February in Paris - Right Bank budget hotel - mother and teenage daughter

I've also found some options on this list:
http://tinyurl.com/y4g8wb

I know Dave in Paris has recommended Hotel Cosmos in the 11th, and it certainly looks good for the price (appears to be 56 Euros per night for an ensuite twin):
http://www.cosmos-hotel-paris.com/

i stayed at the sully st. germain and would go back.

http://www.sully-saint-germain-hotel.com/

if you scrol down there are advanced purchase rates. also i found good options through a website called france-hotel-guide.com.

hotel du comerce was a sister hotel of the sully st. germain but MUCH lower level, but probably lots cheaper and VERY basic. very well located.

I loved my 2-night stay at the Madeleine-Opera. I think the location is lovely and I felt very safe walking there at night. The first night I had a small double room. The second room I got, a week later, was a pretty large twin, which they gave me with no additional charge. A nice touch. Both rooms were very clean, quiet and nicely decorated. I personally prefer this location over anything in the Marais.
http://www.hotel-madeleine-opera.com/

Rue Tiquetonne would be all right in the daytime, I think, but not at night for you and your daughter.

The Hotel Cosmos in the 11th is great, but does not fit, as you need to take the Metro to most major sites.

Check out the Hotel Jean d'Arc in the Marais, rue Jarente. Often full and there's a reason, but in February with your lead time there may be availability.

I would like to second Dave recommendation. Hotel Jeanne d'Arc in the Marais, rue Jarente is reasonably priced, fantastic location near metro, shops, and cafes. The staff is very friendly (and responsive to e-mails) and the rooms are clean. Here a link that you can look at availability www.hoteljeannedarc.com and book if you wish. We stayed there for a week in September and it's now "our" hotel in Paris.

With respect to your daughter, are you concerned about: (a) whether she will be safe (of course you are); (b) what she might see; or (c) - a and b?

There are streets/neighbourhoods in Paris that don't pose a safety or security risk, but might be a little on the seedy side. For example, I stayed in a good value Holiday Inn near the Gare de Lyon. It was on a main street and the immediate surrounding neighbourhood was busy, well-lit, etc and felt quite safe. It was, however, next door to a sex shop (rather low-key in appearance and I never saw any customers go in or out). So, it was safe but perhaps you don't want your daughter to walk by a sex shop to get back to the hotel.

It would be possible to find a hotel in a location that wasn't seedy but that wasn't particularly safe. For example, quiet side streets might seem like a good location for a hotel but this sometimes leaves you feeling more exposed. (Up to a point, cafes, restaurants, bars, metros attract people - who have eyes and who are likely to discourage thieves etc.) On the other hand, if an environment is too crowded (especially if it attracts tourists), then it will also attract pickpockets who can hide in a crowd. For this reason, I would discourage you from staying in the immediate vicinity of the Chatelet / Les Halles area. (The metro station there is also a junction for a couple of suburban train lines as well as several metro lines - and it therefore seems to attract a lot of young people who have too much time on their hands and are looking for something interesting to do.) The area right around Champs Elysees also attracts more than its fair share of pickpockets, who are attracted to the dazed, rubbernecking tourists who are shopping, eating and sightseeeing along this street.

I'm of course a fan of Hotel Tiquetonne. Did they raise their prices, by the way? I still maintain that the area is fine. r. Tiquetonne itself is fine. It's r. St-Denis that's a little troublesome. But unless you're out really late I really don't think it'll be a problem.

If you end up there, I'll have a restaurant recommendation to share with you.

I agree about Les Halles. I mentioned when I was there in April around 5 am to catch the RER for CDG, I was harassed. But unless this is the sort of thing you're planning to do, I'd not worry too much about it.

As much as I like Marais, I prefer Tiquetonne's location to Marais. And the Left Bank seems more accessible to me from Tiquetonne's location. It's quite walkable.

My friend Diane recently stayed at Hotel Andera Rivoli. It's in a good lcoation and I had considered it for my visit next May. However, since I'm spending 9 nights in Paris, I decided to book a studio apartment in the Marais district. That might be an option for you. You'd have your own kitchen (a lot have washer/dryers) so that would help if your're budgeting.

This is the one I rented. http://www.rentparis.com/details.php?l=en&id=25

Monica

Safety is more important than seediness. But in my experience, particularly some time ago as a teen, being subject to unwelcome propositions tends to be part and parcel of seedy areas. But I'm not particularly worried if she sees a sex shop.

111op, I don't know that Tiquetonne has raised their price - I think I was remembering wrong by a few euros.

One review a year or so ago of Jeanne d'Arc mentioned poor key security. Perhaps that's inevitable in a budget hotel.

I've been around the Tiquetonne, but only in the daytime, and everything looked pretty normal to me. It's very near a passage with a jewelry shop I like (Satellite) and near rue Montorgueil. Rue St Denis is not particularly nice, but I don't think you'd have to be on it for any particular reason, although I'd trust Dave's opinion on that. I was just going to say that I didn't find Marche Aligre that great, so I wouldn't go out of my way to stay near there -- but none of your hotels are that particularly close to it. There are better markets in other areas over that that are closer (eg, Montorgueil or the Bastille mark on bd Richard Lenoir.

At night we'd be together, so maybe the Tiquetonne would be OK. The fact it's near Rue Montorgueil would be a big plus for my daughter.

Another possibility I looked at is this hostel where I think we can get a twin room for about 58 Euros per night - BVJ Louvre, at
20 Jean-Jacques Rousseau in the 1st. Any thoughts on this location, compared to the Tiquetonne?

I know GirlSpyTravel posted a few times about the Libertel Canal St. Martin. I'm very tempted by the fact it seems like such a pleasant, modern hotel with a good breakfast included, for about 73 Euros per night (for a twin room with breakfast included).
5, avenue Secrétan, Paris 75019

Any thoughts on this location? I know it would be out of walking distance for everything. We are coming and going by train, so in that respect it's convenient.

How about the
Mercure Paris Lafayette?
7 rue de Trevise, Paris 75009

This is available for about 72 Euros per night, prepaid.

Tiquetonne is an excellent area, both in the day and in the evening. While a certain excess amount of non-dangerous lowlife might hang out in the Les Halles area during the warmer months, they don't really wander around as much in February. And you're not looking to buy drugs anyway, are you?

Hi WT- Re Libertel Canal St. Martin-Like I said, Monoprix, which you and your daughter esp., will love, (cute, inexpensive clothes and accessories) on one side of the hotel, good, inexpensive little French pastry/sandwich shop on the other, Jean Claude Beguine hair salon a few doors down, Micky D's across the street, Asian restaurants up the street, around the corner from the hotel, the excellent Cafe des Jaures-open late, youth hostel a little ways down on the opposite street, and two metro entrances, one about 50 feet from the hotel, and the big metro entrance across the street, where the Canal is located. I've already talked about all the hip ateliers and cute little cafes along the canal-even in winter, I think it would be quite nice and picturesque along which to take a stroll.

If you stay here, try to get a room facing the Avenue-(well, I always like street side rooms, I like to watch the action) surprisingly, even in the height of summer, I heard virtually no noise-outside or in, and each of those rooms has a lean out balcony which I also like. I think 73 Euros is a terrific deal-this is a very active area at night-there are a lot of young people out and about.

Thanks, GST. It does seem that hotel would satisfy one concern of mine - which is that I could leave early and do something and my daughter could occupy herself sleeping in and then shopping or sightseeing nearby until I came back for her (or some variation on this). So an intrinsically interesting neighborhood is a huge plus. That likely applies to Hotel Cosmos too.

I am going to scratch the BJV Louvre off the list - too many bad reviews.

Thanks to all the other posters too. The Madeleine Opera looks good. I'd probably want to spend less than either the Sully-St. Germain or the Jeanne d'Arc, but I'll keep them in mind.

If I could win a 4* Priceline bid in the Opera Quarter East zone, that would most likely be the Novotel Les Halles. The problem is this is available only sometimes, and often for a fairly high price. And of course it has the possible neighborhood issue.

Ultimately, for 5 nights, the difference between 60 Euros per night and 90 Euros per night is obviously a total total of 150 Euros - not an insignificant sum, but one I should not get too hung up about either, so I'm going to think about this carefully.

WillTravel,
I was recently looking at the Hotel Chopin and thought it looked interesting, but I've never stayed in that area and habit got the better of me. Gets great reviews on tripadvisor and is the sister hotel of the Bretonnerie. hotel-chopin.com.

Have a wonderful trip to Paris with your daughter. You sound like a very considerate mother.

I think you have received some nice suggestions here. I would like to comment on the Key/Security issue at Jeanne d'Arc as I think I remember the thread you are referring to. They key system is a card key, and you are asked to leave it at the front desk when you leave the hotel, as you do in many other hotels. Every time we walked back into the hotel there was someone at the desk to give us back the key, even when we came in late. Or room was only entered for daily maid service and was never left unlocked. I felt very safe and would not hesitate to stay there alone or with my daughter.

You have some nice options to choose from, have fun planning your trip!

Wouldn't your daughter be more interested in the Quartier Latin with its student life?

But Michael, the great thing about being up there in the 10th/19th -Canal St. Martin area, is that you are right there on the metro line, and you can spend as long as you want down in the Latin Quarter, but not have those largely inflated hotel rates-AND you get to see a less touristy, and quite "boho-youthful" side of the real Paris.

My good friend in Paris lives in the 7th, but we would hang out at night in the 6th and 7th-no problem-I would just catch the last metro northbound.

We had friends who stayed at the Hotel Minerve a few years back, and were happy with it. I think that it has been upgraded, and the prices are higher now. But it's well located and not outrageously expensive.

Michael, my daughter and I are going to go over hotel choices this weekend and I'll bring up the possibility of Latin Quarter hotels. I'll also have her take a look at the NYT article on Canal St. Martin, and also go through Time Out Paris. However, my perception, from my previous visit to Paris, is that she will like the Opera/Marais/Bastille areas better than the Latin Quarter. I can't fully explain why that's the case - just my sense, and I'm not a Paris expert. But if the perfect Left Bank hotel appears, I certainly won't reject it because of its Left Bank location.

Re the Chopin, I think I read somewhere that the passages can be a bit dark at night? I hope it doesn't sound like I'm being too picky, it's just that I obviously have time to way overthink this. I know BeatChick was happy with Hotel Chopin.

I think Hotel Minerva has gone up a lot in price too.

My 21 year old daughter and I spent last month in Paris and we stayed at a really neat hotel called the Hotel Monge(got good reviews here and on tripadvisor). It was 98 euros a night and well worth it. The location is great as it is in a residential area with grocery,shops,ATM right across the street,etc,/between two metor stops-Place Monge and Cardinal Limeone(SP?)/two blocks over to Rue Mouffatard(probably not spelling that right either)that a had a cute street market everyday AND has wonderful restaurants which all the Latin Quarter students visit as you are only a few blocks over to the Sorbonne,Pantheon and about a 10 minute walk to Notre Dame through the students area.I have a bad knee and this area was really easy to walk around and visit things without always getting on the metro.I fly to Paris quite a bit for my job and really enjoyed staying in this area instead of where my airline puts us or where we have stayed before. Check it out as the staff were most helpful,rooms had minibar,cable TV,safe and the corner room we had was huge but also very clean. Have fun and be sure and buy one of the two piece clear Eiffel Towers that has the base that changes from one of the North African guys(don't pay more than 3 or 4 euros-they start at 15 euros)Even thought my daughter has been to Paris before,I talked her into it and she has remarked repeatedly how much she enjoys looking at it on her desk at college.Also-treat her to a Longchamps purse.........always a wonderful souvenir of Paris!!! Enjoy the time together.

We went to Paris in February a couple of years ago and stayed at the Best Western Bretagne Montparnasse for about 80 Euros per night. It was a nice little hotel in a safe neighborhood. The metro was about a block away from the hotel, easy to get around from there. The rooms were small, of course. There were great bakeries and cheese shops in the neighborhood. It was a great value for the money.
Before posting tonight, I went to tripadvisor.com and looked over what people had written since my stay and there were few (what I consider) to be "real" complaints.
If you take this one look back to the early reviews and you will find excellent directions for getting there.

Here's another possibility (I've mentioned it on another thread):
75 Euros per night prepaid. 3* hotel with excellent reviews.
Mercure Paris Monty Opéra
5 rue de Montyon
75009
http://tinyurl.com/wn5fd

L84SKY, thanks for reminding me of the BW site. I see some possibilities there. Dutyfree, thanks for the report on Hotel Monge - certainly I've heard almost universally good things about it.

Asiarooms.com has the Libertel Croix de Malte in the 11th for 70 Euros per night, including breakfast. This is a by request booking, however, so I can't be sure it would work. Plus, the reviews are not that good.

Venere has the Royal Aboukir at
106 rue d'Aboukir, 75002, for 75 Euros per night for a twin.

The reviews do mention the proximity to the St. Denis red light district, though.

This isn't on the right bank, but I stayed in a single in Residence Les Gobelines in 2005 and thought it was fine ... it's on the border of the 5th and 12 (or maybe it's 13). I also went to Paris in October and stayed at Hotel de la Porte Doree, but that's probably too far for your likings. Both will probably be around the 60s for prices.

Okay, I totally lied about prices. Les Goblines is 83, and Porte Doree is high 70s.

Just to add to the confusion...very close to the Arc and in a nice nighborhood in the 15th (Right-which is what you wanted) is Hotel Riveria. We paid 78E for a double on the top floor. There are only 16 rooms. It was close to three metros, a walk to the Champs Elysee, and very clean. I would not hesitate to recommend it.

I don't really have any suggestions for WillTravel, as I usually stay in the 6th, or at least in Montparnasse, as those hotels would be too much for what she wants - but I had to laugh to myself at the mention of the Holiday Inn near the Gare de Lyon. I stayed there for one night a couple of years ago to be near the Gare and got a good internet price. The immediate area is OK (but not my style exactly) and the sex shop next door unobtrusive. There are some pretty seedy side streets near there, but the hotel itself is fine.

What really got me, tho, was that when I turned on the TV, HARDCORE porn was staring me right in the face, and I do mean hardcore. I would have been mortified if a child (yes, even a 15-year old) had been with me at that moment. My daughter laughed when I told her: "Well, Mom, did you turn it off?"

I need to correct my addition- Hotel Riviera is in the 17th! They have a web site and mention public rates...It might be interesting if an email would get you "internet" rates?

Hardcore porn. That would be channel 4 at midnight on the first Saturday of the month, for those who are interested.

Kerouac, that was alot earlier than midnight, and it wasn't the first Saturday of the month. But I'll remember this for future reference!

I think rue Aboukir itself is pretty dreary and ugly, I wouldn't stay there. unless you think a bunch of super cheap clothing stores is a great ambience (ie, "dime store" quality). It's real narrow and not particularly attractive, also. At least that's the part I remember between rue Reaumur and bd St Denis, and I was just there last summer. I think rue St Denis is even more attractive, although that's not saying much. Your other hotels near Grands Boulevards would be much preferable to me, for location anyway, as well as rue Tiquetonne. I don't think I've been on rue d'Aboukir SW of the Sentier metro stop, though.

Sue, thanks for the warning!

Thanks everyone for your other suggestions. Right now the Mercure Monty is at the top of my list, and I hope they don't get rid of their prepaid 75-Euro rate before I make a decision.

Hi WillTravel
A couple of years ago I stayed at the Carroftel Gobelins Hotel, on Ave. des Gobelins, near Rue Mouffetard and it was quite reasonable (something in the order of 80 euros for a twin room). But this time I decided to rent an apartment for my daughter (she is 27) and I to share. I am looking at the rental in Homelidays and there are very reasonable places, particularly as I will be there towards the end of January (it will be cold, I know, but it is Okay, I live in the tropics...).

Brazilnut, I look forward to reading about which rental you end up choosing, and I hope it works well for you and your daughter. I keep on considering the idea of an apartment, but I always reject it because I just get too nervous. Maybe sometime!

Wondering:
I'd like to hear more about Hotel Riviera. We liked wandering around that area near Parc Monceau, more of a residential feeling. Lots of charming little streets. Didn't see that hotel, but I found it on the net after we got back.

Was the neighborhood nice? Well lighted for walks to/from metro? What about restaurants? Thanks.

I went for the Mercure Monty, at a rate of 75 Euros per night prepaid, so I can't change my mind now. In less than two months, we'll be there. But after considering dozens of Paris possibilities, and after a previous positive Mercure experience in Berlin, I felt this was the best choice for the price. I found this interesting article about the hotel:
http://tinyurl.com/ykhtz3 (It's a Chicago Sun-Times article.) Gardyloo's recommendation and the good reviews elsewhere helped too.

The two other most serious contenders were the Timhotel Opera Madeleine and the Hotel Tiquetonne. But my research suggested to me that the rooms at these hotels would not be as comfortable, and fewer amenities are provided.

WillTravel,

We will be renting a little studio in the 11th. Will let you know how it goes.

On Dec 1, "dutyfree" mentioned that there were lots of good restaurants near Hotel Monge (on rue Monge). I'd love to get names of some of them. Thanks!