Best areas in Paris - early 30s, 5th anniversary
 

My husband and I will be visiting Paris the first week of June for our 5th anniversary. We have never been to Paris and this is only our second trip to Europe. I would like help with which area to stay in. Quiet is not important to us, we like to stay right in the middle of things, with cafes, bars, restaurants, shops all close by. It is also important that these places are open late (if possible) as we often eat late, and would like to have somewhere to go at night (we enjoy cafes & pubs as opposed to clubs). Since it is our anniversary and we don't get to travel very often, we are willing to splurge a bit (for us!) and spend up to E300 / US450 per night. We would love a hotel with a classic old world feel...stone, woodwork, fabrics, etc (not the modern minimilist look).

So basically...a happening area with some classic feeling hotels for E300. Too much to ask?

Try the Bastille area (11th arrondissement). Very big on nightlife but well within normal budgets (as opposed to the high end budgets of places like the Champs Elysées and its Gulf oil sleaze visitors).

Hey indie,

I would definitely stay in the 5th...it's a young, vibrant area with tons going on. When I was there we strolled the streets until the early hours of the morning, where many stores and restaurants were still open.

I can't help with a hotel suggestion however, as the one we stayed in was a budget hotel....and not so pleasant lol :) Staying in a lovely hotel and being able to enjoy paris comfortably will be the experience of a life time! Soooo romantic, perfect for an anniversary!

Enjoy your trip!

Layla %%-

Hotel Parc Saint Severin
- deluxe suite with panoramic terrace 340€
http://www.paris-hotel-parcsaintseverin.com/
http://www.parisby.com/severin/pages/gallery.htm

Hotel les Rives de Notre Dame
Double Superior Queen 285€ King 305€
http://www.paris-hotel-rivesnotredame.com/
http://www.parisby.com/rivesdenotred...es/gallery.htm

Relais Hotel du Vieux Paris
Internet rate - Suite 325€ Exec-Jr 270€
http://www.vieuxparis.com/
http://www.parisby.com/vieuxparis/pages/gallery.htm

Hotel Bourg Tibourg
Double Deluxe 260€
http://www.hotelbourgtibourg.com/
http://www.parisby.com/bourgtibourg/pages/gallery.htm

You will probably want to book the higher-end rooms (Deluxe, superior, suites...) to have a better experience for the rate you'll be paying. Even in 4* hotels, rooms can be small.

Indie, we are returning in October and just love where we stay, the Hotel Les Degres de Notre Dame. It is a lovely hotel, right near the Seine and Notre Dame, in the Latin Quartier. It is right near the Batobus stop, if you will be using that. It may not be as high end as you want, but we just love it. It certainly has an old world feel. If you click on the Rooms page, the picture at the top left is "our"room, though if money wasn't an object, I would splurge for the top floor room which I think has a full view of Notre Dame, rather than the view we had out of our bathroom window.

http://lesdegreshotel.monsite.wanadoo.fr/

Stay in or around the Marais .Look at www.parismarais.com/whichis the official web site of the arrondisement and has an excellent section on hotels from 1 to 5 star so you can judge for yourself

Hi I,

I suggest staying in
The 5th, the 4th or the 6th, in that order.

There are many very nice hotels in the 200E range.

((I))
Fly cheap
Sleep cheap
Eat well

Definitely the Bastille or the Marais, in that order.

Try the Hotel D'Orsay. One block to the Museum D'Orsay, one block to the Metro, one block to the Hop On Hop Off bus and walking distance to the Lourve- we stayed there and its location can't be beat!

My choice would be the Latin Quarter. We stayed @ the Hotel Parc ST. Severin about 1 1/2 yrs ago. Great location and lots of action on Fri. & Sat. nights. One night we couldn't sleep so @ midnight we walked to a pizza joint and had a snack and there were still crowds of people walking the streets. Good Metro location too.

11th or 3rd in that order. I would not stay in the 5th or 6th, I find it tourist central and not much by way of nightlife.

The Petit Moulin Hotel is in a good area in the 3rd , very close to the 11th which has a lot of nightlife.

As for eating late...don't worry about that. It is quite normal to eat late in Paris. Or at least in my experience. Of course I guess it depends on what you mean by late...

I personally don't mind my first trip to anywhere being in the "tourist" areas because...well, I'm a tourist. Usually I venture out into the non tourist areas on my second, third, fourth, etc trips.

My first trip to Paris (summer 2007), we stayed in the St. Germaine des Pres and the Latin Quarter areas. I liked them...mostly because they seemed to be a good areas to serve as home base. For our next trip (hopefully this fall), we are looking into the Marais area.

For 300 Euros, you should find some really nice hotels.

We personally had good luck searching tripadvisor for hotels and then coming back to Fodors and searching our specific hotel choices.

Note that the Hotel D'Orsay had really large rooms compared to what you usually get- you know the rooms that are so small you have to leave the room to change your mind!

Here's a vote for the hotel we spent our honeymoon at: Pavillon de la Reine, in the Marais, right on the Place des Vosges.

http://www.pavillon-de-la-reine.com/

Their basic rate starts at 370 Euro, but I see a special for 310 Euro. It is exactly what you describe: the classic old world feel, lots of stone (including a classic basement breakfast room), woodwork, very old but very upscale. The Marais is lively and stays up late. We especially enjoyed late drinks at Cafe Martini right down the street.

While we normally stay in the 6th now, which is also a very lively area, if we were going to splurge (without going crazy - you could easily spend 1000 Euro a night at the top hotels), it would definitely be at the Pavillon de la Reine.

If you like modern hotels, you might be interested in staying at the Pullman Hotel Bercy (formerly the Sofitel Bercy), right on top of the Cour Saint Emilion/Bercy Village entertainment zone, which remains very active until late, particularly the Club Med World venue.

The bercy area is an outdoor twee mall! with families and kids! not hip or a place to hang, unless I'm missing something.

sorry, I calm down now.

Yes, you're missing something. No kids after the hours of the Disney movies at the 18 screen megaplex there.

but it is still a mall and I could not figure out the whole club med thing.

What do I know. I guess I am just supposing indiepopstar wants something more, indie.

In that case, one must go farther afield and spend an evening at the Flèche d'Or in the 20th (www.flechedor.fr).

that is against the rules! pfft--leaving the center of the city!