Hey Guys,
I had a really bad experience in Hotel Des Olympiades in Paris.... The place was a dive. My room smelled like a toilet even though there wasn't one in my room, there was a bag of vommit and there was pieces of gone off food hidden around my room. I think the hostel was kind of a 'half way house' and was in a dodgy part of the city, there wasn't any other backpackers in the area so if your travelling alone and want to meet people dont stay here. Seriously, the place is a kip so please don't stay there.....

Thanks so much for the tip ! Do you in which arrondissement it's located ?

22 square de Clignancourt, 18e arrondisement

Near Montmartre and dodgy ol' Pigalle - it's not actually a hostel but a 1-star hotel.

Thanks Omi. This is one nice quarter though for travellers, but not far, at night, it's the «red light district». I can see how crapy hotels could be.

Ha ha ha... Didn't know it was a red light district!!! Can you reccomend anywhere other than the 3 ducks to stay in and see all the lovely wonders in Paris. The next time I get round to going there it'll probably be all booked out....

It's always hard to know what to expect when you go to new hostels, so thanks for letting us know what your experience was like at this one!

Well, I went a couple in Paris but always stayed at a friend's place in Nanterre, just outside the city.

But in the hostel recommended forum, there are a couple of suggestions form happy travellers ! Here's the link : niiiiiice hostels in Western Europe..

The Three Ducks is actually pretty filthy and run down by all accounts - it's popular because it's a party locale. I always recommend the BVJ Louvre. Killer location, nice and clean. Not terribly social, but it's right next to the Louvre, is cheap, and the all-you-can-eat breakfast makes life very happy.

I've stayed in the MIJE Le Fourcy last October. Its clean and quiet and nice. Totally recommend it and its in the marais area, all the better.. very accessible and within walking distance to lots of attractions. however, the price is more pricey than most hotels. i'll be staying there again this september!

I actually ended up staying in the attic of a discount hotel called Mary's Hotel in Paris last summer, where they had a few dorm style rooms. Pretty decent price. It was in between Place de la Republique and Place de la Bastille. Personally, I love wandering around so even though it was about 45 min. to an hour walk to the latin quarter and even further to some of the good touristy sights, it was worth it. But it was lacking in the hostel feel, no common area and I was the only soul in the dorms. And the showers were weird, the water pressure and temperature randomly changed while I was washing myself. All shampooed up and only a trickle of frigid water is not fun. The privacy was nice, but it sucked because I didn't meet anyone. It was really clean and safe though, and the neighbourhood was alright, not great, but not horrible.