WillTravel

I have seen and read so many Paris hotel threads, that I can hardly believe I'm starting another. But so it is.

My 15-year-old daughter and I will be going to Cologne and Paris for a week in February (this was a pretty recent decision so I haven't posted about it before). So I don't have to worry about air-conditioning, at least.

We most likely want a really central Paris hotel, probably on the Right Bank. I want it to be in a location where my daughter will feel comfortable going to and from by herself, although she won't be doing so late at night. And given that I am a cheapskate, I'd like to go as cheaply as possible, but I'd rather get a good value than a bad, cheap value.

Some possibilities I've considered:
Hotel Tiquetonne - no web site
6 rue Tiquetonne, Paris 75002
My concern is that the immediate area might not be too great, particularly for a teeange girl. I think we could possibly get a twin ensuite room for as cheap as 60 Euros per night, and it's pretty well-reviewed considering the price.

Hotel Andrea Rivoli - http://www.hotelandrearivoli.com/
3, rue Saint Bon
75004 - Paris

More expensive, with a twin ensuite room being about 90 Euros per night. Quite well-reviewed.

Hôtel Sévigné - http://www.le-sevigne.com/
2, Rue Mahler - 75004
Twin ensuite room for 81 Euros per night.

It would be nice to be near a flea market sort of place. Marche d'Aligre looks interesting, but if we got a hotel near there, it wouldn't be so near everything else. But if you have good suggestions in that area, I'd be happy to hear them too. I also have the feeling the Bastille area will appeal to my daughter, but again, I'm not sure we should stay there.

WillTravel

I've also found some options on this list:
http://tinyurl.com/y4g8wb

I know Dave in Paris has recommended Hotel Cosmos in the 11th, and it certainly looks good for the price (appears to be 56 Euros per night for an ensuite twin):
http://www.cosmos-hotel-paris.com/

lincasanova

i stayed at the sully st. germain and would go back.

http://www.sully-saint-germain-hotel.com/

if you scrol down there are advanced purchase rates. also i found good options through a website called france-hotel-guide.com.

hotel du comerce was a sister hotel of the sully st. germain but MUCH lower level, but probably lots cheaper and VERY basic. very well located.

Keren

I loved my 2-night stay at the Madeleine-Opera. I think the location is lovely and I felt very safe walking there at night. The first night I had a small double room. The second room I got, a week later, was a pretty large twin, which they gave me with no additional charge. A nice touch. Both rooms were very clean, quiet and nicely decorated. I personally prefer this location over anything in the Marais.
http://www.hotel-madeleine-opera.com/

Dave_in_Paris

Rue Tiquetonne would be all right in the daytime, I think, but not at night for you and your daughter.

The Hotel Cosmos in the 11th is great, but does not fit, as you need to take the Metro to most major sites.

Dave_in_Paris

Check out the Hotel Jean d'Arc in the Marais, rue Jarente. Often full and there's a reason, but in February with your lead time there may be availability.

Margo_Chester

I would like to second Dave recommendation. Hotel Jeanne d'Arc in the Marais, rue Jarente is reasonably priced, fantastic location near metro, shops, and cafes. The staff is very friendly (and responsive to e-mails) and the rooms are clean. Here a link that you can look at availability www.hoteljeannedarc.com and book if you wish. We stayed there for a week in September and it's now "our" hotel in Paris.

Kate_W

With respect to your daughter, are you concerned about: (a) whether she will be safe (of course you are); (b) what she might see; or (c) - a and b?

There are streets/neighbourhoods in Paris that don't pose a safety or security risk, but might be a little on the seedy side. For example, I stayed in a good value Holiday Inn near the Gare de Lyon. It was on a main street and the immediate surrounding neighbourhood was busy, well-lit, etc and felt quite safe. It was, however, next door to a sex shop (rather low-key in appearance and I never saw any customers go in or out). So, it was safe but perhaps you don't want your daughter to walk by a sex shop to get back to the hotel.

It would be possible to find a hotel in a location that wasn't seedy but that wasn't particularly safe. For example, quiet side streets might seem like a good location for a hotel but this sometimes leaves you feeling more exposed. (Up to a point, cafes, restaurants, bars, metros attract people - who have eyes and who are likely to discourage thieves etc.) On the other hand, if an environment is too crowded (especially if it attracts tourists), then it will also attract pickpockets who can hide in a crowd. For this reason, I would discourage you from staying in the immediate vicinity of the Chatelet / Les Halles area. (The metro station there is also a junction for a couple of suburban train lines as well as several metro lines - and it therefore seems to attract a lot of young people who have too much time on their hands and are looking for something interesting to do.) The area right around Champs Elysees also attracts more than its fair share of pickpockets, who are attracted to the dazed, rubbernecking tourists who are shopping, eating and sightseeeing along this street.

111op

I'm of course a fan of Hotel Tiquetonne. Did they raise their prices, by the way? I still maintain that the area is fine. r. Tiquetonne itself is fine. It's r. St-Denis that's a little troublesome. But unless you're out really late I really don't think it'll be a problem.

If you end up there, I'll have a restaurant recommendation to share with you.

I agree about Les Halles. I mentioned when I was there in April around 5 am to catch the RER for CDG, I was harassed. But unless this is the sort of thing you're planning to do, I'd not worry too much about it.

As much as I like Marais, I prefer Tiquetonne's location to Marais. And the Left Bank seems more accessible to me from Tiquetonne's location. It's quite walkable.

monicapileggi

My friend Diane recently stayed at Hotel Andera Rivoli. It's in a good lcoation and I had considered it for my visit next May. However, since I'm spending 9 nights in Paris, I decided to book a studio apartment in the Marais district. That might be an option for you. You'd have your own kitchen (a lot have washer/dryers) so that would help if your're budgeting.

This is the one I rented. http://www.rentparis.com/details.php?l=en&id=25

Monica

WillTravel

Safety is more important than seediness. But in my experience, particularly some time ago as a teen, being subject to unwelcome propositions tends to be part and parcel of seedy areas. But I'm not particularly worried if she sees a sex shop.

111op, I don't know that Tiquetonne has raised their price - I think I was remembering wrong by a few euros.

One review a year or so ago of Jeanne d'Arc mentioned poor key security. Perhaps that's inevitable in a budget hotel.

Christina

I've been around the Tiquetonne, but only in the daytime, and everything looked pretty normal to me. It's very near a passage with a jewelry shop I like (Satellite) and near rue Montorgueil. Rue St Denis is not particularly nice, but I don't think you'd have to be on it for any particular reason, although I'd trust Dave's opinion on that. I was just going to say that I didn't find Marche Aligre that great, so I wouldn't go out of my way to stay near there -- but none of your hotels are that particularly close to it. There are better markets in other areas over that that are closer (eg, Montorgueil or the Bastille mark on bd Richard Lenoir.

WillTravel

At night we'd be together, so maybe the Tiquetonne would be OK. The fact it's near Rue Montorgueil would be a big plus for my daughter.

Another possibility I looked at is this hostel where I think we can get a twin room for about 58 Euros per night - BVJ Louvre, at
20 Jean-Jacques Rousseau in the 1st. Any thoughts on this location, compared to the Tiquetonne?

I know GirlSpyTravel posted a few times about the Libertel Canal St. Martin. I'm very tempted by the fact it seems like such a pleasant, modern hotel with a good breakfast included, for about 73 Euros per night (for a twin room with breakfast included).
5, avenue Secrétan, Paris 75019

Any thoughts on this location? I know it would be out of walking distance for everything. We are coming and going by train, so in that respect it's convenient.

WillTravel

How about the
Mercure Paris Lafayette?
7 rue de Trevise, Paris 75009

This is available for about 72 Euros per night, prepaid.

kerouac

Tiquetonne is an excellent area, both in the day and in the evening. While a certain excess amount of non-dangerous lowlife might hang out in the Les Halles area during the warmer months, they don't really wander around as much in February. And you're not looking to buy drugs anyway, are you?

Girlspytravel

Hi WT- Re Libertel Canal St. Martin-Like I said, Monoprix, which you and your daughter esp., will love, (cute, inexpensive clothes and accessories) on one side of the hotel, good, inexpensive little French pastry/sandwich shop on the other, Jean Claude Beguine hair salon a few doors down, Micky D's across the street, Asian restaurants up the street, around the corner from the hotel, the excellent Cafe des Jaures-open late, youth hostel a little ways down on the opposite street, and two metro entrances, one about 50 feet from the hotel, and the big metro entrance across the street, where the Canal is located. I've already talked about all the hip ateliers and cute little cafes along the canal-even in winter, I think it would be quite nice and picturesque along which to take a stroll.

If you stay here, try to get a room facing the Avenue-(well, I always like street side rooms, I like to watch the action) surprisingly, even in the height of summer, I heard virtually no noise-outside or in, and each of those rooms has a lean out balcony which I also like. I think 73 Euros is a terrific deal-this is a very active area at night-there are a lot of young people out and about.

WillTravel

Thanks, GST. It does seem that hotel would satisfy one concern of mine - which is that I could leave early and do something and my daughter could occupy herself sleeping in and then shopping or sightseeing nearby until I came back for her (or some variation on this). So an intrinsically interesting neighborhood is a huge plus. That likely applies to Hotel Cosmos too.

I am going to scratch the BJV Louvre off the list - too many bad reviews.

WillTravel

Thanks to all the other posters too. The Madeleine Opera looks good. I'd probably want to spend less than either the Sully-St. Germain or the Jeanne d'Arc, but I'll keep them in mind.

If I could win a 4* Priceline bid in the Opera Quarter East zone, that would most likely be the Novotel Les Halles. The problem is this is available only sometimes, and often for a fairly high price. And of course it has the possible neighborhood issue.

Ultimately, for 5 nights, the difference between 60 Euros per night and 90 Euros per night is obviously a total total of 150 Euros - not an insignificant sum, but one I should not get too hung up about either, so I'm going to think about this carefully.

Leely

WillTravel,
I was recently looking at the Hotel Chopin and thought it looked interesting, but I've never stayed in that area and habit got the better of me. Gets great reviews on tripadvisor and is the sister hotel of the Bretonnerie. hotel-chopin.com.

Have a wonderful trip to Paris with your daughter. You sound like a very considerate mother.

Margo_Chester

I think you have received some nice suggestions here. I would like to comment on the Key/Security issue at Jeanne d'Arc as I think I remember the thread you are referring to. They key system is a card key, and you are asked to leave it at the front desk when you leave the hotel, as you do in many other hotels. Every time we walked back into the hotel there was someone at the desk to give us back the key, even when we came in late. Or room was only entered for daily maid service and was never left unlocked. I felt very safe and would not hesitate to stay there alone or with my daughter.

You have some nice options to choose from, have fun planning your trip!