Of all the things I researched for my recent European trip the hardest was choosing a hotel in Paris. The first thing was to decide which arrondissement to stay in. Paris is divided into 20 neighborhoods or arrondissements. Each area has it’s own charm and specialties. I really couldn’t decide which to choose until my travel agent suggested Montparnasse on the 14th arrondissement and on the left bank of the Seine river.
Having selected Montparnasse the next step was choosing a hotel and we turned to tripadvisor for help. Our criteria was reasonable price, good location, good reviews, elevator, air-conditioning (a lot of hotels and apartments in Paris didn’t have elevators and air-conditioning). Lenox Montparnasse Hotel (3 stars) ranked 5th in tripadvisor’s list of hotels in Montparnasse and 97th overall hotels in Paris and it met all our criteria so that’s the hotel we chose.
The staff at the front desk were very helpful. Even while in Manila I emailed them to make a couple of restaurant reservations for me in Paris and they did it. They also helped with directions and were generally gracious and pleasant. Our only bad experience was booking a shuttle for the airport. One of their staff guaranteed Rochelle that he was able to book a shuttle that will pick us up at a certain time but the shuttle never arrived and no one else knew anything about it. Luckily a cab arrived at our hotel and we took it to the airport with just enough time. The traffic to the airport was horrible and it took us almost 2 hours to get there and €70 in cab fare.
An elevator was important for us since we didn’t want to lug our luggages up and down stairs.
We chose a club room with two twin beds. Believe it or not this was their bigger room already. Small rooms are a standard in hotels in Paris unless you are willing to pay €400 and above for a room. We paid €175 a night.
We were quite comfortable in this room. We just had to make a conscious effort not to walk around at the same time. If you have big luggages then you will have a hard time in this room. We put all our other things inside the closet. There was a small refrigerator under the TV too. 
There was free instant coffee and tea bags. They also had free wifi.
The bathroom was big enough and clean.
toiletries
An important feature we look for in all hotel rooms is a room safe. We left our passports and cash in the room safe everyday. It’s much safer than bringing with us and having the risk of getting pick-pocketed. It’s true that the hotel can open the room safe but throughout our trip our valuables were protected in the safe.
Just off the lobby is the Honesty Bar.
Help yourself to the drinks in the bar including draft beer and be honest and pay for it.
Our hotel offered breakfast but we opted to buy from the patisserie next door.
We bought a tarte tatin and drops chocolat. It was just ok so we didn’t go back.
Our hotel was located in Rue Delambre and there were two small supermarkets, a cinema, laundromat and a fruit stand. We just loved how convenient the location was.
There was an Italian deli that had so many goodies perfect for a picnic.
There were several restaurants and bars on our street. We passed by the Chinese restaurant everyday and not once were we tempted to eat Chinese food. The next street (Rue du Montparnasse) was filled with creperies!
Our favorite was the pharmacie at the end of the street right across the Edgar Quinet metro station. French pharmacies are a treasure lode for beauty finds that don’t cost an arm and a leg. I found Gwyneth Paltrow’s guide to what to buy in a French pharmacy very helpful. We bought most of the items on her list.
Around Bd Edgar Quinet were many, many restaurants and cafes.
A block away were more stores and patisseries.
Monoprix
To our surprise there was even a small brance of Galeries Lafayette 5 minutes walk from our hotel.
I highly recommend Lenox Montparnasse Hotel. Our room was comfortable and clean albeit small. The best part was the location. Any direction you go there are restaurants, quaint shops and several pharmacies and groceries. The metro station was 2 minutes walk away and from there the entire Paris awaits you.
Lenox Montparnasse Hotel
15 Rue Delambre, 75014 Paris, France
telephone : + 33(0) 1 43 35 34 50
email: hotel@lenoxmontparnasse.com
website
Shoot First Eat Later 
nice
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