I like to be in the 5th or 6th fairly near the river - and so access to many sights.

But a lot depends on your budget and what sort of lodging you are looking for. You can;t put 4 adults in one room - so are you looking for two rooms or a suite in a hotel? And what sort of budget do you have?

My budget is $11,000. I will need to two rooms! You prefer that to the 1st and 2nd?

Central Paris is quite compact and the Metro provides easy access to almost any tourist draw. Rather than worry too much about the arrondisment, I look for proximity to a Metro station, or, ideally, easy access to two different lines.

I do appreciate your advice! I will look for a location with easy access to the Metro. Does anyone recommend a particular hotel?

<< My budget is $11,000 >>

Your budget is $11,000 for 2 rooms for 5 days? That's $1,000 per room per night. You should have no problems finding a place.

I would stay in the 6th.

Hotel St. Vincent
Hotel Madison
Relais St. Germain
Au Manoir St. Germain

I'd look at apartments. Try Vacation In Paris. We like the 4th, 5th and 6th best for transport and street conveniences!

Many people love apartments, and sometimes they save money. For 5 days, I would stay in a hotel with the convenience of the hotel desk for advice, making reservations, etc.
I imagine we need some clarification if the whole amount of money is for the hotel.

Options include
1) stay in an international hotel no idea of price as I would hate the idea but if you have particularly fussy children it might be an idea
2) stay in a top notch french hotel assume $300 per room night up
3) stay in a normal french hotel assume $170 and down per room per night
4) An appartment wide ranging and the further from the train system the cheaper.

I'd also stay in 5th or 6th but I would go with option (3)

I would also stay in the 6th (and always do). It is very centrally located, has many Metro stops and is charming. We like the Hotel des Sts. Peres on the Rue of the same name. The Madison is very nice. There is a thread on this forum on Paris Left Bank hotels. Look at that.

Can you give us a € value per night that you wish to spend on a hotel? I imagine the 11k figure is for the whole trip?

jamietall,
I am in the midst of planning our first trip to Paris for this summer, too. We are staying at the Hotel Bonaparte on Rue Bonaparte in the 6th. I did a lot of research, contacted a lot of hotels, & decided this was the best for us. The 6th is centrally located, within walking distance to a lot of sites. We are paying $174 per night for a double room with private bath. The hotel has AC & an elevator. Make sure you get a hotel with AC. Hotel Bonaparte is recommended by a lot of people on this forum & also recommended by Fodors guidebook.

You should also check trip advisor. When I was researching hotels, I checked trip advisor & some of the places that sounded perfect on their website got bad to mixed reviews. I believe the Bonaparte got all good reviews from Trip Advisor.

I think you should hurry to book a hotel or find an apartment if your trip is this July. We are going to Paris, also in July, and although we started booking some time ago, a few of our top choices were already gone.

We are staying in the 6th arr because it's convenient and lively.

Geez, with that budget I'd go for the Ritz or George V

I want to be adopted by you.

If you have been to London, Paris is about 6 times more compact, so you are never really very far from any of the sights as long as you are inside the city limits.

Frankly, I would not devote a great part of that budget to accommodations, because Paris has hundreds of good reasonably priced hotels. How about something simple like the Britannique in the 1st arrondissement, or even the modern Novotel Les Halles, also in the 1st?

http://www.hotel-britannique.fr/
http://www.novotel.com/fr/hotel-0785-novotel-paris-les-halles/index.shtml

hi jamitail,

with grown-up children I'd look at an apartment - far more freedom for you and them to come and go as you like, slob about, eat in, eat out, etc. etc. for people with your budget you might find an agency called Paris Perfect has something suitable, but there are many others.

also consider how you are arriving in Paris - if it's CDG, think about staying near an RER B stop - this can make getting to your hotel or apartment quite easy. you just get on the RER at the airport, get off at the right stop, and walk a few [hundred] meters. Chatelet-les-halles [right bank] and Notre Dame-St. Michel [left bank] are the handiest.

if you want a hotel in the 1st that is very convenient for RER B and metro, the Britannique is lovely, but you need to get booking!

Paris hotel prices seem to have gone up just within the past year or two (not surprising, I know, but I mean noticeably for the ones I check). I don't think $170 and below is that typical now for a "normal" French hotel under the current exchange rate, many 3* hotels have higher rates than that, and even some 2* hotels. That is only around 130 euro and a lot of the 3* hotels I've been checking are around 160 euro or so nowadays, except during a cheaper time period (eg, August, but not always July). Most of the rooms at the 2* Hotel Bonaparte mentioned are more than that, I believe, only the smallest ones are about 130 euro. And it wouldn't be what someone was looking for who wanted to spend $10,000 on hotel costs for 5 days.

$11,000 is for the whole trip! that is including air fare from St Louis!

Of course $11,000 is for the whole trip - I can't believe the folks who thought that was the hotel budget.

I like to stay in the 7ème, at either the Hôtel Duquesne or the Hôtel de France, the first a tad bit upscale, the second a bit basic but still comfortable and with wonderful staff who take good care of me. They both have quad rooms. Others like the 4th, 5th, and 6th. I think those are the ones you should concentrate on.

Oh, gee, I thought the $11,000 was for one night.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/01/travel/expensive-hotel-suites-cnngo/index.html

(Psst - look at photo for the Las Vegas one!)

st. cirq - a quad room won't work, as the OP has 3 grown up children.

definitely 2 hotel rooms or a decently sized apartment are required.

Well, ST. Cirq's idea of the quad DOES have some resonance. When we went with our kids, everyone had their own rooms, but we took a triple which was larger and it was the gathering room for wine and cheese before going out, etc.

of course, Gretchen, the OP might choose to book, say, a double and a quad, but it is likely that the quad will be full of beds and not a lot else! [we once came across a family room in rural france with 7 beds - there was hardly room for 2 people, let alone 7!]

I used to study in Paris. I prefer the first and the eight arrindoissiments in Paris (spelling). I like it because its proximity to everything walking. I stayed at the Hotel Brighton on the rue de rivoli

I guess I shouldn't have said "quad." What I was actually thinking of was "chambres communicantes," which doesn't resonate with non-French speakers mostly, but is a realistic possibility - two double rooms with a single shared hallway. Sometimes there are two bathrooms, sometimes a shared one, but whatever, it works for two couples, four family members, and so forth.

of course, St. Cirq. they do exist as you say, but surprisingly seldom, IME. occasionally when travelling en famille we have come across them, but more often were put in non-adjoining rooms, sometimes even on different floors!

i do feel that for a family party of this size, an apartment would be the better option.

Agreed, ann.

My reply somehow ended up on the Paris Left Bank Hotel thread, which I referenced. Strange.

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/paris-hotels-left-bank-thread.cfm

So, here's the full thread again and my reply at the end!

“If you have been to London, Paris is about 6 times more compact, so you are never really very far from any of the sights as long as you are inside the city limits.”


Kerouac, that’s good news. I loved London. Last time I stayed near Trafalgar Square so I walked to many sites/museums within 1-2 mile radius. On that trip I did not venture to Kennsington and other further areas except on the Big Red Bus (which posters here seem to hate) because I was given a free ticket. The tour did give a good overview of London’s various neighborhoods. The weather happened to be beautiful that day which helped.

In June I am staying in the 6th, not far from the Seine, so I expect to walk to many museums, historical sites, and neighborhood/gardens. The only exceptions will be a visit to the Marmottan and Jacquemart-Andre where I will venture on the Metro.

lateday - don't eshew the metro completely. walking, even in Paris, can get very tiring, and judicious use of the metro [and buses] can enable you to see more than you otherwise might. for example, if you are staying in the 6th, and want to see the Marais, you could walk across the seine to the concorde metro station [line 1] and get the metro to Bastille, then walk back [you'd be very tired if you tried to walk there as well].

also try to organise your sightseeing so that you group the places you see together - eg Notre Dame, St. Chappelle, and the Conciege - so that you aren't dotting all over the place and wasting time and energy.

I am so glad I joined Fodors on line forum. I appreciate and enjoy reading everyone's thoughts. thanks I am still looking!

Jamietall,

I´m going to Paris with my family (party of 4) next week, and we´ll stay at the Fraser Suites Le Claridge, which is on Avenue des Champs Elysèes. For me it´s perfectly located, subway very close, shops, restaurants, Monoprix market, paul boulangerie, easy access to all major points. I´ve reserved a one-bedroom (one queen bed + a sofa bed) with 2 bathrooms. They have rooms for 4, 6, and 8. So I think you can try it. I don´t know how much it will cost you, since it´s July, but my fare was very reasonable considering all the facilities and amenities (full kitchen + 2 bathrooms + Champs Elysèes view). It´s a hotel but have the benefits of an apartment.

Thanks for that tip Zago_krebs! did you book directly with the Fraser Suites?

Fraser Suites are already booked! Thanks anyway!

I am trying Hotel le Clement. Has anyone been there?

So true, annhig. On our first trip to Paris 12 years ago we waisted so much time and energy going from place to place on foot and sometimes combining attractions that weren't so close to each other. Now, we walk a lot but when it's worth it.

Thank you, Annhig. I know you know Paris well. I will definitely check out bus schedules too.

I know you know Paris well. I will definitely check out bus schedules too.>>

mmm - not as well as I would like, or anything like as well as some people here. but I am a lazy traveller, [some might say lazy person!] and therefore spend a lot of energy planning how to be as efficient as possible. If you are not in any sort of hurry, buses are good of course because you can see out, and you haven't got all that traipsing around underground that you get at some metro stations and "correspondences" [where two or more lines meet].

hope you have a great trip!

No, our triple was as St. Cirq said. It was nice to have since there were 8 of us and the main room was large.

I wouldn't ever stay on or near the Champs Elysées - sterile neighborhood with not much going on and a hike to most places of interest. A "view" of it from an apartment is actually kind of comical...so you get to look out over a big wide street loaded with traffic.

Well, I think that everyone is entitled to like something or not, and also to have travelling preferences or specific needs. I am very pleased with my "kind of comical view" to the Champs Elysèes, which allows me to see the lights of the Eiffel Tower in front of me, to my right the Place de la Concorde, to my left the Arc of Triomphe. There is traffic, there is a lot of people walking, like in every other part of a turistic city. The subway can take me everywhere I want to go, or I can walk enjoying the city. Plus, as I have my daughter (almost 3-years-old) with me, it's very convenient to have a supermarket nearby, as well as other places that can cather what I need for her. And my view to the Champs Elysèes included a very good view of the president Mr. François Hollande on his way to the Arc of Triomphe.
Anyway, I think that Paris is big and friendly enough to accomodate different views and preferences. Ne c'est pas, StCirq?