Grand Hotel des Gobelins

Location. The Grand Hotel des Gobelins is a typical Parisian building set amid the cobbled streets of Paris's Latin Quarter, two blocks from the popular Rue Mouffetard market street, and three blocks from the historic Jardin des Plantes. Paris Orly Airport (ORY) is 13 kilometres from the hotel, around 25 minutes by car.
Hotel Features. The lobby is separated into a reception area and a lounge where guests browse the complimentary newspapers over coffee, or check e- mails at the computer station; guests with laptops can access the Internet via wireless access (surcharge). Multilingual staff are on hand to help guests plan sightseeing trips around Paris, and can also recommend shopping and dining options.

A continental buffet breakfast is served daily in the Grand Hotel des Gobelins breakfast room, which features dark wood- panelled walls, tiled floor, stained-glass windows, and works by local artists.

The hotel is three blocks from the vast Jardin des Plantes, a popular park for joggers and equipped with playgrounds for children. Bicycles can be rented in the Latin Quarter and there are two public swimming pools, Le Pontoise and La Butte-aux- Cailles, within a kilometre of the hotel. The Batobus (boat bus service) has a stop on the Seine outside the Jardin des Plantes.

Guestrooms. The Grand Hôtel des Gobelins has 45 guestrooms spread over six floors. All rooms are decorated in warm tones with antique-style dark wood furniture and contemporary artworks hung on the walls. Amenities include cable TV, safes, direct-dial phones with voicemail, and wireless Internet (surcharge). Tiled bathrooms come with hair dryers, heated towel rails, and showers or shower/tub combinations. Sixth floor rooms have air conditioning; all other rooms have floor fans.

Expert Tip. The hotel is one metro stop from the city's colourful Chinatown district, the area within the triangle of Avenue de Choisy, Avenue d'Ivry, and Boulevard Masséna. Here guests can find tearooms, boutiques selling silk Chinese dresses, and some of the city's best Southeast Asian cuisine.