Familia is booked in September -- help!
 

Hi all -- I've done a lot of research on this message baord but would appreciate some fresh responses! I'm in my late 20s, heading to paris for four nights in september with my boyfriend and as my subject header indicates, my first choice cheapie hotel is booked. can't believe it. i've found availability at Muguet, Grand Hotel Leveque and Hotel Monge, but now want to stay in the 6th... i still have e-mails out to Grand Balcons (altho, i think this is a bit above what i want to spend -- 100 euros or less a night), The Regents, and Hotel du Champs de Mars and haven't heard back. So what would you choose? I want a private bathroom and if possible, a bit of charm but most important is location -- we want an area we can walk around at night and that's close to the metro. any and all recommendations are welcome! thanks in advance....

When we went to Paris, our room at Familia was being worked on, so they put us at La Studia around the corner, which worked out fine. Room was small, but we weren't there much, and the bathroom was good sized. There was also a metro stop right out the front door, along with a deli, so it actually ended up being more convenient for us. La Studia is located on Boulevard St. Germain and it was the same price as Familia. Do a web search and you might be able to find booking info.<BR><BR>This trip we are staying at Hotel Monge, just to try something different, but we did look at using La Studia again since the price was right and we liked it there.<BR><BR>Good luck.

Many here have recommended the Hotel Bonaparte as a good budget hotel in the 6th. Here is a post about it.<BR><BR>Author: Ira<BR>Date: 01/13/2003, 12:58 pm <BR>Message: Hi<BR>I am fond of the Hotel Bonaparte at 61 rue Bonaparte in the 6th. It is about 100 E/night for a double with bkfst in the room.<BR><BR>phone 01 43 26 97 37<BR>Fax : 01 46 33 57 67<BR><BR>They do not have a website.<BR><BR>Some others in the 6th that you may want to consider: Le Clement (a bit over your budget but has AC),Hotel Perreyve. And just accross Blvd. St. Michel, in the 5th, within easy walking distance of Blvd. St. Germain and the Seine: Hotel du College de France, Hotel St. Jacques.<BR><BR>Here are a couple of good websites for hotel searches in Paris. You can find the above-mentioned hotels on one or both and many others as well. Good luck!<BR><BR>http://www.france-hotel-guide.com/parishotels.htm<BR><BR>http://digital.france.com/hotels/<BR>

Thanks betty1 for posting my message re the Hotel Bonaprate. Saved me from having to look it up.

Thanks -- I will definitely check out Bonaparte. After looking at some other posts I am also considering Hotel Danube. People seem to be less happy with Grand Balcons, so i axed that one. Anyone have experience with Muguet?

A couple of years ago we stayed at the hotel le clement in the 6th. Its a 2 star, the rooms are generally small, but we had a junior suite and it was fine for 3 of us. The price may be just a little over your budget, but it does have Air Conditioning (you might not need it in sept). The website is:<BR>http://www.clement-moliere-paris-hotel.com/index.html

amyknyc, I am going to Paris in july, and I have a reservation for Hotel Bonaparte, I have heard so much about it here at fodors... however, what I like about it, is the location, large rooms, AC, fridge in the room and also is close to a Monoprix for shopping,this is very important because I will travel with my preteen grandaughter ..also the price is reasonable... bon voyage..

ok, just called Bonaparte this a.m. and it's 110 euros but they have availability (clement is booked!) -- here's the catch, they want to charge my credit card with a deposit of one night -- i hung up before i thought to ask if this was refundable. did this happen to anyone else? i haven't faxed them my number yet, so i'm wondering what other folks have found. do you think this place is worth 110 euros a night? thanks!

The Leveque is a very nice place and I cant imagine there is a better location then RueClar.A traffic free street with markets on thur.,fri and sat.

The website www.france.com has a good listing of hotels by arrondisement and lists customer comments. They also have an online reservation service so you can get a confirmed booking with quick turnaround time.<BR><BR>There are several three star hotels on rue Jacob and also on rue Bonaparte is a hotel one of my friends recommends highly, St Germain des Pres. Also, just over the pont neuf in the 1st arrondisement are two nice hotels: Place du Louvre and Relais de Louvre. Your just a short walk from the 6th, the Marais and right across the street from the Louvre.<BR><BR>Good luck! September is a wonderful time to be in Paris

How about the Familia's sister hotel next door - The Minerve. We stayed there last year. It was nice, clean, and the rooms were a little larger than the Familia's.

amyknyc,it is the norm of any Hotel to ask a deposit for the first night, but it is refundable if you need to cancel, of course ,you must give them at least 72 hours... When I made the reservation with the Bonaparte I used a fax machine with all the informations and also the credit card numbers, expirations etc..,Dont worry about it, and have a marvelous time in paris..

Just for another vote, although I think it is hard to tell what one person will like versus another -- of your first 3 choices, I would choose Hotel Monge solely due to the area which I much prefer to the others whree Muguet or Leveque are -- or perhaps Regents if you mean the hotel on rue Madame. Given your demographics, I would think you might prefer those areas, also, but it's hard to tell. I would not ever want to stay on rue Cler myself, although I might on the surrounding streets some time. I think rue Cler is a nice food market street which would be a good place to shop if you lived in the area or maybe had an apartment, but that is of little or no importance to me when staying in a hotel. <BR><BR>The Bonaparte is certainly in a good location, also, and I would think you'd like the area around there, too. 110 euro is very cheap for St Germain, so virtually any hotel would be worth it in that real estate area unless it was a total dump.<BR><BR>I would think some folks on here who stayed at Bonaparte would know about that deposit it. In contrast to the prior post, I have never once had a hotel charge me a deposit on a credit card before I stayed there, in Paris or anywhere else in the world. Really, not even places in resort areas in high season, so all hotels don't do that. Most hotels ask for a credit card to charge one night's stay if you don't cancel within their standards, but I've never had it charged in advance. I have paid a deposit to a small French hotel by check for one night in advance some years ago when that was more common, but I wouldn't do that now because it's too much trouble and you don't have to since there are so many who don't. I don't think it would bother me that much if a hotel did that if it were a place I really wanted to stay, though, as I don't make reservations that I think I will cancel. <BR><BR>I kind of wonder why hotels do charge it so much in advance if it really is refundable -- obviously, that is more labor and bookkeeping to put the transaction through twice, so it would make more sense to only do it once if you didn't show up. Unless they are really doing that for cash flow reasons or for the float, which sounds a little precarious to me. I know reputable hotels do this because I've seen others comment on here about it, but I've just never stayed in a hotel that did.

yeah, the deposit has me worried. i've looked at about 15 hotels and not one has asked to charge my credit card today for a room i won't use til september. kismetchimera, are you sure you authorized them to charge your card? the guy said i had to specifically say that in my fax. i'm still waiting to hear from perreyve... st. jacques is booked as is clement. as for hotel monge, the pictures look sort of blah online... anyone who stayed here, does it have any charm? just a little would do... thanks guys!

This is over your budget a bit but it's a nice hotel next to the Sorbonne Univ. (5th district) on place de la Sorbonne: Select Hotel. A double room is for 132 euro (rate is the same all year) including breakfast. This area is central and according to comments it's pretty quiet.

Amyknyc,this is what I said in my fax:PLEASE ACCEPT THIS REQUEST FOR RESERVATIONS FOR JULY 17,18,19 &amp; 20. I AUTHORIZE YOU TO USE MY CREDIT CARD &quot;IF I DO NOT CANCEL WITHIN 72 HOURS BEFORE JULY 17. Amyknyc, the credit card is just for holding your reservation, only If you dont notify them in advance, they charge your card...It is the same in the states when you make a reservation , you must use your credit card to hold the room..

oh cripes. talk about something getting lost in the translation. ok, i'm faxing now. i'm praying that since they don't have a website they still have availability. i'm holidng a backup room at perreyve, but it looks really far away from everything. thanks!

I have stayed at the Hotel Bonaparte and did not see anything wrong with their request for a deposit for the first night. Frankly, if I ran a hotel in Paris, I would do the same. It weeds out those people who reserve at four or five hotels while they decide where to stay. The hotel is in a fabulous location, has large rooms (for Paris) and the staff is wonderful.

We stayed at the Bonaparte in October and I wasn't concerned with their charging in advance for the first night. The staff is very congenial and helpful. <BR><BR>The location is marvelous...right next to Place Saint Sulpice, a block from Blvd. Saint Germaine with its cafes and shops. There are wonderful boutiques all up and down Rue Bonaparte. Two Metro stops within a couple of blocks.<BR><BR>Right behind the hotel is Rue de Cannetes and Rue Guissard...full of restaurants, creperies, pizzarias (good salads!). <BR><BR>You won't be disappointed with the Bonaparte. Ask for a streetside room...and you might want to be on the 3rd floor--above the traffic noise.

<BR>Postnote: The Saint Germaine Market is right around the corner from the Bonaparte....go the first day and buy some pretty flowers for your room. I couldn't believe I found ranunculas in late October!

Re being charged in advance for hotels, I recently tried to make reservations at Lion d'Or in Bayeux, and they want 30% in advance to hold the reservation, non-refundable. For 4 nights at 113 euro/per person (2 of us,half/board), that's about $270. And if we cancel between 1-5 days before arriving, we still owe %75 of TOTAL! i'm hunting another place.

When I booked at Hotel Monge, they asked me to fax credit card info to secure the reservation, but they have never charged anything. I also have plenty of time to cancel w/o a penalty.<BR><BR>I can't imagine a hotel charging you for a room you won't use as long as you give them 24 hours notice. Some things (such as delayed flights, etc.) are out of the guests control.<BR>

Statia, there have been other posts on here about the practice of charging in advance; altho it certainly is not widespread, it does exist. I suppose the little places have to do it to protect themselves, esp. in small towns, but with this &quot;iffy&quot; world situation, I am trying to avoid paying a lg. non-refundable fee.

Grandmere,<BR><BR>I agree that the &quot;little people&quot; have to protect themselves at times, and I know the practice is used. However, I just find it hard to submit to it myself....at least not on a budget hotel room.<BR><BR>However, I have had to pay non-refundable deposits to secure apartments in Italy this summer. I seemed to take to that easier since it's a bigger property which rentals by the week (usually) and is therefore a bigger loss if the rental doesn't go thru.<BR><BR>I just wanted to give those on the thread another option for a particular hotel that could be used which doesn't charge a pentalty beforehand.<BR><BR>

OK, so here's what ended up happening (just to keep you all up to date!): I called Bonaparte back and they do indeed charge one night in advance on my credit card (kismetchimera, go check your credit card bill!). If I cancel with 72 hours, all but 16 euros (for processing) is refunded. I figured, this is worth it -- but FYI everyone, their rates are going up after May and it's now 115 euros a night. Still, I've decided to &quot;splurge.&quot;<BR><BR>Funny thing, too, right after I made this reservation, I e-mailed a bed and breakfast in the Loire Valley that Karen Brown's guide raves about (called Le Mouliin du Fief Gentile) where we will be headed for three days after Paris. They want a deposit of half our stay up front (since the room is 84 euros a night, that's about $125 before hand) and they want it in the form of a personal check! Again, all is refundable except 20 euros, which they use for processing, but still, I'm surprised and we're still mulling what to do. The fact that it comes so highly recommended and it's so affordable definitely makes me want to hold the room. <BR><BR>You know, I wonder how much of this has come out of the success of the Internet in planning vacations. It's made travel agents out of all of us and certainly made it much easier to hold several reservations until we figure out what we want (I made and cancelled three during this process). Maybe the downside is that hotels are getting much more cautious about letting people reserve at whim. Food for thought<BR><BR>