My husband and I planned a last-minute jaunt to Paris September 21-25th and are having trouble finding reasonably priced 2 or 3 star hotels in the 5th/6th arrondissement. Maybe something in the range of $120-150 US dollars?

I'm thinking about making a bid on Priceline but have no idea what would be reasonable!

Any recommendations for either researching last-minute travel or specific hotels that we should investigate for availability?

lastminute.com? This is no joke, there is such a legitimate site. What you are asking for and what you are willing to pay for it is not unreasonable; you should be able to get something. Try the best western website, they have very good hotels in Paris. I stayed at the Best Western Left Bank St. Germain and loved it.

Also check www.laterooms.com and http://www.ratestogo.com and http://www.ryanair.com (click on their Hotel link - I've gotten a good deal elsewhere from that) and http://www.hotelclub.net .

My recommendation if you use Priceline is to bid only in the Latin Quarter - St. Germain - Montparnasse or the Opera Quarter East zones, and only for a 4* hotel. Any other zone or star level risks getting you a hotel that is very far out and/or not so great quality.

If you decide to use Priceline, go to www.biddingfortravel.com and study up on how to bid. The moderators there will help you, but you have to do your homework first. Scroll way down to Europe Hotels, click on France then click on Paris. You'll see a list of the hotels that PL uses in Paris, their locations, and their star levels. You can also see recent successful bids (ususally) of the hotels your interested in.

We're staying at the hotel de saint germain on rue de four (not to be confused with other similarly named hotels). www.hotel-de-saint-germain.fr Never stayed there before, so can't comment, I've been told it's nice, but small (for even Paris standards) rooms. It's owned by the same folks as the Fleurie. Let me know if you end up staying there. Annie

Another site to try: http://www.hrs.de

Some of the TimHotels have availability (not in 5th or 6th, though).
http://www.timhotel.com/us/home.html#

Also, you will get a fairly long list of available hotels on this site:
http://www.cybevasion-paris.com/en/index.html

(not much for 5th or 6th again).

Also, you can search on www.venere.com by dates.

For Sept 21 (out 26th):
84- 3* hotels, 88- 2* hotels are listed.
This site has customer reviews also.

I've checked out a lot of the last-minute sites, including venere.com, lastminute.com, ratestogo.com, etc.

Seems our trouble may be the district we are looking at, as availability is very challenged in the 5th/6th.

Would it be worth our while to expand our search? We want to feel like we are staying in neighborhood, someplace that gives a sense of how it would feel to live like a Parisian. My husband will be especially interested in food/markets. Should we be looking elsewhere in addition?

The 14th will offer many more hotels, has nice neighborhoods, and if you get a hotel on the #4 metro in particular, it's very convenient.

As WillTraveller, mentioned, Montparnasse is a pretty centralized location. The gare is nearby from which you can get anywhere. I stayed at the Meridien in Montparesse. It was OK and perhaps a room would be available in your range. ALSO, on the other side of Paris in the La Defense area is a Renaissance. It is within your range, the metro is very closeby/assessible and just a couple stops from the major attractions. Bonne chace!

Try Hotel Claude Bernard. It shows available rooms for your dates within your price range:

http://www.cybevasion.com/hotels/fra...ernard_51.html

Dear Ginabee,

The Timhotel are indeed good compromise if you want to find a good hotel...And the area of Montparnasse have 4 or 5 connections to the rest of city..so maybe you can try to look at the Timhotel Montparnasse...This hotel is very very clean and really a few steps from the metro station. The area of Montparnasse os one of my favourite quarter in Paris with the 14th too...near Alesia! So look at the Timhotel Montparnasse at www.h-montparnasse.com! You can book your rooms on-line...Goood luck for your last-minute trip!

Those are popular tourist areas, so that is the problem, and the 6th is one of the most expensive areas in Paris for hotels so there isn't much at that rate there. Much of those areas aren't typical Parisian neighborhoods at all, other locations are much more so, but I think you really want a more touristy area than a typical Parisian middleclass neighborhood. I wouldn't call St Germain an example of where a typical Parisian lives because it's very expensive, with many designer shops and there are a lot of tourists in parts of it. It's not typical, but is an enjoyable place to stay for tourists. I agree it probably will feel more residential than a hotel right around the Louvre or place de Concorde or the Arc, though.

I think the more typical Parisian areas of the 5th are probably not where you are looking for hotels -- more in the southern part which is convenient to the MOuffetard food market street and a roving market at place MOnge (or to the east, but I wouldn't recommend that). The 15th is a very typical Parisian residential area and there is a great market street on rue St Charles and several budget hotels around there. That isn't as popular with tourists, though, and isn't as "old" or charming in parts, I'll agree. But you might be more likely to find something there.

MOntparnasse is a good area and has markets on bd Edgar Quinet and rue Daguerre. Those are good locations to be around, also. There are definitely more typical Parisian neighborhoods and market areas in the 9th, 12th, 17th, etc, but if you don't know Paris, that may not be really what you want. You would be more likely to find something at this late date, however. The 7th around Ecole Militaire is also a possibility, and there is another thread on here where someone is looking for a cheap hotel there.

I wouldn't recommend Priceline for your purposes, you'll just end up with something probably completely different than what you want in terms of location. They aren't going to have any great deals for that time period because it's one of the most peak hotel periods -- anything on Priceline for those dates will probably be undesirable or a very large modern hotel. That could be fine but doesn't sound like what you want. YOu can try Hotel MOnge in the 5th, but it's pretty popular, also. Suits your purpose very well, however. I stayed in the 2* Libertel on rue Censier down that way and it was nice for that level and cheap and not wellknown at all. My room was small for a double, and while fine for me alone, would be too tight for a couple so look for a superior room if you check that out. Libertel is a good French chain with some smaller hotels with character. www.libertel-hotels.com

Other possible hotels around Mouffetard are the 2* Hotel de l'Esperance on rue Pascal (very recommended) www.hoteldelesperance.fr and the Hotel des Arenes on rue Monge. (see www.france-hotel-guide.com or www.pariserve.tm.fr both good Parisian hotel resources). That one isn't that wellknown, either, so a possibility. I'd be willing to stay in either, probably try for Esperance as I think it is more charming.

www.france.com might be helpful in hotel reservations. They used to be great and gave listings by dates, but their revised website is rather confusing -- I think they could still have something.

Try this hotel

www.excelsiorlatin.com

It is in the 5th and a 2 star hotel.

If you can get the Claude Bernard, try it. We were there for a week in August, 2003. Very adequate, good location, helpful staff. Near to 3 metro stops, Seine, pantheon, Sorbonne, plenty of cafes, shops, laundry, etc. By adquate, I mean clean, comfortable, nice breakfast room and lobby. Not a Westin or Hyatt or something like that but nice. they also have an elevator and A/C which can be a rarity - shower curtins were included and a mini-fridge!

Sadly, Claude Bernard was not available.

More happily, we are confirmed at the Hotel Chomel. So far, that seems to be good, I'm checking a few additional places posted here...

What price did you get at this hotel?

I got confirmation for the same dates at Eber Mars (recently renovated, but no replies, no photos) at 80 euro or 95 euro for larger double.

And Paris Eiffel Rive Gauche at 95 euro

Annie, we stayed in the De Saint Germain on Rue du Four twice and were very pleased with it! Its location is wonderful for the price and the staff extremely friendly (and their English is good!) The rooms are very small - if you can ever get hold of Room no 15 - do so. We stayed in it the first time and made the terrible mistake to think all the rooms are that big!! It also has a nice bathroom with a small tub!

We will definitely go back there - but we will ask for room 15.

Helen

Helen, thanks. Does room 15 have a shower in the bathroom?