The 16th arrondissement is the one exception to my recommendation of the outer arrondiseements. It is a dull and overpriced place just like the 7th arrondissement. The 16th is non stop embassises, just like the 7th is non stop government ministries.

embassies

Beautiful ones I must say.
Dull is the word for 16th.
I have recently 'discovered' the 15th further away from center. Passy is nice. Some kind of village. A village full of art galleries posh shops and Porsches.

I quite liked the 15th. Nowadays I'm mostly in the 10th, or 19th. (Buttes Chaumont!)

<<I don't think it's St-Loius either>>

Oh Lord, no, sorry, typo! St-Louis. I DO know how to spell in French.

Anyway, my new favorite arrondissement is the 11ème. But we also favor the 19th and 20th. But we are regulars in Paris, not looking to see the main tourist sights or eat in fancy places but rather to scout out the back alleys and forgotten places, so it makes a difference as to what your goals are.

indy hiker, that hotel looks good. We are one of the dreaded apartment renters so am not going there. We might end up there next month and she is booked solid so thinking her daughter is back home. She owns and lives in the building and rents out one apartment when her daughter is gone.

On the first (5-10?)visits to Paris , I stayed in 5 and 6 . Touristy, but
probably a good place for a first time visitors (or a short stay)

Another vote for the 6th......

I'm not big on being tied to using public transportation every day, that's why I would choose someplace central. Wouldn't matter if it was 5 days or 21 days for me.

(If I were actually lucky enough to be living in Paris for any length of time the answer might be different.)

I think it depends, if staying in a hotel I'd stay in the single digit arr. However, we stayed in an apartment in the 17th arr. and loved the neighborhood feel and the Rue Poncelet market.

Topping so that replies can be directed to the thread with a greater number of posts.

Thanks everyone for your replies. We will stay in 2 locations for our May 21 to May 31 trip. We will definitely be in the lower A/s.

I guess our main issue now is comfort in the rooms. We have budgeted $300/night complete with breakfast, which is so pricey, and we may not choose it if there is a good place really close by.

(don't take the hotel breakfast)

Oh jeez, I cannot paying such a price in Paris unless you require turndown service and a chocolate on your pillow every evening.

I guess that explains why I would never stay in the center and don't mind taking the metro for 15 minutes.

I cannot -imagine- paying

Not of use to Edward now, but since kerouac's photos of La Mouzaïa (19th), I hope to stay there next time.

http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com/thread/3592

Coincidentally, I had lunch once in the Brasserie Danube (roast chicken), lovely people.

Well, that's about 6 times what I pay for accommodations in Paris, so good luck to you.

MmePerdu, I have not seen the rooms of the Hôtel Rhin et Danube on the square of the same name in the Mouzaïa, but I found the price of 70 euros for rooms with an equipped kitchenette very appealing.

I would confess, however, that for first time visitors to Paris even though there is a metro station at the foot of the hotel, it is one of the less convenient metro lines in Paris for people with an agenda in the center of the city.

The metro does indeed have sort of a weird route to Danube. And definitely not meant to be a suggestion for even the first few times in the city. But I liked it, was investigating an apartment across the square in the tallish building on the opposite side from the brasserie, why I had lunch there. It was before I'd seen your pictures of that lovely neighborhood and didn't have a clue. But I do now.

After years of travel, I can say without reservation that it is more desirable to be in a hotel that is convenient to your site-seeing locale. Laden down with purchases, it is much easier to run back to your room than to make a long trip and then return to your tourist activities!

1. OK, I don't know from arrondissements but when DH and I went searching for an area of Art Nouveau buildings, we spent a couple of hours walking through Auteuil. We were looking at the homes so can't help with cafe life.

https://bonjourparis.com/history/par...e-in-the-city/

2. When we walked to Monet's Museum ( http://www.marmottan.fr/uk/ ), we were struck by the family "feel" of that area. Is that Passy?

3. On our very first trip to Paris, we stayed at Hotel Ceramic on Avenue Wagram. It was just a couple of blocks from Arc du Triomphe and it's very convenient metro stop. We strolled down the Champs Elysees to the Louvre.

4. We stayed several times in Montparnasse/St. Germain and rather liked that general area the most. Many famous authors hung out there. Garden of Luxembourg, Sorbonne, Hemingway's resto.

5. With your budget, check area around La Madeleine.