gracenho

I am planning to take my first trip to Paris. I will be traveling with my wife and infant daughter. Can you give me some advice on the following:

Hotel - Choice I have is Hotel Ambassador and Hotel Du Louvre - Which would you recommend (safety and cleansiness).

Safety - Is it safe to take along a 2yrs old infant to Paris?

Is October a good time to visit Paris?

Thanks for your help!!!!

Wayne

I don't personally know either of those hotels, but you should find comments on both here. As for safety, it is as safe to have a 2 year old in Paris as it is in most U.S. cities---and probably safer in many cases. And October, especially if it isn't the end of the month, will probably be very pleasant weather with not so many tourists. Good luck.

elaine

Hi

Cleanliness in a hotel is usually a given, and you have not chosed the bottom level of hotels.
The Hotel du Louvre is a fine hotel, great reputation, centrally-located, quite near a metro stop. Friends of mine have stayed there and liked it.

I don't know what you mean by safety in terms of bringing your child.
It will have its inconveniences of course, but I wouldn't think of safety as a problem. In any large city, you just need to make sure your distractions with your child don't prevent you from being careful with your wallet or handbags. If you use a stroller, don't hang a bag on the stroller handles if the bag contains your wallets.

October can be a lovely time. Check the weather forecasts before you go.
You will likely have some rain at some point, perhaps cool temperatures.
Pack umbrellas and rain jackets, bring sweaters to layer underneath the jackets if you need to.

I have a long file on Paris; if you'd like to see it, email me at
[email protected]

capo

One of the positive things about October is that you may see some nice fall colors. I was in Paris in October years ago and the ivy (I presume) leaves on buildings in Montmartre were a gorgeous deep red.

glenda1

Hi gracenho. Just a thought. We were in Paris 2 weeks ago with our children (older though, at 20 and 17) and we spent our first full day there with Michael Osman, a private tour guide that I first heard of through this site. He met us at our hotel at 9:00 a.m. and stayed with us until about 7:30. He was great, very informative and very flexible. By the time we were finished we felt comfortable with finding our way on the metro system and he had helped with advice for the rest of our stay on such things as places to eat, the correct train to Versailles and helped us find the information we needed to purchase tickets for a concert at St. Chapelle. If this is your first trip you may find his service useful, especially when trying to find your way around with your young daughter. We would have never managed to see all that we did in the time that we did on our own, as he knew the best routes etc to each location, while seeing other points along the way. He charged a flat rate of $75.00 Euro for the day and was worth every penny. His e-mail address is [email protected] if you wanted more info.

seafox

I can speak for hotel Du Louvre having stayed there many times. It is comfortable and very convenient for the first time traveller. Some rooms are 'city size" a bit small...be sure to mention the infant and I am sure the staff will accomodate you with a larger room. Perhaps I have been lucky, but the bathrooms are very luxurious....again, a good location for first timers.

Bitter

We took our 2.5 year old to Paris a couple years ago. Stayed at the Timhotel Louvre, which I think is near the Hotel du Louvre. Worked out fine, but it was difficult at times, particularly b/c the child didn't adjust well to the time change. And the kid slows you down, requires more baggage, naps, etc. Having a hotel in the 1st was great during the day (b/c centrally located). I have posted elsewhere that we used the Louvre (w/Museum card) as a base of sorts. We weren't able or inclined to stay out late, but probably would have liked a few more options in the immediate neighborhood. The hotels you mentioned might be a little closer to activities. We visited in April and the weather could be crisp, particularly in the a.m. I suspect the same is true for October.