Hotel choices
 

I already posted one post but wanted to know your thoughts about areas to stay. We are staying in an aparthotel and there are different locations (none of which I am familiar with). The possibilities are:

1)in village de Bercy
2) 5 minute walk to Porte de Versailles
3)Buttes-Chaumont
4)Bank of Sienne

Does anyone have any suggestions on any of these areas and would make recommendations on one over the other?

Thanks,

Sandy

Where on the banks of the Seine? It's a long river that cuts all the way through Paris. The other 3 locations appear to be a bit out of the center of the city.

Rule Number 1 would be if you don't have a good Metro stop nearby (NOT RER, but Metro), then it's a bad choice for visiting Paris. You want to be IN the city; not somewhere along the edges. One reason has to do with the character of the neighborhoods (or lack of it.) The other is that it is just plain inconvenient to have to commute in for literally everything that you came to do and see. It's not just the hassle, but there is a monetary value to this.

I haven't used Citadines myself because I prefer hotels for my shorter stays, but here's their website and they have a number of different choices within Paris:

http://www.citadines.com/en/index.html

I'm guessing there are people on the board who have made use of Citadines and you might also want to check reviews on Tripadvisor.
Check the map and look at Metro access. I've walked past their Voltaire/Republique property many times and it's one of their less expensive offerings at 185 Euros/night for a one bedroom. It's an area where I've often stayed, as well as Place de la Nation. These are not really tourist areas, but they have many amenities such as neighborhood brasseries, boulangeries, etc. and both have excellent metro access.

I cannot comment on the other areas, but I can say that I have stayed around Buttes-Chaumont four or five times. I returned to the neighborhood, and would do so again, because it has decent Metro access and it doesn't feel touristy at all. Of course you'll want to visit the touristy things and it's easy to get to them from Buttes-Chaumont, but I liked "living" albeit for short periods of time, in a neighborhood where I would probably find myself should I actually move to Paris. The neighborhood itself is a very "regular working class" slice of Paris. Of course the park is nice too.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35126902 ((*))

As a suggestion, a lot of people aren't going to even notice this post who might have some answer as your title could be any location. Look at the left-hand column of what the titles look like to someone on the board (including yourself) and you can understand that.

My opinion would be Bercy is really convenient. It is right in the center of the city.

Porte de Versailles would be my last choice on this list, I'd forget it. It may not even be in Paris, proper, either -- but even if it is, it's on the very edge of Paris and near a big convention center. Business people using that convention center would find it useufl.

However, no. 4 could be anywhere, as someone said, the Seine is a long river and goes outside Paris, even. So maybe it would be good, maybe not.

Buttes Chaumont would be too far out and inconvenient for the avg. tourist. Bercy is much more central, it is practically on the Seine.