TR14

In about two weeks, my family and I are heading out to Europe for the first time as a family. Problem is finding ONE decent and affordable HOTEL ROOM in Paris for myself, wife and three kids aged 6,10 and 12. It appears that we may have exceeded the expected "normal" family size of 1.375 kids per family (or whatever it is these days). Getting two rooms is likely to break our fun, not to mention my wallet. I don't want to leave a child behind (no pun intended; even though one of my sons is tickled by a "home alone" moment). Please help.

Our plans include 3 days in paris - then overnight train to Rome- (we are staying in Italy for two weeks with family and friends)- back to Paris on train - stay one night in Paris - and back to Texas.

Another question (of less urgency) is that we are considering a 5-day France-Italy Saver Pass. Are there any unforseen issues if I buy a separate cheaper "Youth Pass" for my 12 year old son, as opposed to buying 2nd class saver pass for all ou us, which forces us to buy three adult passes?

Your advice is greatley appreciated.

TR14 in Texas.

missypie

TR14, you are one laid back traveler. In Europe, it is often hard to find a room that can even fit a family of four.

Before I ever consider booking a flight anywhere, I make sure I have found a nice place to accomodate our family of 5. Even in the US, it is difficult to find one room that can accomodate the five of us! (Some of the "all suites" hotels can still only accomodate 4 per room becuase they have a king-sized bed and a sofa sleeper.) I almost always rent apartments when traveling with my family.

nytraveler

Well - I don't understand the need to pack 5 people in one room with one bath. And any room that accommmodated 5 would certainly cost a lot more than a double room.

Have you tried looking for a double and connecting triple for the kids - it seems much more sensible to have 2 baths - and I can't imagine it would cost that much more than one gigantic room (even if you could find one).

namaka

I have to agree with missypie. Our family of four just returned from our European trip. I originally started to look at hotels, but once I found I may need two rooms, I nixed that idea and went with apts. We stayed in apts in Paris and in Lisbon, and in a cottage in England.

There are many choices out there, and people are always willing to offer places that they have personally stayed at. The apt we stayed at in Paris was a little cramped for the 4 of us and would definitely not fit your bill with 5 of you. But there are out there!

suze

Even if you can find one big room somewhere, two rooms will likely be cheaper and certainly more readily available at an affordable hotel.

Dukey

Are you planning to use the rail passes to get around once you are in Italy?

Have you input the proposed itinerary at www.railsaver.com to check to see if point-to-point tickets might be more economical?

I assume you've ruled out the possibility of budget flights Paris-Rome-Paris and at this late date I suspect rail offers a cheaper means of transport.

julia_t

I travel with my 4 children, now aged 13-16. I have always had to rent an apartment or book 2 rooms.

You should be able to rent an apartment for 3 days, a search here or on google will bring up lots of apartment rental companies, but with only 'about two weeks' to go, you are indeed cutting it VERY close to find anything halfway decent, and all the best apartments with air conditioning (which you will need in Paris this summer), at a reasonable price will be booked. Although there is always the possibility you may get lucky with a cancellation...

I stayed last summer at Hotel Monge -triple and twin room, with aircon, for 110 euros per room per night - but I booked 2 months ahead and the rooms were on different floors.

You could try these 2 rental agencies..

www.parisaddress.com

http://www.beau-paris.com/en_main_choice.htm

Good Luck!

JeffreyJ

In Paris last month, my family of five booked accomodations in a B&B...that is, a private home that accepts short-term boarders...through an agency in Paris. It worked out rather well, and was considerably less expensive than a hotel. You might want to look into it. Feel free to contact me offline if you have any questions about it.

www.bed-and-breakfast-in-paris.com

JJ

TR14

Thank you all for your advice. Per your suggestions, I will look into both apartments or B&B accomodations. Juila_t and JeffreyJ - thanks for the links...keep them coming.

Dukey - yes, we do plan to use the rail passes in Italy (Florence 2-3 nights, and perhapsps a day trip to Venice from there).

Now I feel pressed to find something quick. I hate staying on line for more than few minutes. Dear wife thinks all is set and rosy!!

Thanks again.

TR14.

Neopolitan

Am I the only one who thinks it's a bit odd to expect to house five people in a room that normally would be meant for two, or expect that you can house five people for the same price as two? It seems that if two people rented a room in a hotel for $100, the logical thing would be to get two rooms for a total of $200 and be thankful that one person is staying for free. I know they used to say "two can travel as cheaply as one" but even that isn't true. I certainly wouldn't think that 5 can travel as cheaply as 2.

Lori

Lately we have been having a number of questions about fitting 5 (or more) to a room .. also people who think their 21 yr olds qualify as "kids", as in kids stay free or whatever. Amazing to me !!!

No, Neopolitan you are not the only one who thinks it odd. I can't count the number of times I've suggested getting 2 rooms to people with this question or looking into apartments. I cannot even imagine wanting to cram 5 people into one hotel room, nor do I even want to think about bathroom time. I understand travel is expensive, but this whole thing about getting the entire family in one room boggles my mind.

suze

My friend just stayed at Hotel Monge earlier this month (as Julia mentions)a recommendation passed on to her by me from here on Fodors. She liked it very much.

www.hotelmonge.com
Hôtel Résidence Monge
55, rue Monge 75005 Paris
Subway: Place Monge
Tel: + 33 1 43 26 87 90
Fax: + 33 1 43 54 47 25

TR14

Neopolitan says :

"Am I the only one who thinks it's a bit odd to expect to house five people in a room that normally would be meant for two, or expect that you can house five people for the same price as two?"

Just to set the record, I was not expecting a room for 5 for the price of "normal room for two". My question and frustration was the difficulty of finding a single large room designed for a family of 5 (which to me should not be considered abnormnal)

With the current young age of my kids, two separate rooms on different floors does not sound good to me. In my opinion, part of the fun and memory is to see the kids pass out (after a long day in a new land) one by one where ever they are in the room, with them knowing that Mom and Dad are close by in the room.

I think apratment or B&B suggestions were excellent, assuming reasoinable price.

mjs

It is difficult outside of North America and Australia/NZ to find hotel rooms that will fit four, much less 5 people. We often stay in a apartment for four and when we stay in a hotel we can sometimes find a quad but sometimes have to get two rooms. When we stay in B&B's we always get two rooms for four. I do not think we have ever stayed in a hotel quad in Europe that would fit five. Sometimes large American chain hotels (Marriot/ Sheraton etc)will have rooms with two queens but they do not fit five and they tend to be on the expensive side. Paris is a large city and there may be a hotel with a room to fit five but I suspect such hotels will give you a connected twin and triple.
Apartments with two bedrooms and a sleeper sofa would work for you but you will be limited by the fact that apartments often (but not always) rent by the week and availability in August may be quite limited. I do not know what affordable means to you but your best bet at this late date may be to look for two interconnecting rooms in an inexpensive hotel.

Carrybean

Check the Paris section at this site. Some only have a 3 day minimum stay & prices are quoted in dollars. I've used them a lot for London:

http://www.londonguestsuites.com/

Underhill

You might look into the Novotel chain, which has family rooms that fit 3 quite nicely; an adjacent or adjoing room would hold the two older children, with the youngest staying in the room with the parents.

namaka

TR14, while it is late in the day to have a huge selection of apts, I have no doubt that they are out there.

And don't get discouraged by a site that states it will only rent by the week. We were in Paris for only 5 nights. I just emailed the owner with my dates and asked if he would be willing to rent the apt out for only 5 nights, and he did.

search on vrbo (vacation rentals by owner). Also, to narrow your search, be specific in which areas you are willing to stay in-i.e., 7th, 14th,?
And definitely consider looking for one with a/c and a lift (unless you want the work-out of stairs).

I completely understand where you are coming from in regards to wanting the kids close by.That was one of my main reasons for going with apts. In fact, just to give you an example of my savings; we stayed 9 nights in a cottage in England for 400gbp. We then stayed 2 nights in London (in a Holiday Inn) at 196 gbp total (both nights). On our last night, we stayed at the Sheraton Skyline @ Heathrow. One night @ 129 gbp. SEE THE SAVINGS!

jayne1973

Don't give up. We had pretty good luck all over Great Britain with two adults and three teens in various bed and breakfasts. Sometimes we had to get two rooms, and other times they had family rooms available. I would think it might be easier to get a B&B for three days than an apartment. Good luck!

ma23peas

You sound like us!!! We are traveling to England in 6 weeks with a 7, 8, and 11 year old....I struggled for 6 months to find the best rates since NO one has room for five in one room (well, okay, Hilton Metropole at the rate of 195pounds per night) I checked over 100 flats/VRBO/B&B's but it all came out to be about $400 a night...2 rooms or no. So I took the plunge and tried www.priceline.com I never thought I'd do that but budgets do strange things to creatures of habit...so I stepped out of the box and for 3 nights tried every angle on testing the system...on the 3rd night I got 2 rooms at $84 each!!! I'm paying $170 (VAT included) per night for 2 rooms! YAHOO!!! That's a huge thankyou from me to the folks at www.biddingfortravel.com and priceline...so give it a shot...you might be rewarded with some great rates!

Tara

milliebz

O find it really annoying when people who are single or travel as couples get patonizing about families who want to stay together without being overly penalized with multiple rooms. I have posted before about the European phenomemeon of letting most rooms with two single beds to accomodate single travelers without regard to families. Most families are willing to pay for extra people/beds above the double rate but it makes it prohibitive when forces to always rent two rooms. We all know that as families there are occasions when we accomodate family and have larger bathroom loads than we we otherwise like. People live like this everyday out of necessity so it gauls me when sactimonious folk who are fortunate enough to be able to travel make judgements about family when they are traveling solo or as a couple.