service which sometimes left the windows open for flies and some flimsy accoutrements (it is a budget hotel). We enjoyed using the tiny elevator, or climbing the small spiral staircase to our room. We liked that the manager knew us on sight. Overall, we were very pleased with the hotel and staff, and plan on a stay during our next visit to Paris.

The manager — in contrast to the rest of the staff — made a point of being rude. For example, I successfully logged int the wifi in our room, but it would no come back on in the lobby. When I asked what to do she insisted that I didn’t know about computers, and didn’t know how to use wifi. When I explained that I had in fact used her wifi 10 minutes before, showing her the screen on my computer proving it, she then said that each floor had it’s own log-​in, and then gave me the log-​in for the ground floor. She did not apologize for calling me an idiot.
Since we have American credit cards, which lack the chip used to confirm identity. This is a well-​known issue. The shop assistant at every boulangerie in Paris is aware of it. Due to the lack of a chip, we were not able to us the Vel’lib self service. I asked the hotel manager where one gets the service in the absence of a chip, she insisted that no tourist has ever had trouble renting a bicycle.
If you can avoid any contact with the manager, you’ll be fine. It’s overpriced, but it’s a nice quiet area. I certainly won’t go back.