Caulaincourt Square Hostel

Great Location, clean, but cramped common space.
Its really a great hostel, they are helpful and friendly. Note -- the kitchen is tiny. Only room for one cook at a time. No oven. A bit gross. Also, Having free internet is a bonus, but be aware that the keyboards are not right and trying to decipher which key is which is a challenge. I was unable to access my email for the week because of the symbols I use in my password. One last thing -- Consider that there is very limited common space. Plan on time "at home" being time in the room. I recommend it. We had fun! Some interesting characters. Great breakfast!

Great place to stay
great location. great staff. they upgraded our room at no extra charge. located very near a subway stop. also near many bakeries and places to eat. within walking distance of the Sacre Coeur which is definitely worth seeing. It is the highest point of Paris so you can see the whole city.

Really rude staff, small rooms, kitchen is a joke
I stayed in this hostel in January 2008. The metro Caulaincourt was already open, but the flight of stairs both inside and outside the station was pretty annoying. But that was not such a big deal. The staff would be really -- really -- rude to guests. I usually don't mind the staff being unfriendly, but this time I was offended. Examples -- I ask 'em about the city, the metro week-ticket, washing machines, and stuff. The guy ends up answering me that my questions were "bizarre," started lecturing me that "in life, you gotta look for things for yourself" (like I had much time for that in a seven-day vacation in Paris). And I spoke to him in French, not in English. Another example -- the sign on the walls are contradictory about the breakfast times on saturday - 7:30 or 8 (don't ask me how long those signs will be like that). I had only seen the 7:30 sign and didn't understand why breakfast hadn't begun at like 7:45. I went to ask the reception what happened and the guy would barely let me talk saying it was at 8 o'clock, and repeating it raising his voice to shut me up, real rude. The kitchen is a joke -- if three people try to do something in there, there won't be enough room. But hey, as there are only two pans and one frying pan, way less cutlery, plates and glasses than necessary, no toaster, no bottle/can opener; there ain't much to do in the kitchen anyways. There are only two small eating tables, like fifty centimeter diameter, for the whole hostel. Those are the drinking rooms, too. Rooms -- small. It turns the single beds into double beds, which really sucks in a dorm with people you don't know. There's a bunch of construction material lying around. According to the sign it's just for that weekend, which would be fine. The thing is, I arrived on a Wednesday and the sign was always there, up until the following Wednesday. It couldn't have been just for the weekend. There's no free internet unless you mean Wi-Fi -- the internet is paid for, except for a thirty-minute free ticket you get once, when you check-in. The staff seems not to care at all for the clients. Don't stay there.

Excellent location
Excellent location (Montmartre), good bedrooms with private bathrooms, and good breakfast. There are no lockers, the staff is rude, and it is not a social hostel. I went in May '07, and the bar was empty all the nights.

Cosy but noisy
Staff were not very kind, but they were diligent. Wall were too thin so every voice and noise you felt. Breakfasts good.

Great
Very helpful staff. Rooms very small, but it's Paris, remember. The breakfast is good and the location is nice, within two blocks of a convenient metro stop. The curfew is a little irritating but I didn't hear about anyone being forced to sleep on the street because they were a little late.

Great location, friendly staff
I loved the location, close to the metro in a really cute neighborhood. Front desk staff were great. The rooms were good, my mixed dorm really could have done with a door on the shower stall. Besides that, excellent!

Pretty Good!
It was my first time, in a hostel, and I was a little bit worried especially since I was alone in Paris. But this place was a pleasant surprise! The room was nice, a bit small for six people, but I did take a peek at a few other rooms, and they had a lot more space. The breakfast was reasonable, the staff was friendly! The location was great! Right down the street from the metro, and in a reasonably safe area, minus the few drunks. But I felt safe! There is also a grocery store and a laundromat with in walking distance! I would give this place four stars (out of five) because I am a little picky, but I would also stay here again, and recommend this place to friends!

Five stars
Best hostel I have ever stayed in, hands down. In a beautiful neighborhood in Paris, very clean, friendly and helpful staff, good breakfast, and a lot of great people staying there. If you are staying in Paris and don't need to be near the city center, definitely book this place. Especially if you are traveling alone -- it seemed a lot of people there were on their own and were eager to make friends along the way.

I liked the location -- close to a metro stop and in a nice neighborhood, TV, and bathroom in our room, rooms are clean. i thought the breakfast was very good for a free breakfast (croissant and a roll, three types of cereal, OJ, coffee, tea). However, only having one room key is an awful system you are either worrying that no one locked the door when they left or that you wont be able to get in when you get back. some people who work there are rude, the internet is cheap but doesn't work very well, security didn't seem too good. Overall though I would stay here again.

upon arrival, take the elevator in the metro stop. do not take the stairs. trust me. i reserved a bed in an eight-bed room, but got one in a four-bed room. i stayed upstairs, away from the remodeling. the cow in the stairwell startled me every time i went upstairs. amusing. room was not dirty. locking doors on both the shower and wc, actual door on the shower stall, not just a curtain. linens were free, but you only get one sheet. TV in room was nice, helped me stay awake my first evening to beat jetlag. having one key per room was not as bad as i or others thought it would be. breakfast was good -- plenty to eat. (tip -- fill up on cereal, toast, and coffee or hot chocolate, then wrap your bread and croissant in a napkin for lunch along with some butter or preserves -- great for those on a smaller budget.) internet was slow at times, and U.S. google/gmail often did not load at all. one pay phone in lobby -- ridiculously priced. use the phone booth across the street. quiet neighborhood, but not too remote. some comments i gathered from other guests -- the bar is rarely if ever open. some rooms do not have doors on their showers. the lock-out time is inconvenient. one staff member is quite rude. hot water is not reliable. every few minutes it goes cold. many guests said they wanted to find another hostel, because it wasn't what was promised.

The station they recommend to get off at, Lamark Caulaincourt, was repiared when we got there. We arrived at around 3 p.m. and were planning on just leaving our packs there, but the person at the front desk checked if there were any rooms free for us. He was really nice and upgraded our room to a double. The room was a bit small, but clean. The area's also quite nice and there's a market just down the street. Definitely would stay there again if in Paris.

I spent a week at Caulaincourt Square Hostel and I loved every minute of it. The hostel is fairly big but compact so you get to meet lots of people. The best part about the hostel is the bar in the basement. Bottles of beer start at 2.50, and you wont find a cheaper beer in Paris. The staff were all really friendly and the rooms were very clean. All around a great hostel.

Spot On. The staff were great, the position great, and the rooms were what I would require from a hostel. The bar downstairs is cheap and a good way to meet people. The only problem was the renovations that were being done, but that will just make it better in the future. I'd recommend this place to anyone.

I enjoyed my stay at the Caulaincourt! The neighborhood of Montmarte is picturesque and has many cafes, patisseries, and boulangeries (and the Sacre Coeur) nearby which is worth the walk up the stairs from the metro stop. The staff was friendly and it was convenient having the shower and sink in the dorm rooms. It had a lot of character and was well-maintained.