twoflower

Thought I should start a new thread for this, as the question has moved on to something different from my original thread of a few days ago.

We are a couple, travelling to Paris in late August and staying there for 4 nights. We are looking at 2 budget-to-moderate-priced hotels in completely different neighbourhoods, and wondered if anyone on this forum could help us decide.

The hotels are Les Relais du Marais in the 3rd arrondisement (nearest metros Temple and Republique), and Des Trois Poussins in the 9th arrondisement (nearest metro St-Georges).

By way of starting comments, both are equally well reviewed on Tripadvisor but Des Trois Poussins is a little more expensive and seems to be on a less convenient metro line than Les Relais du Marais. Does anyone know these hotels? We are especially keen to hear what people think about the neighbourhoods each of them are in.

Robert2533

You have to remember that any hotel reviews you see on TA need to be taken with a grain of salt, maybe two. Both hotels are rated on Booking.com, which tends to have a bit more validity in its reviews, the Des Trois Poussins getting the better rating of the two, but not by much. It is a little more expensive because it is a 3-star property with a/c, something you'll need in late August.

Ackislander

Yes, you need air conditioning. That wwould be a deciding factor for me.

qwovadis

http://www.booking.com/hotel/fr/le-r...marais.en.html
My choice of your 2 but price not too good
Hotel du Theatre in that are better price point.
For similar money for my trip in April booked the
Novotel Les Halles a true four star for 110 euro on hotwire.com. It is their "secret" Louvre/Vendome hotel.

Happy Hunting!

Christina

yes, I stayed in les Trois Poussins several years ago. I love that neighborhood. The people at the hotel were very nice and it was a good choice given I wanted to be in that area and wanted AC (as it was summer). The room was big enough, my only complaint was the mattress was not a real mattress but foam. I had never seen that before except in one hotel in Uzes. I'm sure a block of foam is cheaper than a real mattress, but it wasn't as comfortable. This is that yellow hard kind of foam that couch cushions can be made of, not foam rubber like a pillow.

That was several years ago, however, that was my only complaint. I much prefer that neighborhood to the Marais, and especially that area of the Marais. Les Trois Poussins is right near place Thoudouze which is great . It is near a pedestrian market street (rue des Martyrs), great cheap cafes full of friendly locals (some in the outdoor square just around the corner), a lot of younger people hang out around there. Few tourists. Restaurants and bars are relatively cheap. I had a lot of fun there one evening as there is a cheaper Indian restaurant with long communal tables out in the courtyard and I wanted wine which they didn't serve (never heard of such a thing) but you could bring your own, so the people sitting near me shared theirs with me. They were local French college students, we had a good conversation. I speak French, though, which is why I like being in a neighborhood like that more.

It probably is a little more inconvenient location, though, as there is just that one metro line (although I walked up to Pigalle sometimes, although it's a few blocks) and the other one has lots of lines intersecting at Republique (and line 11 is nearby anyway).

suze

If it is just between these tow, and one has air-con and the other does not and the trip is in late August, that would decide it for me.

twoflower

Thank you everyone. Quovadis: booking.com's price 298 euros for le relais du marais on your link was for 2 nights. They are offering 396 euros for 4 nights which is a bit better. (We want 4 nights). Thanks for the tip about hotwire - very interesting, and good prices.

Des Trois Poussins has turned into a bit of a nightmare re accessibility. RER/metro access from CDG involves long walk between metro connections Gare du Nord & La Chapelle, and metro access to where we pick up car (St-Cloud) involves long walk to Chaussee-d'Antin (nearest metro St-Georges no good) plus 3 metro changes. Air-con issues notwithstanding, Le Relais du Marais looks to be the only option.

Except that Hotel Jeanne d'Arc near St Paul Le Marais metro has now come back into the picture. After being told by the hotel's own website plus several booking agencies that they had no rooms available on our dates, I emailed them (on advice from someone on this forum in my earlier thread) and lo and behold! - they do have a room available, for slightly better rates than the other two.

But how do people rate this area compared with the other two?

klondiketoo

<But how do people rate this area compared with the other two?>

If the Jeanne d'Arc has air conditioning and this is your first trip to Paris, I'd choose the Marais district, personally.

Ackislander

Well, the J d'A is extremely well located about half a block off rue St Antoine and the same from the Place de Vosges. Easy access to St Paul Metro and 96 bus to right bank. Have not stayed there, but have walked past many times. Rooms said to be smallish, but that's Europe. AC?

Travelnut

I mentioned on your other thread that Hotel Sevigne in the Marais is undergoing a renovation, opening in April, and they previously had A/C so would most likely retain that feature.
http://www.le-sevigne.com/

Christina

I wouldn't book a hotel in August without AC. Lots of hotels have discounts in August, that's one advantage of going then. The Jeanne d'Arc doesn't have AC, does it.

Logistics are important, but I don't understand the issue with metro going to St Cloud. I never tried to get to that location from CDG by metro, I just took a cab, which wasn't that expensive as it's on the northern side of town (at least compared to the Left Bank). But why would you have to walk to Chausee d'Antin and transfer 3 times to get to either Pont de St CLoud or Porte de St Cloud? If you walked to Chausee d'Antin, you wouldn't have to transfer at all as Porte de St Cloud is on that line. if you are going to the end of line 10, you'd have to transfer once. And you could use St Georges metro for the latter plan and still transfer once, just take line 12 to Sevres Babylone to transfer to line 10. If you are really going to line 9, you would have to transfer twice if you got on at St Georges. It isn't so convenient from the airport by RER/metro, though.

I really preferred Hotel Langlois in that general neighborhood, though, and it is a little more convenient to transporation. It has 20 pct discounts in August (off a double room rate of 140-150 euro normally) and has good AC and large rooms. Very nice people. It seems you have your heart set on the Marais, however. http://www.hotel-langlois.com/en/index.html

Hotel Langlois is just a few steps from the Trinite metro stop and near the Haussmann/St Lazare RER stop. Unfortunately, Trinite is on the same line as St Georges, but from CDG you could transfer to the RER E line more easily at Gare du Nord than to La Chapelle metro stop. I don't really understand your issues on leaving with the metro, as I said.

twoflower

According to ratp.com if I start from St-Georges metro, I take the Mairie-d'Issy line to St-Lazare, then Chatillon-Montrouge line to Miromesnal, then Pont-de-Sevres line to Porte-de-St-Cloude. 3 metros, lugging our bags. Or we can reduce the number of connections by walking 15 mins to Chausee-d'Antin line, again lugging our bags. Porte-de-St-Cloud is out by the Peripherique on the SW corner of Paris, so I imagine a taxi would be expensive.

I've never understood the preoccupation with AC, especially in these times when it's somewhat non-PC to release fluoro-carbons into the atmosphere. (I know modern ACs might be better in this regard, but from what I've seen of Paris hotels very few would fit into this category). This will be our fifth trip to Paris. Usually we're there in September, but our first time was in July. We lived in Brisbane for 16 years but used our AC only rarely. I may be wrong, but I can't imagine Paris getting as hot as Brisbane?

Thanks for the hotel tips. We'll check them out. At present Jeanne d'Arc is offering E96 a night, Le Relais du Marais E99 a night, and Des Trois Poussins around E120 a night. (Reason for vagueness is that their quote is in $'s and I'm having to convert it).

Logistics and price aside, I suppose my real question is around the different neighbourhoods. Most of our Paris wanderings have been around the Left Bank, the Louvre and Elysees neighbourhoods, and Montmarte. We've ventured a few times into the Marais which is how we became attracted to Jeanne d'Arc, but we don't know the outer/northern Marais where Le Relais du Marais is, nor southern Montmartre/Opera where Des Trois Poussins is.

Christina

Your first itinerary is only two transfers, though, you said it was 3 metro changes and walking to Chaussee d'Antin. So I guess I was confused by what that meant, it is only 2 changes. I wouldn't want to do it, though, I agree, but I wouldn't from the Marais, either, although that is only one change so would be easier, of course.

I don't know about fluorocarbons and the type of AC they use in Parisian hotels, France usually has good environmental standards. There is global warming, Parisian summers are getting hotter as far as I'm concerned. YOu just never know, that's the problem, it could be perfectly fine and not hot at all in August or rainy/cool or it could be over 90 F (32 C) every day. A lot of people just don't like the idea that their annual vacation could be made very unpleasant by the lack of AC (like myself), just in case. I have been sleepless for hours at nights in Paris in the summer due to heat waves, that's all. NOt my idea of fun, and being a big city, it can be noisy if you leave the windows open. So that's another source of sleeplessness, perhaps as important as the temp. But no, I don't think it will be worse than Brisbane right now, this month, may be about the same. So if that is fine with you, that solves that problem.

I don't really know how to explain neighborhoods, but the Trois Poussins isn't very near the Opera and I wouldn't refer to that neighborhood that way (it's really the St Georges neighborhood, if anything, Trinite) and the Relais du Marais is in what I'd call the Temple neighborhood. The big difference as I see it is the Temple neighborhood is "bigger" in a sense, with bigger streets, more stores, etc., bigger urban planning in terms of block size and intersections, just "bigger". I find it a little dull around there, sometimes not enough greenery for me, but I do like square du Temple as a park.

The Trois Poussins is really just a residential area, out of the way on a side street, sort of an upcoming hip area (but not hip with expensive shops like the Marais). It's just quieter around there. If you like the Marais, you probably would like the Temple area fine, although you'll have to travel a bit to really be in the area people talk about all the time when they refer to the Marais. But convenience for your travel plans is important.

Here's a video of Fete de la Musique in the square just outside the Hotel Trois Poussins (place Toudouze) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96wXPaTJbfE

Here is some description of places around there, and while it mentions les Trois Poussins, it is really referring to the Pigalle area which is a bit north of it, but I did walk up to Pigalle sometimes. http://www.rendezvousfrance.com/pigalle.html

suze

twoflowers- I hardly think it is a "preoccupation" to suggestion many people appreciate AC in their hotels in major European cities in August. I can't tell you how hot it was my one and only trip to Paris. But it was absolutely broiling! But if you don't care about it, fine, just ignore those comments, no need to give us a lecture.

For me AC is not only about the temps. It's also about noise. When I'm trying to sleep on a HOT summer night, in a busy city, on a busy street, that's hard to do with the windows open if there is a lot of traffic and other urban sounds going on outside.