Holiday Inn in Paris
 

I know it seems a shame to consider going to Paris and staying in a chain hotel, but Holiday Inn has a hotel called Bibliotheque de France at 21 Tolbiac on Ile de la Cite near Notre Dame. Does anyone know anything about it? I am concerned because the pictures of that street look pretty bad--I just thought it sounded like a good location. Help, please!!

There is nothing wrong with staying at a Holiday Inn in Paris since there is nothing particularly "cookie cutter" about them. But the Holiday Biblioteque de France is definitely NOT on Ile de la Cite near Notre Dame. If you're looking at Holiday Inn because you have an opportunity to use PC points, you might want to check out the HI Republique. It's a fabulous property (should be a Crowne Plaza), but it tends to be quite pricey if you're paying. There is also the HI Bastille, near Gare de Lyon. That one tends toward lower rates than some, but you may like the neighborhood (near Le Marais) better than the Biblioteque's immediate surroundings. (It's more of a mainstream Paris neighborhood with a little more history.) The St. Germain des Pres HI gets some decent reviews, but it's actually a bit west of what I would consider the actual neighborhood from which it borrows its name.

I think you may have just saved me from a terrible decision with this hotel location. No, I don't have HI points--was just trying to find something within walking distance of the Notre Dame area with decent rates. It seems that the reasonable ones in St. Germain des Pres aren't available for my dates in May, and I completely agree with you about the location of the St. Germain des Pres HI.

I did find Jardin de l'Odeon at 7 Rue Casimir-delavigne at $162. It's as couple of blocks off Blvd. St. Germaine. Do you have an opinion about that location? I want the FEEL of being in Paris rather than just some place to hang my hat and I want to feel safe. Thanks for your help.

I don't know the specific property, but you're certainly going to have a Paris "feel" in that neighborhood. I take you have already discovered:

www.lespagesjaunes.fr

which will allow you to "walk around" your neighborhood a bit, in a photographic sense. But to be staying in a triangle formed by Boulevards St. Michel, St.Germain and Place de l'Odeon is going to put you in a very classic part of Paris, for sure.

Hi - I don't know which month you are going, but if it is summer you may want to consider looking for hotels that have air conditioning. I've stayed at the Grand Hotel des Balcons and I think it is on the same street at the Jardin de l'Odeon but it is not as expensive. I've stayed there twice and thought it was good hotel for the location and price. Small rooms, but that is normal in Paris. It does not have air conditioning. Nearby Hotel Bonaparte, where I am staying in July, does have air. It is near St. Sulpice. There are a number of posts about it on this board. Have fun!

A nice and reasonably priced hotel within walking distance of Notre Dame is the Hotel Monge on rue Monge. Rates are probably in the 100 euro range now (it does have air conditioning).

I would think you'd feel more safe in that part of the 5th than in the 13th, actually. If your price range is a little higher, you might look into one of the hotels on the Ile St. Louis.

Hi kh,

I would alsoo recommend the hotel Bonaparte, 61 rue Bonaparte. You van look it up at http://www.voila.fr/PagesJaunes/

You might also want to do a text search here for "Paris and Hotels" in the 4-6th districts.

Thanks to you all for your helpful suggestions which I am looking into today. It's so great to get this kind of feedback so quickly and I appreciate your efforts.