Stayed here four nights May 2003. There are cheaper places but even if the rooms weren’t as clean, charming, and sizable (for Paris) as they are, the inner courtyard alone is enough to make me choose this hotel over all others.
Set back from the bustling neighborhood the courtyard is an oasis of green in the heart of the city. Two huge green wooden doors at the sidewalk protect the verdant santcuary at night with access granted only to those with a room key. Once inside your are treated to a quaint cobblestone walk leading to a small plaza surrounded with shrubs flowers and green trees. The sounds of birds, church bells, and children playing in the nearby schoolyard replaces the jarring noises of a major metropoltian city and take you back to a Paris that probably hasn’t existed in 100 years. By virtue of it’s location off the sidewalk, it’s quiet at night. Step out onto the sidewalk and you are at the center of one of Paris’ most vibrant neighborhoods. At the head of the lively market street Rue Mouffetard and the Place de Contrascarpe you are in the haunts of Hemingway and Descartes. Within walking distance to the Jardin Du Luxembourg, the Pantheon, and Notre Dame with a choice of a couple nearby Metro stops makes the Hotel des Grandes Ecoles my pick in Paris. No air conditioning, I didn’t care, loved it anyway.

Left by Mike Stone on March 15th, 2006