Found a great budget hotel in Paris!
 

Well, I made it to Paris and then on to Tours all by myself. Couldn't have done it so easily had it not been for all my cyberfriends here on Fodors. Thanks to everyone who offered advice and suggestions.

I wanted to post my experience at my hotel in Paris as it was very budget, and I know that sometimes we have people here looking for an inexpensive hotel that is good. I stayed at Hotel du Mont Blanc, 5th arrondisement, address 28, rue de la Huchette. For a single with bath en suite, telephone, cable tv with remote, the price was 55 euros per night. Doubles are 72 euros. The room was plenty spacious. The hotel has been completely renovated and the rooms are spotless. The towels are all new and are all monogrammed. All employees that I encountered during my stay were extremely polite and helpful. All speak perfect english if you need it.

I had breakfast each morning at the hotel for 6 euros. It consisted of cafe au lait, jus d'orange, 2 flaky croissants and 2 hunks of baguette, butter and confiture. The breads were always of the utmost freshness and the coffee made espresso style by the cup when ordered. Considering a small cafe creme at the cafe right outside the door of the hotel sold for 5.50 euros, I think 6 euros for an entire breakfast was a steal. I am one who must have coffee before venturing out into the daylight so breakfast at the hotel suits me.

The only drawback might be that the location is the totally tourist. Located right next to the Place St Michel and one block from Notre Dame, this is to be expected. The rue de la Huchette is like a small alleyway running parallel to Blvd St Michel. Almost all restaurants in this tiny neighborhood are owned by Greeks. Even if the restaurant boasts Provencial cuisine, it is cooked by Greeks! But lots of places with extremely well priced menus. Some of these restaurants practice the Greek tradition of plate breaking in the streets, but I must say I never heard any of it in my room. In fact, I never heard a sound. Slept like a baby for the first time ever in Paris.

The other big plus for this hotel is its proximity to the RER stop St Michel. Train B from CDG comes directly to this stop. It across the street from the hotel. I prefer to save the cost of a taxi on my way into the city, so for a few bucks, I can take the RER right to my door. Can't beat that.

The one good thing about being in a very touristy area is that there are always lots of other people around so it feels very safe. Had absolutely no incidents. Loved it and have a reservation for my return trip into Paris en route back home at the end of my 6 week study program here in Tours.

Hope this helps somebody else as much as everyone here has helped me. Thanks again.

Nice report - thanks for taking the time to share it with us. Good luck on the rest of the trip.

"I had breakfast each morning at the hotel for 6 euros. It consisted of cafe au lait, jus d'orange, 2 flaky croissants and 2 hunks of baguette, butter and confiture."

The transition between French and English intrigues me.

That said, a most informative review of the hotel and its locale.

Thanks for the info.I'm going to check the hotel for my next trip.

"..a small cafe creme at the cafe right outside the door of the hotel sold for 5.50 euros.."

I'm vaguely familiar with that neibourhood but EUR 5.50 for a café creme seems outrageous to me. I think I paid about 5.50 French Francs for a café. I know that was a looong time ago but even so ...

Thanks you "crepes" - this hotel sounds like what I've been hoping for - and a great location. Does it have a website or could you provide the e-mail information?

For efg. I have just taken a look.

http://www.france-hotel-guide.com/h75005montblanc.htm

Wasn't it marvelous to be in Paris by yourself? What a treat!!!
I'm looking for airfare now, in fact, for early September...the Parisiens and I can re-enter together!
The place is right, the price is right, sounds excellent.

Thank you - not sure when I will next be in Paris - but when I am the place you mention is just up my street - ie (translation) the kind of place I would want to stay.

Taa

Thanks for the hotel tip. This is a few blocks from where I lived and on familiar turf.

"The rue de la Huchette is like a small alleyway running parallel to Blvd St Michel." Actually the r.d.l. Huchette is perpendicular to Blvd. St. Michel.

Did you try the cellar of Cafe Huchette for music and dancing? Shakespeare & Co. for books and chat?

Good to hear from you, Crepes! It sounds as though you had a great time in Paris; I'll be looking forward to hearing about CLE. Do you like your "family",etc.? Also, is CLE still owned by the husband and wife team? And, also the classes?

grandmere, the school is great, maybe even better than when you were here because herve and isabelle have had time to perfect it even more. only 7 in my class and the tuition is comparable to that of school with 12 to 15 max per class. this is one great learning center. tours itself is great too.

i have a great famille. the woman is the directrice of an ecole elementaire and the husband is retired and is a gourmand and wine and cheese connosieur. meals are spectacular each night. both are a little hard to understand, but i am making it. my room there is wonderful. the top floor of their 400 year old home on the original street of the town. you should see it. you walk out the gate and feel as if you have been transported back in time to the middle ages. i wish you could come back and do a week or two here again for old time's sake!

Crepes, it is so good to hear that you like the place and are having such a great experience! Your maison and famille sound wonderful; it does make me want to return! Maybe I will look hard to find the address of the family I stayed with and write to them for old times' sake! Were you happy with the level you placed into? I remember scanning the posted list and wondering if had I embarrassed myself by only placing into level 2 or something like that. I was put into the 6th(of 7), and whereas I was pleased, it felt as though it was a stretch since my oral skills were not as good as the others. It worked out well, though. Dating myself :-), but when I studied French in high school and college, grammar and written skills were the main emphasis. The friend with whom I had traveled to Tours placed into the 7th, and she worked very hard; they really put them through the paces, but of course, that's how one learns.

Continue enjoying yourself, and keep us posted!

I wonder if they will organize a dinner while you're there at Jean Bardet's restaurant; it's a 2 or 3 star. Chateau Belmont, I believe; lovely. We ate lunch everyday at a little cafeteria type place on a pedestrian street not far from CLE.

was the hotel air conditioned? i assume you didn't need it for your stay, but i'm wondering for my trip in june.

Crepes: Please keep us posted on your progress. I'm considering a similar venture and would love to hear your input. Enjoy!

That's a very useful report and I'm glad you found a very budget place where you could sleep. (FYI dana, you won't find a hotel at 55 euro with AC in central Paris).

I think 5.5 euro for cafe creme is high, but not that high for a large size, and that is a prime tourist area, that's probably why. Before the change to euro, they were typically 25-35 euro, as I recall, depending on the real estate prices. I think a cafe creme for 5.5 euro must have been very long ago, as that would have been less than one euro (or about 1 USD).

well, obviously I meant 25-35 FF, not euro, but they were expensive for the large size.

crepes - thanks for the report. I almost booked that hotel for my last trip but didn't for one reason - I was afraid it would be terribly noisy given that location. How did you find the noise level? I will definitly consider staying there on a future trip if you report that noise was not a problem. Thanks.

great info, I've added the hotel to my own list.
If you have time, post the info at
tripadvisor.com as well
enjoy the trip.

isabel, i swear, i never heard one sound while in my room. everyone at the hotel is as quiet as a mouse and the hotel in general seems to be very soundproofed. no a/c of course. but there is an elevator that works very well and is bigger than most elevators at small hotels.