This hotel is a bargain if you're not looking for frills or luxury accomodations. When I arrived I was told my room was on the second floor. Being in the process of healing from a fracture and travelling solo, I asked the desk clerk to help me with my suitcase. While she did it, she wasn't very happy about it.

The room was very, very small but did have a nice view of Rue Berri. The bathroom was probably nicer than the room. I have to say, everything was very clean. My corner room was very quiet.

The included breakfast was "American style". There were five options to choose from, e.g. eggs, meat, fruit, toast and coffee or tea. The restaurant ambience was okay.

The location was very good. You can walk to most everything.

If price is your first concern, I would recommend this hotel. If you're used to a little pampering and luxury, this wouldn't be the place for you.

I booked a five night stay at this hotel via their web site back in January 2009. I was immediatly charged 25% of the total as a non refundable deposit as per the hotel policy. I was happy to do so to secure the room. In February plans changed and I needed to cancel one of the nights. I was prepared to eat the 25% deposit on that night as I had agreed to those terms. I sent an email to the hotel via their web-page with this request. I waited for about 3 weeks and got no response. I callled the hotel and was unable to communicate in my broken French with the lady who answered. I called back and used my French speaking friend to translate. We spoke to the manager and he agreed to cancel the night but that I would have to pay the 25% which was fine with me. He left me a message on my voicemail confirming this agreement.

When I arrived at the hotel to check in there was no reservation under my name. I had my copy of the booking confirmation email that showed the initial booking of 5 days. The lady at the desk said that I was deemed a "no show" for the previous night which is the one that I had cancelled months earlier. I told her that I had cancelled and that the manager was aware. I was given a room but charged 100% for all five nights. I complained and was told that I would have to speak to the manager in the morning.

I went up to my room and could not BELIEVE that I had just paid for such a dirty, small and smelly room. The carpet was filthy, the furniture was broken and the places smelled of recent extermination chemicals. The bathroom was marginally better but was extremely dark and dingy. It was also very loud and not condusive to sleeping without earplugs. On the second morning I could hear a persistent scratching coming from the ventilation gate. I got up on my bed to look and observed the rear end and tail of a rat scurrying away. The rat made only that one appearance and I don't think it left the ventilation and got in the room.

Later in the week I met with the manager. He denied ever talking to me even tho I had written his name at the time and that there was a phone message on my machine from him! He told me that I was LUCKY that he decided to give me the room as my "no show" on the first night cost him hundreds of dollars has he could have rented the room for more. I kept reminding him that I had paid in full and that I (along with him) had cancelled that night per his hotel policy more than three months ago paying the 25% penalty. He eventually gave me $50 back which is about half of what I should have gotten. It was very frustrating as he knew I was stuck and used that as leverage. I asked to cancel the entire reservation and he said that I would get no refund for the entire 5 nights! He was EXTREMELY RUDE and blamed everything on me.

The icing on the cake so to speak was the last day. I asked how to get to the airport bus. The manager said he could sell me tickets and book that bus for me and I agreed thinking that he was trying to make up for all the other hassles. I was wrong. He arranged the free shuttle bus to pick me up and sold me a ticket for $16 for the airport bus. When I got to the bus station I was advised that the ticket I had was FRADULANT and INVALID. I had no time to return to the hotel to complain and was forced to buy another ticket so I didn't miss my flight.

Needless to say I warn anyone who stays at CHAMPS DE MARS that the owner is a scam artist. Once he has your cc number he will charge at will and then berate you and yell at you if you try to stand up to him!

STAY AWAY FROM THIS HOTEL

I had the pleasure of staying at this hotel on a recent trip to Montreal. I had known that there was no elavator but was not prepared for the number of stairs! That aside, the hotel was clean and the staff was extremely helpful. I would return to this hotel without hesitation

I really liked the hotel. It was in a fantastic location and the room while spartan, served our needs as a young couple. The staff was friendly and the free breakfast was a great way to start the day.

Unfortunately, on our last night, there was a mix up with our reservation. For whatever reason, they had accidentally failed to record the reservation for our last night in the computer. Luckily, we had a receipt from expedia showing that we had paid in full and specifically for what dates. It could have ended amicably there with them just letting us stay (hotel not full). But alas, the owner was so rude. SO rude. He said that he was being kind to let us stay and he could kick us out and send us to another hotel and that we should be grateful to him for his generosity at honoring our reservation which was not in his computer. (which was their fault). I said, well, if we went to another hotel, you'd have to give us our money back. To which replied "not really, I wouldn't. And you'd be on the street" or something to that effect. I made a horrified face. As one would. And he said something like "just don't make that face, stop making those faces. just be glad that you have a room". I was shocked, I mean... we reserved and paid for the room months prior. It's not like I had just raided his living room to sleep on the couch for a month for free and eat his groceries. My boyfriend told me to drop it. I did. But it left a bad taste in my mouth to the extent that I felt I had to write this review. I would have said 4 stars, now it's down to 2.

Also, they charge $1 for picking up the phone and making a call, even if the other person's line is busy and the call doesn't go through. So don't try more than once to make a call (you better know they'll be home!) or you'll end up with lots of $ in charges.