Hotel Muguet vs Hotel de Fleurie or other hotel in 6th?
 

My two daughters (17 and 21)along with my sister and I are traveling to Paris for three nights on August 22. This is our first time to Paris. I have done tons of research on hotels, looking at this forum, tripadvisor, etc. I currently have two rooms booked at Hotel Muguet with a very good rate of 105 Euro (includes tax). My biggest concern was to have a hotel with reasonable rates, very clean and with AC.

However, I am wondering if my daughters will find the 7th quiet at night and if being in the 6th is a little closer and has a little more action. Most of the hotels in the 6th seem to be more expensive but I did get a good quote back from Hotel de Fleurie (although it is more than Muguet).

Both of these hotels get good reviews so I was wondering if anyone had comments concerning these hotels or whether there is much of an advantage staying the 6th as opposed to the 7th. Thanks so much

Hi Paula,

I think you have found a pretty good hotel at a good rate.

The Hotel Bonaparte, 61 rue Bonaparte, in the 6th is where we always stay. It is about 120E dbl w/bkfst.

I think that the location is better than the Muguet.

From what I read the 7th is quiet at night. I don't think it has as much to offer in comparison to the 6th. The 6th is humming at night and it's a few steps away from the non-stop action of the 5th. So I would go for the Fleurie if I were you. Hotels, on the whole, are pretty expensive in the 6th. But since you're going in August there are usually alot of good discounts available then at many hotels.

I agree that the 6th would be better for your first visit. An immediate advantage I see to the 6th is that after dinner your daughters could head out on their own, perhaps to the 5th--if they're so inclined--and you and your sister could enjoy after dinner drinks at a cafe in the 6th.

If you have a good price at the Fleurie I would suggest that you stay there. I have not stayed at the Muguet but have stayed at the Bonaparte (**) and the Fleurie (***) and think the Fleurie is much better appointed and more modern. Their locations are about equal and both have lovely staff.

Good luck!

Thanks for your input so far. There are so many hotels to choose from. I looked back at my quote from Fleurie and it was actually quite a bit more. The room for 130 euro was the closest price and it said a standard large bed. Rooms with twin beds were quite a bit more. I am going to fax the Bonaparte and check price and availability.

I have heard so many good things about the Muguet but I want my daughters to have a good time. They will probably be so tired after all day that it won't really matter. If anyone has suggestions of other hotels in the 6th, let me know. I also heard that there was several places in the 7th that my daughters could go in the evening so if anyone knows about those, let me know also.

There are loads of places to go in the 7th at night - the Place Ecole Militaire has a bunch of cafés, the avenue Bosquet has tons of restaurants and cafés, and the rue Ste-Dominique is also full of bars and cafés. But if you're talking about nightclubs and dance clubs and such, your daughters would have to take a relatively short métro ride to those, I think.
The 7th isn't exactly "dead" but it's certainly not throbbing with nightlife, which is why people like me like to end up in bed there so we can get a good night's sleep.

You are there for 3 nights. It is a hotel. It is well situated. It will be fine.

I would have said to book the Fleurie as I think your daughters would prefer that (you and sis may, also), but was surprised the rate wasn't that different from the Muguet. I think the cheaper hotels in that area with AC are maybe only the Bonaparte (that does have AC, doesn't it?) and perhaps the Clement.

The 6th is a much more expensive area, so you are right in your findings. Another hotel I've noticed has very good discounts in August in St Germain is the Hotel de l'Academie on rue des Saints Peres (just over the border in the 7th). It's a small 3* with AC and double rooms are normally 200 euro but 40 pct off in August--the only thing is, I don't think they have twins, only double beds, except for the suites (www.hotelacademie.com).

There's no reason you have to stay in the 6th/7th. The Hotel Claude Bernard in the Latin Qtr on rue Ecoles is a 3* with AC that has good discounts of about 25 pct in August, also. They do have twin rooms which are around 135 euro in August.

A lot of hotels have discounts in August. You can get a twin in the 3* Hotel Relais Bosquet near the Muguet for only 118 euro in August, or the 3* Hotel Beaubourg in the Marais. The 3* Hotel Regent in St Germain has std double rooms for only about 110 euro in August (I don't know if they have twins, though).

Here is a list of August discounts from pariserve.tm.fr, you can see there are a lot of them:
http://www.pariserve.tm.fr/hotel/discount2.htm

I saw most of these promotional rates on www.123france.com and www.pariserve.tm.fr which is where I often look for seasonal discounts, as well as www.parishotels.com (and lists the Clement, which isn't on a lot of hotel sites). I don't think Claude Bernard has its own web site, which is why I gave these.

I know this is just a lot of different info thrown at you and you've already made a reservation, and the Muguet is okay. But that isn't that great a deal in August, as you can see, and I myself would prefer to stay elsewhere. I think your daughters would, also, but I'm sure they'd enjoy the stay in any case.

There is an abundance of young people your daughters age in the 7th because of the American Univ., library and church. Each night they congregate at the Café Marché, Comptoir de la Septieme and the new cafe a couple of doors down right on the Place Ecole Militaire(formerly Le Tourville). There are no discos and the youth assembled there average about 3 less body piercings per capita than the ones jammed around Place St Michel in the Latin Quarter.

I meant to add that Mme Pelletier at the Muguet has 2 beautiful daughters aged 21 and 19, who are both Univ. students in Paris, and would relate well with your daughters as they both speak English.

You all are so helpful on this site.

Gretchen, you are right, it's only three nights but I do tend to obsess about these things. I always do alot of research for my trips and although I had made up my mind about the Hotel Muguet, then as I started reading more about Paris I decided to look into more hotels.

St Cirq- thanks for the suggestions of night life in the 7th. Although I do like an area that is quiet for sleeping, I do like places that stay open a little later.

Christina - Wow, you have some great info. I will check it out. I had already looked at other hotels in the 7th and decided to stay with the Muguet. I did send an e-mail to Le Regent about rates and have faxed the Bonaparte. The end of August does seem to be a good time to negotiate discounts directly with the hotels.

Laidback - Thanks for the info about the 7th. Not really sure if my daughters would want to go to a disco and I am certainly glad to hear about less body piercings, ha ha! My older daughter, however is in Italy right now studying and has already spent weekends hanging out at the squares in Sienna, Florence and Venice. I am sure she would like to find the places that college kids meet and I am sure her younger sister would like to have the chance to go along with her. Thank you for letting me know about Mme Pelletier's daughters. If we decided to stay there perhaps the girls could meet.

I will keep you posted about my search and love any other advice about hotels or places to go.

If someone has recently stayed at the Hotel Claude Bernard comments would be good to have.

According to the current edition (10th ed.) of Great Sleeps Paris, the hotel isn't recommended again by Sandra Gustafson due to lack of hotel maintenance and bad service.

We stayed at Hotel Muguet last July and found it to be a lovely hotel (we had a room with a view of the Tower). As said, the area has some great cafes and restaurants but it doesn't have a buzz. I have daughters your age and would say that the people watching alone would be much better in the 7th without having to commute back to your hotel at the end of a night. Your'e going to have a ball!

Oops, meant to say 6th has more life.

We, too, stayed at the Muguet last March and loved it. Both the hotel (we also had a room with Eiffel Tower view) and its location.
Your daughters being 21 and 17 could easily take the subway or the bus if they want to go to a particular place at night. Or a taxi, of course.

Agree with Mvor that the 6th would be better for the first visit. We stayed at Muguet and loved it but I vote for staying at 6th for a little more action for your daughters.

If you want to confuse matters further yet, look into the Parc St. Severin in the 5th, right in the middle of the action across from the St. Severin church. I recall their rates for a small double being about 115 euros. Clean, with AC, actually fairly charming and definitely in the middle of things.

We stayed at Muguet last summer, and unlike many who "loved" it, we didn't care for it. As for area, the 7th is residential and quiet-too quiet for kids your daughter's age. The 6th is hopping with lots of clubs, cafes, etc.
and just seems more central since you can walk from the islands to the main drags of the 6th. As for the hotel?
Clean, quiet, efficient and a good price. If you like that, its fine.
If you're used to big hotels with large rooms and public areas-Marriotts, Starwoods, Hyatts-a lot of energy, and serice, then you'll find Muguet somewhat of a downer. I didn't like that they didn't allow you to bring in food from rue Cler to eat in their dining area, nor bring food up to your room. The ladies at the front deask, including Catherine Pelletier, are less than welcoming, to say the least. To some, a really good hotel is part of the experience, even though you may not spend a lot of time in the room and its obviously quite a bit more costly. To others, they walk around with Rick Steve's book and go cheap on that temporary residence-I was one of them.
But if you go rarely or only once, go the extra chunk of change since your overall experience will be greater. For Paris, that doesn't mean it had to be Four Seasons (which is unreal), but if you can get a good deal on a 3 or 4 star hotel, in an exciting area, go for it.
Mark

<<The ladies at the front deask, including Catherine Pelletier, are less than welcoming.>> We had a totally different experience. The ladies were most welcoming and hospitable. Maybe you should bear in mind that the French usually are very reserved. So am I (I'm Belgian), maybe that's why it 'clicked'.

What exactly does that mean-"very reserved?" What makes you think I'm not? Doesn't that make you presumptuous and pretentious? Are those European virutes as well?
When staying at the Hotel Muguet, one of the fine benefits is going to rue Cler and sampling the various fine foods. Ms. Pelletier directed my 12 year old daughter to take the wrapped bbq chicken out of the hotel and eat it on a park bench. Welcome to Muguet! Heaven forbid she allow the use of one of the many empty breakfast tables for five minutes. Thats being "reserved" I guess. You always have to turn in your key when you leave the hotel and at least three desk clerks we passed through our three night stay stared at any bags we or anyone else had coming and going at the same time to see who is "sneaking" food into the rooms. We had a triple of the top floor. Nice view of the Eiffel Tower, but one skylight window-very claustrophobic. It also seemed somewhat dangerous in the event of a fire. Thats my four day experience at Muguet. Maybe thats acceptable to you,
but not to me as a cash-paying guest.