Grand Hotel Saint Michel

I’ll start with the good things about this hotel. This was my wife and my first trip to Paris and with the encouragement of our family and friends, we decided to stay in the 5th Arrondissement (Latin Quarter). The Grand Hotel Saint Michel has a great location within this district with many walkable destinations (Luxembourg Gardens, Pantheon, Sorbonne, others). The staff were all pleasant and welcoming upon our arrival.
When I booked our stay, I reserved the “superior” room (vs the standard). I did this for one reason; the description of the superior room indicated it was larger (10+ SF). We knew European hotel rooms tended to be on the smaller side, so the extra space was important to us. When we checked in, the staff indicated that we were very fortunate because we were getting one of the few rooms with a balcony. We didn’t really care about a balcony (truthfully, the balcony wasn’t really big enough to sit and enjoy), we just wanted to check in as it had been a very long travel day.
After the second day I stopped and reviewed the floor plans for the various rooms the hotel had to offer. It was at this time that I realized that the room we had been put into was actually one of the smaller rooms. With only one more night in our stay and not wanting the hassle of transferring rooms, I didn’t say anything until our departure. The front desk staff explained to me that the “balcony rooms” are superior rooms because of the “enhanced” accommodations but they are not as big as the other superior rooms.
So, if you are wanting the extra space of a “superior” room, don’t accept a balcony room or you will be disappointed.

I found the colour of our very small room pretty intense to be honest. It felt more like staying in a Thai restaurant. But the hotel is in a great location and the staff were very helpful and friendly :)