Maison Athenee

Pros:
- nice decoration inside, staff very well trained and polite, good breakfast and water pressure
- located close to nice part of the 8th just cross the street
- beautiful building
Cons:
- bathsoaps are not nice, just plain almond and don't foam well when in France you have so many intricate scents to choose from and Fragonnard around the corner.
- very cramped spaces throughout the hotel, including in their large deluxe room
- no down pillows or comforters, bedding more in line with a 3 star hotel
- noisy/busy street if you have a street facing room be prepared for heavy traffic during the day, its a major through street for Opera even though it says its in the 8th its really on the border and in a very commercial area; at night restaurants have outdoor seating and people stay late talking lout; right near Olympia where major concerts happen and people pour out in the hundreds often after drinking. If you have a noise sensitivity its def not a peaceful location which clashes with the boutique vibe of the hotel inside that is quite zen;
- transfer to the airport would have been nice but they charge 200 and a taxi costs 60 so not sure how that makes sense...so needed to arrange my own transportation
- for some reason there is only one towel hook in the bathroom so you can't really put a face towel anywhere and if you're two people one persons towel needs to go on the floor or sink
- despite downgrading rooms on my last night due to noise the hotel refused to refund me the difference, a small courtesy of a free drink or something would have been nice to compensate but no gesture in line with the hotel 4 star rating was made.

Generally speaking if I had to book again I would spend an extra 100-150/night and book a lower end 5 star hotel rather than stay in what I would call a lower end 4 star such as this one.