Travelling on Scrooges budget

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I always get teased by my family as when we travel we end up in some weird and wonderful places and have learnt that brochures do lie. Very few times though have we checked in and checked out immediately. I may have wanted to at some, but only being an overnight in most of them you bite the bullet and stay.

We used to travel to Paris fairly often and whilst living in the UK I would say every second month at least. I used to scour the internet for a bargain find or a last minute deal much to everyone's horror. On this particular trip I had the in-laws dragging along as well. They were in for a real treat.

We arrived in Paris at about 9 pm on a Friday evening and would have been a lot faster without all the extra back seat drivers. All I heard is slow down and what is the speed limit. I wasn't used to everyone being awake as normally I am the one driving and everyone is fast asleep.

As we entered Paris we passed the normal chain hotels like the Hilton and even the Ibis and everyone was asking for the name of the hotel. I can't remember now what it was called, but it was some arbitrary name to catch cheap skates like me with some flashy meaning less name. It had parking which was a plus and we wouldn't have to park six blocks away which has happened before.

We arrived and I pulled up in front. I must admit there was no mad dash to the foyer as even I had thought it was a little quirky. More old than quirky and I was the first one out the car. I heard comments like this looks interesting, which in fact means is there somewhere else we can go to maybe. We were booked in for two nights and it was convenient and cheap and I was paying.

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The reception foyer area was pokey and we had 3 suitcases with us. I handed out the room keys and something funny happened. The lift had mirrors in it making it larger than it looked. It could only take one suit case and no one else with it. We were on the top floor so it was only 5 floors to walk and send the suit cases up.

The star case angled in towards the center and it wasn't a normal staircase either as the steps were uneven. I actually liked this as this was good as the family had accepted my offerings and were going to their rooms. The rooms were actually better than good and were fantastic. The long faces had disappeared and everyone seemed happy. There was a view of the Seine river and it was really exceptional.

You can't judge a book by it's cover and I don't think you could have made this out to be anything but a good value hotel in a great location. It was a third of the normal hotel prices at the time. We don't often get lucky and not knowing what to expect is probably the best way of booking a hotel. If I compare it to what I paid in New York for a room that wasn't big enough to swing a cat around then this was a bargain.

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If you are going to Paris do yourself a favor and look up the Citadines Hotel which is a stones throw from Notre Dame and the restaurant quarter overlooking the Seine River.. The prices aren't bad and they are self catering apartments within a hotel.If you do decide to go tell them it is your first time staying with them and if you could please have a view of the Eiffel tower and the Seine River, it works.