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A Friendly But Cramped Hotel in the City of Light

Where: 42, rue des Bernardins, Paris, France, 75005

Finding the perfect hotel in Paris isn't an easy task. Sure it's easy to find hotels with a great location, total luxury, and/or the latest trends. But to get everything combined into one package along with happy and friendly service is damn near impossible.

And by service, we mean American style service as this is the main problem between the Frogs and the Americans. What is classified as good service over there usually doesn't cut it `round here.

Hotel Agora in the upscale and lively St. Germain neighborhood comes pretty close to meeting one's needs. Its address proves handy for anyone's visit to Paris and on top of that the service is friendly. Yep, friendly!

Managing assistant Marco Paulo Da Rocha greeted our extended family of seven with a rich "bonjour," before switching unbidden to fluent English. Hotel Agora is Marco Paulo's baby, and at times it seems like a one-man show. He has some help: a couple of friendly desk clerks fill in during nights and weekends, while a bubbly young woman and a shy older lady run the breakfast cafe and keep rooms reasonably tidy.

The recent renovations have added flat-screen TVs to the rooms while the irreplaceable old-world amenities still exist such as balconies that overlook an ancient church and bustling Parisian streets filled with scents from the nearby boulangerie.

The catch? It's small as hell (though that's par for the course in this city). The elevator states it holds three and the reviewer claims this must mean three parakeets. "Double beds" prove more the size of cots and are so close to the next bed they may as well just combine to be one larger specimen.

Even so, one has to be willing to take a step back in Paris and size isn't such a bad one in this case since rooms start at just $166.

Related Stories:
· Warm welcome at this cozy Paris hotel [Mercury News]
· Hotel Agora St. Germain Reviews [TripAdvisor]