Rates: €70 for a double room, €16 in a dormitory
Added extras: The arcade games and photomaton. You can drink at the bar without being a paying guest, too.
Services: free broadband Wifi and a rooftop view over Paris.
A cosmopolitan district, Belleville will soon hear new Italian, English and Spanish accents. A ‘made in France’ hostel, Les Piaules has thrown open its doors, complete with bar open for everyone from 7am to two in the morning. It offers a lovely selection of products from the area, including full-bodied coffee from Brûlerie de Belleville at the unbeatable price of 2 euros and a plethora of Parisian beers (Bap Bap, Deck & Donohue, Demory), plus homemade croque monsieurs. The prices are affordable too, a pint of Saint-Omer is €5, €3.50 for glass of red wine, €3 pastries from Rachel’s, which can be enjoyed in a cosy corner cafe, nestled next to a stove, logs and books.
In the corridors, big photo murals show the building works, proof of the progress and hard work that went into making it. From the rooms, you can see the streets of Belleville and La Villette, and even the Sacré-Cœur and the Eiffel tower from certain spots. Those who manage to wangle a rooftop room will be overjoyed with the unobstructed view of the Paris’s most beautiful monuments and the terrace for lunching in the sun. The aim is to help tourists discover the area, and to experience things they wouldn’t do elsewhere. Les Piaules fits nicely into the landscape and with over eighty nationalities in Belleville, integration won’t be difficult.