Hello,<BR><BR> I tried posting a direct question earlier today but it was somehow lost. I was wondering if anyone could recommend a nice 2 star hotel in the 7th. I found one called Hotel Royal Phare which is a two star in the 7th. Has anyone ever stayed in this one or know of another in the same general area.<BR><BR>Thanx ahead of time. Hopefully this time I won't be taken off the forum.<BR>

The post is there-now #27-but you may have seen it already.

Check Rick Steves guide he loves the 7th and lists many 2* hotels among them the Royal Phare. Of those listed in his and other books, the Hotel de Champs de Mars, I think is the best value. Its very well located and has small but pleasant and immaculate rooms. Its hard to book though so get reservations ASAP. You will be staying w/mostly other Americans. Royal Phare is fine and well located.<BR>

Hotel Muguet is an outstanding 2*.

Here is a site to peruse<BR>http://www.1stparishotels.com/<BR>

Thank you all so much for your input. I was also looking into the Champs de Mars. It took me 3 months to pick the arrondissment, now it will take as long to pick a good hotel. Thank goodness the trip is not until June.<BR><BR

I have seen Palais Bourbon recommended.

If you will go to the web site ParisHotels.com, you will find many 2 star hotels, some of which are in the 7th. You have to identify an address (a street name works fine) that is in the desired district, and the hotels in that area will be displayed. I just checked into a number of smaller hotels in the St. Germain area, and to me one that was outstanding was La Perle.

Thanks again for the posters. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had such a hard time finding accomodations anywhere? I was in paris when I was 13 (school trip) and I remember nothing. Wish I did, it would make planning that much easier.<BR>

Cynthia---<BR>Methinks you worry overly much. Obviously you are doing a lot of planning, and that planning will pay off. Every time you think of something you want to know, or want to do, write it down and keep a list. Pretty soon your list will be fairly large, but at least you will have made note of those things and can go to the next question. For each major question, you always have a good resource in this site.<BR><BR>However, I would advise that you try to learn some of the key words and phrases in French.

Actually, Cynthia, once you narrow down the district that you want to stay in and the type of hotel you like, the rest doesn't take much time. You email the hotels you want to stay at and if they say they have or don't have availability then just try another one. Shouldn't be too hard.

My wife and I were in Paris at the beginning of October. We stayed at the Hotel de la Tulipe in the 7th. This is a charming small hotel with a little garden. The hotel is close to the Rue Cler market, numerous bistro and shops. We really enjoyed our stay and we would highly recommend this hotel for anyone looking for the &quot;Paris experience.&quot;

Hi Cynthia,<BR> Just curious. Why did you pick the 7th?

Wayne: Thanks for the advise. I am french (french Canadian) so I'm somewhat covered in that department. However, Parisian french is slightly different from my own, but I'll be fine...I think.<BR><BR>Why I chose the 7th? Price basically and locality. My boyfriend doesn't have all that much money and I have graduated from University by then and my money will be scarce (I have enough for the trip). We wanted something central and the Eiffel Tower is probably the only area I know well enough.<BR>

Hi Cynthia<BR>I have a long file on Paris; if you'd like to see it, email me.<BR><BR>The 7th is fine, a lot of people like it, but imo parts of it can be kind of dead at night.<BR>With economy in mind, you might want to also consider the 5th. It's student country (Sorbonne, etc), plenty of budget hotels and cafes, and I think more going on during the evening. And as you wander into the 6th there's just as much to see and do.

I think the 5th or 6th would be more fun for a young couple to stay in, also, and there are lots of great 2 stars in those areas.

Hi Cynthia<BR><BR> How much are you budgeting for your hotel?

We are budgeting about $300-$350 Canadian for a week (accomodations). We will have been one week in London already. because of our horrible dollar worth, money exchange is not very good. I am going there to experience things and not spend too much on accomodations.<BR>Thank you Elaine, I will e-mail you for the file. would prefer to stay away from 'student country' for the simple reason that I will be leaving right after grad and not want to be around students (does that sound prudish?) I just want a quiet, safe area to sleep and relax when tired.<BR>Thanks for all your imput.<BR><BR>

I think the 7th sounds like a good choice for you from what you said, and it does have the advantage of cheaper hotels than many areas (I think you can sometimes get better value than in the 5th).<BR><BR>However, your budget is really not very possible if I understand that you want to spend 50 CAD, which is only about 32 euro, per night for a double hotel room? Perhaps you mean per person so you want something around 65 euro per night? <BR><BR>There are only a few dozen 2-star hotels in the 7th, so I think you should first narrow it down to what part of the 7th you want as that is very different (Eiffel Tower/rue Cler vs Musee d'Orsay/border of St-Germain). From there, you have a short list because even in the 7th, very few 2-star hotels will be within your budget.<BR><BR>I think often-cited good value 2-star hotels in the 7th are (with approx current costs for a double room):<BR><BR>Eiffel/rue Cler/Invalides area:<BR>Amelie 76-85 euro<BR>Champ de Mars 74-78<BR>H l'Empereur 80-100<BR>H de France 85+<BR>Grand Hotel Leveque 84-91<BR>Kensington 65-80<BR>de la Motte Picquet 70-81<BR>Muguet 92-100<BR>Prince 78-100<BR>Royal Phare 56-61<BR>St-Dominique 89-117<BR>Turenne 64-73<BR>Valadon 99-110<BR><BR>rue de Bac/eastern area (this is more expensive part, I think):<BR>Lindbergh 89-126<BR>Hotel de Nevers, 83 rue du Bac ? (prob about 75 euro)<BR>Palais Bourbon 110+<BR>St-Thomas d'Acquin 90-107<BR>Quai Voltaire 118-125<BR><BR>There are a few more 2-star hotels in the 7th, but I left off a few I've never heard anything about. (The Hotel de la Tulipe mentioned by someone above is a 3-star and rates are listed as 120 euro/dbl on their website.) I've never stayed in one of these, but if you want to stick close to your budget, you really only have a few choices (which makes it easy to decide, that is one advantage):<BR>Kensington, Motte Picquet, Royal Phare, Turenne<BR><BR>

Thank you Christina for all your information. I realize that 50 CAD is not a lot, there is a good double room at the Royal phare for 55 and I think that's what we'll take.<BR><BR>I will look into the others that you mentioned.