Changing hotel in Paris/ Need help with a better location
 

After reading commnents on this site, I have decided that my hotel choice Oceania-Versailles may be a little too far out. Now with a little more knowledge, I would like to change hotels for a better location. We were paying 311. USD for two nights at the Oceania which is 4 star. We don't have to have 4 star, but are concerned about a certain level of service and comfort. We typically stay at Marriotts in the US or even the Fairfield Inn. As long as the room is clean, cool, bathroom, and service in dependable if needed...we are "adaptable."
So anyone with good hotels...please advise. I know it has been done before, but now I am ready to book...leaving in a few days (although my stay in Paris will be brief August 1-3),I will be leaving the US in just one week for the first part of my tour.
Hotels in Paris...Please advise...

We stayed at the Le Regent, 61 rue Dauphine, just two weeks ago. Our room was small but easy to get around and the bathrooms were a good size. A very clean hotel and wonderful staff. AC works very well!

http://www.hotelleregent.com/

It is in a great neighborhood with lots of cafés and restaurants.

Everything Rosiegirl said about le Regent (small rooms, but good-sized, clean bathrooms, very helpful staff, good location, in the 6th) also applies to the Hotel de l'Abbaye Saint-Germaine. It's a 4-star hotel which is within your price range.

http://www.hotelabbayeparis.com/

I was there in November, so I can't swear to how well the AC works.

The standard rooms at Le Regent are indeed small (and pretty dark for the most part), but their superior rooms are quite a bit larger and really nice. It's a very nice small hotel, and one of the best places I've found in their price range. But the superior ones are going to be out of your price range.
Actually 112 euros a night isn't a lot to play with particularly for air conditioned places.

I just looked at the Hotel Regent and saw that they seem to only have smoking allowed rooms. This may not be of concern to you, but I just wanted to point out what I found.

kenav, where did you see that? I sure don't see it anywhere on their website, and I'm almost sure I remember a no smoking plaque on my door both times I stayed there.
Are you looking at Regent or Le Regent on rue Dauphine?

www.regent-hotel-paris.com

Ooops. Make that
www.regent-paris-hotel.com

Thanks. I am checking both hotels mentioned. Are there any good disount sites or should I book from the hotel directly. Also...I will lose about 30 euros by cancelling. Should I change? Is the Oceania-Versailles so far out to be miserale or terribly inconvenient? Thanks for all of your good advice. This is my first time to Paris- only there for 3 days/2 nights with my son (who is 19).

LaAbbye (sp) looks nice, but the rate is higher than I thought. It looks like about 600 USD for two nights. Am I missing something?

Hotel Kleber?? Anyone? They are publishing a good last minute rate. Also any other 3 or 4 stars recommended? Some are offering discounts for the dates (Aug.1- 3)

If the Oceania is in Versailles, then I think you're wise to pay the 30Eur to make the change. For your short stay, you will want to be within Paris itself, IMHO.

We stayed in the 7th, which is a more quiet area than you might prefer because it's more upscale and residential, with not much nightlife. I wanted a view of the Eiffel tower, which I found at Hotel la Bourdonnais, in room 503 (their quad room). It's on a pretty tree-lined avenue Bourdonnais, across from Champs de Mars park, which separates the Eiffel Tower and the Invalides. There's a grocery market next door to the hotel, an ATM on the corner, the Rue Cler market a few blocks away, and it's a short walk to the Batobus stop at the Tower.

I wrote a detailed trip report, if you are interested I can find it and post it again.

Enjoy Paris with your son!
:)>-

The Oceania-Versailles is at the "bottom" of the 15th, outside the peripherique near Porte de Versailles. From LSS1's previous thread, the URL is here:
http://www.oceaniahotels.com/en/ocea...p;p=&sa=pr

I would recommend Hotwire or Priceline to get a nice 4* hotel with good air conditioning. But do not bid for Priceline in the Eiffel Tower - Grenelle - Montparnasse zone, because you could end up with a hotel as poorly located as the Oceania-Versailles. For more information, check out www.betterbidding.com and www.biddingfortravel.com - definitely do not proceed without becoming extremely familiar with the info on those sites. The most important thing to remember is that you have to look at the zone boundaries and decide if you would be happy with any location within those boundaries.

WillTravel...what do you mean by "bottom"? Is that like...way out??
I am aprehensive about bidding, but can you give me some more info about the zones..I think I got the idea of the arondissements now, but I am still not sure about zones.

<LaAbbye (sp) looks nice, but the rate is higher than I thought. It looks like about 600 USD for two nights. Am I missing something?>

No, you're not -- I misread your original post, and thought you were paying 311 USD per night for the Oceania, not 311 USD for both nights. Now that I re-read your post more closely, I see it's clear, but I must have jumped to the assumption that 311 per night was a more likely rate for a 4-star hotel. Sorry about that.

Thanks Bree. After reviewing the rate...do you think I should just stay at the Oceania and suck up the traveling on Metro?? Or still look elsewhere?
Thanks..

LSS1, by the "bottom", I meant that if you look at the map, it's at the bottom of the 15th arrondisement (i.e. the southern part).

Both Priceline and Hotwire split Paris into zones, albeit with slightly different names, I think. Hotwire gives you some hints about the hotels it offers, and a fixed price, for each zone. Priceline lets you bid for a specific star level in a specific zone. So you could bid for a 4* hotel in the zone that Priceline calls St. Germain - Latin Quarter - Montparnasse, for example. But you have to look at the map, because if you do, you see that this zone extends quite far south. But it's best to look at betterbidding and biddingfortravel as both will give a lot more information than I can give here. The best deal that people get in Paris, if it's available, is for the Hilton Paris near the Eiffel Tower, on Hotwire.

<After reviewing the rate...do you think I should just stay at the Oceania and suck up the traveling on Metro?? Or still look elsewhere?>

If it were me, I'd continue to look elsewhere, but that's a highly personal call. Now that I know your price range, I can recommend the Hotel du College de France, in the 5th.

http://www.hotel-collegedefrance.com

It's a 2-star, but it's very clean, the staff is friendly, and it's in a good location. Because of those factors, it's also very popular, so I'd be surprised if they have any rooms availability on such short notice. Still, it might be worth a try.

Just an update...kept the Oceania_Versailles and it was wonderful. We were not disappointed at all. Easy metro access...thanks for all of the help.