Hotel Doree in 18th
 

My friends have had a heckuva time finding affordable accomodations in Paris for the millenium. I am sure no one is surprised by that, though. But we have a chance to stay in Hotel Doree at 66 boulevard Barbes in the 18th arrondissement at a fairly nice price, 440F for a quad. There is a fairly nice write up of the hotel in hotelboulevard.com, but I am wary of booking my hotel over the internet. <BR> <BR>Is anyone familiar with this hotel or it's area? Will this be a good location for New Year's celebrating? <BR> <BR>I tried a search on the hotel but found no information other than one other person asking about Doree as well. <BR> <BR>TIA.

Hi Elisabeth <BR>With luck Fodor's poster Vincent will chime in here because he lives in Paris and always has good information. <BR>In the meantime, I checked my map. <BR>Boul Barbes is on the eastern border of the Montmartre area, and appears to be a major street. Whether that means active and fun, or charmless and hectic, I cannot say. The location is near Sacre Coeur, a Paris landmark, although most of the rest of Paris's tourist sights <BR>will require time on the metro or very <BR>sturdy legs. <BR>The recommendation you found on <BR>hotelboulevard.com is encouraging. I also looked up the hotel <BR>in www.paris.org and found another recommendation for it (in French). The person who was commenting said the rooms were clean and the owner was pleasant. The price certainly can't be beat <BR>I hope this helps a little--at least you'll be there with friends!

E;osabeth <BR>I forgot to add, I personally hesitate to book over the internet. The rates are not necessarily the lowest. You can't go wrong to call or fax the hotel directly, and that saves you putting your credit card # over the net. When you fax, you also get a hard copy <BR>confirmation. Just my opinion. <BR>

Thank you for the reply...I do appreciate the effort. :) <BR> <BR>One simply question: How long would it take to walk to, say, the Louvre from the heart of the 18th arrondissement? I have seen numerous maps of the city from guide books, but these simple renditions give me little in the area of practical knowledge. <BR> <BR>Thanks, and sorry to follow up on my own post.

Elisabeth <BR>This is a guesstimate, I have not done that walk and it also depends on your pace, but I'll say around a half hour, maybe more. Again, I'm not of the exact location of the hotel, but certainly Sacre Coeur is a healthy hike from the Louvre. Anyone else out there have a better estimate? <BR> <BR> <BR>

I, personally, would be reluctant to book a quad at 440F over the millenium. The price is extremely low for any season - suspiciously low for the millenium. The 18th arrondissement is very hilly - the sidewalks are quite steep. There are maps of Paris at the bookstores with "walking scales" so you can guestimate the time it would take to walk to the Louvre, but why not take the metro?