Hotels Overview

Your eyes crack open, slowly adjusting to the spatter of sunlight. Above you, rough-hewn wooden beams span the ceiling. Sitting up in bed, you glance out the windows and take in the view over the zinc roofs and chimney pots, the clouds giving way to a patchwork of blue. The smell of croissants and café crème teases you further awake.

If this is some version of your Parisian fantasy, good news: you need not be Ritz-rich to realize it. That beamed ceiling could be in a palatial, antiques-filled suite or in a simple room under the eaves. The smell of croissants could be wafting from room service or from the corner boulangerie. The city has more than 1,450 hotels, giving millions of expectant visitors stylish options in all price ranges.

Generally, there are more hotels on the Rive Droite offering luxury -- at any rate, formality -- than on the Rive Gauche, where the hotels are frequently smaller and richer in old-fashioned charm. The Rive Droite's 1er, 8e, and 16e arrondissements are still the most exclusive, and prices here reflect this. The most palatial hotels can charge more than EUR 500 a night without batting an eye. Less expensive alternatives on the Rive Droite can be found in the fashionable Marais quarter (3e and 4e arrondissements). The hotbed of chic hotels on the Rive Gauche is the 6e arrondissement; choices get cheaper in the 5e and 7e. Some excellent budget deals can be found slightly off the beaten track in the 9e and 13e arrondissements. Of course, this chapter highlights many exceptions to these rules, with a handful of budget-priced sleeps in the shadow of Notre Dame, St-Germain-des-Prés, and the Louvre.

Your experience in Parisian hotels will benefit from an adjustment of expectations. Space is a luxury, history is not. So even budget travelers can sleep under 200-year-old wooden beams, but if you're looking for enough room to do your yoga stretches or spread out your three suitcases, better book a room in a four-star luxury or palace hotel. Amenities have improved, with virtually every hotel now equipped with cable TV (meaning CNN and BBC news in English), minibars, in-room safes, and wireless Internet access (although not always free). But everything from the beds and showers to elevators and breakfast rooms may feel cramped to those not used to life on a European scale. Air-conditioning is not always available, nor is it a prerequisite for comfort in Paris, even in summer (although some hotels now have oscillating fans). Cigarettes may be banned from common areas like lobbies, but so-called no-smoking rooms may mean the housekeeper has simply spritzed the room with air freshener. Light sleepers may want to pack earplugs, since double-glazed windows won't necessarily keep out the sounds from hallways or neighboring rooms.

Reviews indicate the number of rooms with private bathroom (which mean they have a shower or a tub, but not necessarily both). Tubs don't always have fixed showerheads or curtains; how the French rinse themselves with the handheld nozzle without flooding the entire bathroom remains a cultural mystery. It's rare to find moderately priced places that expect guests to share toilets or bathrooms, but be sure you know what facilities you are getting when you book a budget hotel.

Almost all Parisian hotels charge extra for breakfast, with per-person prices ranging from EUR 5 to more than EUR 30 at luxury establishments. Occasionally Continental breakfast is included in the hotel rate. We denote this with a CP, for Continental Plan. But you may find the standard Continental breakfast of coffee, baguette, croissant, jam, and butter neither a good value nor sufficiently robust. If you decide to eat elsewhere, inform the desk staff and make sure breakfast hasn't been charged to your bill. That said, many hotels now offer pricier buffet breakfasts with more substantial fare -- cheese, cereal, fruit, meat, and eggs made to order -- in pleasant breakfast areas or a stone basement cave (listed as "dining rooms" in this guide). Full-fledged hotel restaurants serving lunch and dinner are common only at luxury establishments.

Typical check-in and check-out times are 2 PM and noon, respectively, although some properties allow check-in as early as noon and require check-out as early as 11 AM. Many flights from North America arrive early in the morning, and having to wait six hours for a room after arriving jet-lagged at 8 AM isn't the ideal way to start a vacation. Alert the hotel of your early arrival; larger establishments can often make special early-check-in arrangements, but don't expect more than baggage storage and use of a public bathroom to freshen up at budget hotels.

Unless otherwise stated, hotels have elevators, and all guest rooms have air-conditioning, TV, telephone, and private bathroom. Remember that in France the first floor is the floor above the ground floor, or rez-de-chaussée. Note that we use "in-room data ports" to designate the presence of genuine high-speed lines and mention wireless access where available (otherwise, expect escargot-paced Web surfing).