Dee3

Anyone ever stay at the Hotel D'Albe St-Michel in Paris? Any experience booking through Hotelclub.net? All feedback will be appreciated!

Dee3

Anybody?

francophile03

Dee, sorry you haven't gotten any replies. It's like that sometimes and possibly no one's stayed there at least recently. You can do a "search" here of the hotel by typing its name in the "search" box above.
However, you can also check for comments on tripadvisor.com. There are a few recent comments (all favorable). Keep in mind that this part of Paris is the Latin Qtr. and it is a very lively area even late at night especially where the hotel is located-nearby St. Michel-but it is a convenient area and close to the Seine. The hotel is on rue de la Harpe a very busy street full of pedestrians but it's not pedestrianized. To have a look at the hotel's exterior (it looks good) and the street surroundings go to Pages Jaunes (www.pagesjaunes.fr) and type in the hotel's names and location code (75005).

Travelnut

Why don't you ask the hotel if they will match whatever rate the booking site is showing? That way, you can deal directly with them.

Travelnut

http://www.albe-paris-hotel.com/French/Frameset.html

JudyC

I stayed at the hotel last December for its location:about 1 minute walk from Metro, walking distance to major sites,crowded till late evening for walking safely around.

The room is small but clean enough, adequate for Paris standard, breakfast was quite good. The street noise wasn't a problem as I had a room facing the back.

I am afraid I don't have experience with Hotelclub.net. Have you checked www.Laterooms.com? Sometimes I get good deals from the site.

Dee3

Thanks francofile and Travelnut for your webpage suggestions. Good for French reading practice as well! Your experience at the D'Albe sounded most positive, JudyC. Thanks! As we've never been to Paris or France before, is the street scene typical for the Latin Quarter? Looks like what I would imagine Paris to be, which is what we're looking for! We're interested in this hotel as it appears within walking distance to some attractions as well as has proximity of the metro for others. We're looking for safe and clean, local flavour with cafés and shops. We're headed to Paris in early November, using frequent flier miles. Weather? Good time of year for touring? Other suggestions in this price range (132 Euros)?

JudyC

To Dee3, As I mentioned before: location is the only reason I chose the hotel. I have stayed at quite a few far nicer one in Paris. But for solo female traveler enjoying walking (nothing is more enjoyable than walking along the River Seine in the early morning/late at the night), this is ideal and safe.

I can't say it is full of local colour as the restaurants on that street are very touristy(never eat on that street),but if you walk across Bld St.Michel to the other side towards Rue de Buci-the market, there are quite a few good eating places and shops.

November is a good time to visit,as major tourist season will be over-no more long line-up in museums,plenty of entertainments. The weather could be iffy-rain and chilly, but we don't go to Paris for the weather,do we?

For other hotel suggestions, there were couple threads on the Forum last few days, some seemed quite interesting,if you could do a research by "Paris hotel".

Travelnut

Dee3, first of all, Paris is a very walkable city, if you are up to that. Parts of the Latin Quarter, St Germain and the Marais do indeed have narrow, quaint streets in some areas, as does part of Montmartre. Rue de la Huchette is actually not the best representation, b/c it has a lot of ethnic and touristy venues but it's still fun.

You will also see sweeping boulevards, tree-lined avenues, traffic-intense streets, beautiful parks and great views from the many bridges crossing the Seine. In some areas of the city, there are more 'modern' or commercialized buildings, some appealing, many not so much. Just be as open as you can and don't 'romanticize' too much. Let Paris unfold over a couple of days - it may get into your system permanently!

Christina

That location isn't at all typical of Paris or the Latin Quarter. It's just a prime tourist venue with a lot of cheap tourist restaurants and souvenir or other shops selling to tourists.

Dee3

JudyC, Travelnut, francofile03, and Christina, thanks for your posts. After researching for months over the internet, I think we're booking the D'Albe for early November. You can go insane looking over all the thousands of small hotels in Paris! One last question, JudyC: from CDG to St. Michel one takes the RER B directly from the terminal, correct? One of the potential things we like about the D'Albe is the proximity to the metro and the RER. Can you use the 5 zone metro pass (Mobilis?) or the Paris Visite card? What is the Carte Orange? Do you recommend the Museum Pass? Perhaps we won't need one in November as the lines will be less? All of your help has been invaluable!