blackmons

As I've posted before, we will be in Paris at the end of June 2013. I currently have reservations at Hotel Le Relais Bosquet, but am now wondering if I should look into a hotel closer to Luxembourg Gardens. I'm a park person. I love Central park in New York, Lincoln Park in Chicago. It's a great place to catch some shade, rest a bit, and people watch. Would I be better off getting a hotel closer to the Luxembourg Gardens? Or does it really not matter where our hotel is as we'll be out and about all day anyways? I suppose if we start our days early and want to see the night lights in Paris, having our hotel in a convenient location to regroup and rest up is also probably a priority. Our friends who recommended Hotel Le Relais Bosquet made the observation that it's nice to be near Rue Cler to pick up dinner and take back to your room if it's been a long day, which also appeals to me.
Any opinions?
Thanks,
Laurie

Robert2533

Your hotel's location in the 7th if fine, and not that far of a walk from Luxembourg Gardens, at least not if you like to walk.

There are a lot of good options in the 6th, closer to the gardens, but it will depend on your budget.

StCirq

You're only about a 10-minute walk to the Champ de Mars.

denisea

I have stayed in both the 6th and the 7th, but prefer the 6th. Not sure of your budget but Hotel le Fleurie is a good option near Lux Garderns...also the area around the Odeon metro stop/ rue St Sulpice has a number of small hotels that are nice and we enjoy the cafes in the area. I am not that impressed with rue Cler and we enjoyed the 7th, but we didn't click with it they way we did with the 6th.

blackmons

Thanks for your replies. We will be paying 183 eu for 5 of the nights at Relais Bosquet, and 220 for 2 of the nights. Looking at the prices of hotel le Fleurie, it appears to be out of our price range. is Lux Gardens a more expensive area to stay in general?
Laurie

denisea

It may be...hard to say both the 6th and the 7th are very nice....it may just depend on time of year and availability. The 7th just felt more removed to us, but we were not unhappy there. We just happen to like the 6th a little better. The hotel you are staying at looks nice and the area is nice. The Constant line up of restaurants and Reed are close by.

StCirq

Yes, I think generally speaking the 6th can be more expensive than the 7th. I gravitated toward the 7th for a long time, but a LOT of people prefer the 6th, which I think is more lively. I like quiet at night, but easy accessibility to the less quiet places during the day, which is why I (used to) stay in the 7th. These days I actually prefer more outlying, un-trendy, less central neighborhoods, but that's a choice I've made after more than 100 trips to Paris, so I'm more adventurous and wanting to experience stuff that isn't "central" at all.

Christina

I think the 6th is more expensive, also. And I certainly would NOT call staying near rue Cler to be a short or easy walk to Luxembourg Gardens, implying this is a place you could easily hang out. Sure, you can walk there, but it isn't your back yard. I would never pick up food and eat in my hotel room, I find that depressing (some hotels won't allow that, anyway, I don't some around rue Cler do not, such as the Muguet, they don't allow food in your room, so if you really plan on doing that, make sure the hotel allows it).

There are tons of hotels around Luxembourg Gardens, of course. The odds are it isn't going to be easy to go back to the hotel in the middle of the day no matter where you stay, it just takes too much time to do that unless you are seeing something in its immediate neighborhood. But if you plan to go back to the hotel in late afternoon before going out in the evening, either one will do for that.

Either location will be fine, really. If you really plan to spend a lot of time hanging out in a park, I would stay around Luxembourg Gardens rather than rue Cler as Champ de Mars isn't that appealing as a place to hang out IMO.

annhig

blackmons - we stayed here:

http://les-jardins-du-luxembourg.com/fr/

it was very quiet, reasonably priced, and conveniently placed near to the Luxembourg RER stop.

HOWEVER - it's not a place you can just nip back to. the walk to the gardens is dead easy - as is the walk DOWN to Notre Dame, Boulevard St. Germain, etc. but after a day's sightseeing, it's a hard slog back UP the hill or a trip on the metro/RER - which often means a long walk underneath the pavements at a "correspondence" [ie where 2 or more lines meet]. also there were not a large number of restaurants in the area so we ended up doing the same journey in the evening -walking down into town and an underground trip back up.

if you think that you will be spending time in the park every day, I'd look for somewhere on the other side of the park which will make wandering round the 6th a lot easier. OTOH if you only want to visit it once or twice, I'd cross it off my list of critieria. The place you have already booked is not short of green spaces, or look for somewhere in the 6th.

JaniceGo

We stayed at Hotel Le Relais Bosquet (RB) in October and I highly recommend it both as a hotel and as a location. It is a wonderful place to begin and end your day as well as being convenient to stop in for a mid-afternoon rest.

We love Luxembourg Gardens, but wouldn't trade the location of RB just to get closer to the gardens. It is close to a peaceful residential area, an expanse of park area, Champs de Mars, and easy access to all transporation options. Rue Cler is ok, I wouldn't structure a stay around it, but it is convenient for picking up take-out meals, wine, etc. (But then, where in Paris isn't right?) We loved going out for evening walks along the Seine and through the park while enjoying the lights on the Eiffel Tower.
Anyway, my advice, FWIW, is to stick with the Relais Bosquet.

blackmons

Advice taken! We're going to stay put.
Thanks,
Laurie