Hi-looking for a reasonable hotel in the Champs Elyesses area. Not wanting to break the bank, but certainly want something decent and indicative the area. Thanks

There are different options depending on if you want 1* or 4*. You need to specify how much is meant by "not wanting to break the bank."

Why do you want to be in the Champs Eylysée region? It's not exactly the best place to be in a hotel in Paris, and you will probably pay through the nose to be there.
Are you open to other possibilities and other regions?

Hi StCirg- No, I'm not married to this specific region, it's just that I only have one day and thought this would be the best location to work from. I'm open to anything. Thanks

As francophile03 says, we need to know the size of your bank. Plus, if this is for a trip in the near future, most of the places we would recommend will be full.

So, how much, how many beds, and when?

DrF while the Champs might sound centrally located, really it's not the best place to be. Staying near Notre Dame would be much more central IMO. Hotel de Notre Dame is a good option. Or staying on Ile St Louis-there are 3 hotels there-Hotel des Deux Iles is one.


The other way to pick a spot...what's the one thing you MUST do while in Paris??? If it's see the Eiffel Tower, you could stay near there.

Thanks to all who are commenting.
Just to clarify- I'd like to keep it under 200 Euro, two nights/2 beds very soon-end of June.
The two things I was hoping to accomplish in my one day were, Eiffel Tower, Louve. So, please sujest away on the best area where I can make this happen. Keep in mind this is my first trip to Paris, which is why I don't know the appropriate area.

Francophile-I'll assume the 1* or 4* refers to the area of the city?

Francophile means stars (hotel rating). At under 200e you're probably talking about a 3*. The Louvre is in the 1er arrondisement. The tower is in the 7th. I must say on a one day visit, the Louvre is a bit ambitious unless you're just doing a quick look see.

You can either do a text search here for paris hotel AND eiffel tower. I also found a website jack-travel.com that has good hotels listed by arrondisement.

Hi DrF,

I suggest that you skip the Louvre, since you have only one day.

Go to the Musee D'Orsay instead.

You could buy a one-day pass on the Batobus and hop on/off at Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Place Concorde, etc.

See www.batobus.com

Since it's the end of June, I'd hurry to make a hotel reservation. You could stay in the 5th, 6th or 7th (arrondisements = neighborhood areas and are numbered in a spiral from the 'center' of the city going outwards). By using Metro or a taxi you can easily get around to make the most of a short stay. You might want to spend a couple hours on one of the open air on-off bus tours for a quick and efficient overview of the city. Getting to the Louve is easy enough, but it is a huge museum, so you might plan ahead what you want to see most within.

We stayed at a 3-star (rating) hotel in the 5th (Latin Quarter) for around $100. So your $200 budget should be easy to stay within. Because your trip is so soon, the popular, often recommended hotels from this BB and guidebooks may already be filled. I'd just get on the internet and start contacting places to secure a room.

Since you only have one day, I agree with others that staying on one of the islands would be most central and would maximize your ability to get to all the major sights. Look at Ile de la Cité and Ile-St-Louis on the Paris Hotels area here on Fodors.com as a starting point.

Do you mean two twin beds when you say two beds? Two doubles would be a quad room and much harder to find.

If you do opt to stay on Ile St. Louis do research which of the four hotels on the island is best. They are:

Hotel du Jeu de Paume
Hotel Saint Louis
Hotel de Lutece
Hotel des Deux Iles

Generally they're all known to have extremely small rooms as the buildings are very old. But the worse comments I've gathered from reading tripadivsor.com are about Hotel Saint Louis and Hotel du Jeu de Paume where former guests not only felt that the rates were too expensive for the room sizes but also there was lack of maintenance in some rooms at both hotels. Yet they are popular. Hotel Saint Louis also asks for one night's deposit (non-refundable) can you believe!
The other two hotels on the island are also very popular and seem lots better; in fact they are related. These are Hotel de Lutece and Hotel des Deux-Iles.

Why don't you try Hotel Cayre in St. Germain De Pres. It is across the river from the Louvre and almost in the Latin Quarter. I think the Latin Quarter is the best place to stay but that is my opinion. I just did a quick check and found a rate of 208 euros per night for 1 adult. We stayed there two summers ago and were very happy with the rooms, service, breakfast, etc and the hotel is 4 star.

Plus the hotel was steps from the metro and I mean steps...I believe the station was Rue Du Bac.

I think your plans are very reasonable for a single day -- seeing the Eiffel Tower and visiting the Louvre. Some people want to do six things in a day. I prefer the Orsay myself, but that's just because I prefer more recent art periods, many people don't. Also, there are some special sections of the Louvre I like very much, like the sculpture area, Royal apts., etc., as well as Ingres. They have a few Impressionist paintings in there, actually, some quite good (Monet and Whistler, for example).

I also think the island or Latin Qtr would be a terrific idea for you, or Saint German. I wouldn't recommend you stay in the 7th if you are only there one day and haven't been before. Hotels are more modestly priced in the Latin Qtr than St Germain, but it may be difficult to find a room in a good, popular hotel at this point.

Here's a few in addition to the Hotel de ND mentioned by mclaurie, which I think is a good idea, also (these are all 3* hotels in the Latin Qtr): Hotel la Tour Notre Dame, Hotel le Notre Dame, Hotel Claude Bernard, Hotel California St Germain, Hotel du Pantheon www.hoteldupantheon.com, Hotel des Grands Hommes www.hoteldesgrandshommes.com, Hotel Parc St Severin, and Hotel Select.

I think you can find most or all of those without URLs on www.france-hotel-guide.com or www.123france.com or www.parishotels.com

You should try an aprtment in Paris ratherthan a hotel. We stayed in a fabulous 1 br apartment that was close to the eiffel tower (with a view from the living room french doors. It's a good option if you want to stay for more than a few nights- say 5 days or so. You get to be able to cook and there's no cleaning. The one we stayed at was really stylish and it's good to feel like you're 'living in Paris' while you're there. Contact the owners via [email protected]

Since the original poster stated that he had just two nights to spend in Paris, I don't think an apartment is an option.

I don't know that area well enough to recommend a hotel, although I do remember spending a wonderful morning eating breakfast just steps away from the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysee on the rue MacMahon. Right across the street was the Hotel MacMahon. I have no idea if it's a good hotel or not, but you could do a search for it here or look at the comments on tripadvisor.com to see if anyone has stayed there.

It certainly fits your desire to stay near the Champs Elysee, although it's not majorly convenient to either the Louvre or the Eiffel Tower (though it's near Metro Line 1, which connects with a lot of sites).

Best wishes for an enjoyable trip.