Not the best start

Location: Rue Du Wagram, just off the Arc de Triomphe.

OMG! OMG, OMG!!! What a start to this Paris trip. It doesn't seem like i have much luck with hotels. I booked one online, got a confirmation and a nights deposit withdrawn from my credit card yet when i arrived at the hotel last night we were told no, no availability. I was pissed off to say the least and mum, even more so. She was ready to camp out in the lobby till the manager came and spoke to us as the receptionist was an idiot and he didn't know how to do a thing.

Eventually they put us in a sister hotel for the same price. I had to get the idiot to make sure it was for 2 people (duh), give us the name, address and call a taxi...Sheesh! When the taxi arrived i stormed out without a word of thanks since they didn't even have the courtesy to apologise. Even when i spoke to the manager on the phone he kept implying it was my fault which made me madder than ever and i yelled right back saying how can you take a deposit if you don't have a room?

BTW it turned out that the sister hotel was only available for the night so mum and i spent the whole of this morning searching for a place for another 2 nights and after walking for hours we found one. Its about 10mins walk from the Arc de Triomphe, nothing fancy but its clean, has a lift and they are a lot more friendly.

I should say the only genuinely helpful person was the day receptionist/manager at the hotel we spent last night in. He offered to ring around to some hotels to see if they have availability for us, asked us what happened at the first hotel and even said sorry even though he had nothing to do with it! That was really nice not to mention very professional of him.

Well at least the hotel drama is over and now i can show mum around though i don't think Paris has made much of a first impression on her. For the moment we've stopped at McDonald's (i know, i know) to have breakfast/lunch before starting what is hopefully to be a better experience of Paris.

VP