We have been to Bordeaux once long ago when all the streets were torn up for new tram tracks so we stayed in St. James across the river. We are now returning for a 6 day stay and I need to be sure that I select a hotel in a good location to be able to walk to many/most sites (though I presume we'll also take the new trams as necessary. We also plan two or three day trips by train. Given that, in which areas should I be looking for hotels? Hotel recommendations also appreciated. Thanks.

I stayed fairly near the Opera/Quinconces park (which is a major transport hub) which was very convenient. The TI office is nearby, I walked to a lot of things. But there is a metro stop and the buses go right by there, also, and I took them to some sights, I think the museums are farther away.

You cvan easily take a tram from there to/from the train station also. So a hotel close to Quinconces park should be convenient.

This is the hotel I stayed at which I really liked a lot
https://www.hotel-majestic.com/

The only drawback was that I thought the mattress was really hard.

If you want new and trendy, St-Pierre. If you want old and trendy, St-Michel. If you just want dependable and utilitarian, the center or Chartrons.

The trams are wonderful and make getting around the city a breeze.

For very central hotels look at the Etche-Ona (old-school Basque) and the Bayonne (nouveau). Owned by the same family.

Thank you both for the helpful advice. I scoped out both hotels and found the Majestic full for our dates and now-apparently-united-nto-one-hotel--Bayonne Etcha Ona a bit higher than we wanted to budget fo a 6 night stay. This panicked me and so I have since booked Mercure Centre Ville and apparently got one of their last available rooms since my recheck this morning showed it unavailable as well.

So now my question is what is going on in Bordeaux during my dates--September 5 to 11? Is this when something big happens in wine selling circles? I did a google search and found nothing. Are we headed to some kind of convention of winemakers or related?

I don't know about the best area, but I stayed near the train station (an old habit) and was quite happy with taking the tram all over the city.

It does seem odd this far in advance to be just regular Fall business stuff when many major cities pick up, of course.

The marathon is Sept 7th, although hard for me to believe that would affect hotel bookings that much. It's not usually that thousands of people go some place to watch a marathon. Who knows, big trade shows are usually a little later than that, there is one in October in Bordeaux, though. Doesn't have anything to do with wine, it is home-related.

I'd just check back periodically. I often stay at Mercure hotels, they have a good standard even if not always "charming" (although some are, actually).

The Hotel de Seze seems free but is more like 250-300 euro for a double room, not sure what you wanted.
Hôtel de Sèze Bordeaux - SITE OFFICIEL - Hôtel 4 étoiles Bordeaux

We stayed at a hotel facing the Opéra. I don't remember the name, but there are a few hotels in that area of different price ranges. The square in front of the Opéra is at the end of the main shopping street, rue Sainte Catherine:

Have you looked at the official website for Bordeaux? That should give you info about what is going to happen in September.

I can't be more helpful with hotels, as the ones I mentioned were hotels we used when we were tourists. These days we are usually on business in Bordeaux and just stay at the Ibis across from the train station. Suits us fine, but we're not on holiday.

Thanks for the additional recommendations and guidance. I am very encouraged by the remarks about the ease of tram travel in the city. Makes the hotel I booked very near a tram line look just fine for our needs.

I also went on line and persisted until I found out what is on in Bordeaux during our stay. Turns out the Bike Marathon du Medoc runs right through the days we will be in Bordeaux and the entrants and their fans must choose to stay in Bodeaux though it starts and ends in Paulliac,and goes in a very circuitous route throughout the countryside outside of Bordeaux. Anyway, it sounds like we will be ok with the reservation I managed to make in Bordeaux itself during this fete, though it may limit some day trips anywhere near the bike marathon route. I think I've learned a good lesson about a thorough search of websites of tourism offices of the main towns involved before booking flights.

Apparently there is both a bike and a running marathon going on at that time in the Bordeaux area. The running marathon is limited to Sept. 7 and attracts 9,000 entrants--and is very boozy. No wonder I experienced trouble getting a hotel room even this far into the future. Who knew!!

You want a place within the "Golden Triangle" of the city, a city map will reveal the three streets forming such; we stayed at the Etche Ona/Bayonne, we reserved at the older but were upgraded to the newer around the corner alley. We were very happy with it and felt it very reasonable. We were there in late September, weather was delightful.