I've been to Paris before, but I am planning to go back in October combined with a week in the French Riviera. I would appreciate any information on the following hotels: <BR> <BR>Hotel Le Regent on Rue Dauphine in the 6th Arr. <BR>Regents Hotel on Rue Madame in the 6th Arr. <BR>Hotel Familia on Rue des Ecoles in the 5th Arr. <BR> <BR>I am especially interested to hear from those who have actually stayed at any of these places and can give an opinion on personal experience. Give me the good, the bad, and the ugly! I do hope there is mostly good. <BR> <BR>Thank you in advance. <BR>Michele <BR> <BR>

You will find lots and lots of positive feedback on this forum about the Familia. I have stayed there 4 times and have always been comfortable. Clean rooms albeit small, some with balconies, private updated modern baths. Eric Gaucheron, the owner, also owns the Minerve next door. We stayed there this past trip and actually liked it better. It is a larger hotel, with a large lobby and breakfast room as opposed to the rather cramped breakfast room at the Familia.

I've had no personal experience with them but people who have stayed there said: <BR>Le Regent (3 star left bank)- <BR>Loved it and I'm very picky <BR>Very friendly staff <BR>great location <BR>absolutely wonderful <BR>on a charming sidestreet. <BR>rooms are very clean and beautifully decorated <BR>amenities were excellent <BR>rooms are small but nicely decorated <BR>nicely appointed <BR>It was immaculate. <BR>desk staff not particularly friendly or helpful. <BR>enjoyed it very much. <BR>rooms were decorated nicely <BR>bathrooms were very nice, sparkling clean <BR>Nice staff <BR>plain and miniscule rooms <BR>NOTE: elevator starts from one flight up, not from ground floor <BR> <BR>Regent's Hotel (2 star left bank)- <BR>close to Jardin de Luxembourg <BR>perfectly nice rooms and baths <BR>remodelled and very pretty <BR>enjoyed staying here <BR>clean hotel <BR>friendly staff <BR> <BR>Hotel Familia (2 star left bank)- <BR>friendly, cheerful, convenient - not luxury or fancy <BR>good if you seek simple surroundings, comfort, friendliness and convenience <BR>our room was tiny - the manager very unaccomodating <BR>For a hospitality business, the attitude was not helpful <BR>no help from the management <BR>pleased with the value <BR>room was small <BR>would not stay here twice. <BR>rooms and hotel in itself were not too attracrive <BR>desk clerks were very friendly and helpful <BR>walls were EXTREMELY thin - heard conversations, snoring <BR>small room sweetly decorated and very clean. <BR>The service was excellent

We've stayed at Hotel le Regent several times. It's a good location, the staff is helpful and pleasant, and the rooms are decent. They have smaller rooms & larger rooms; we've stayed in the smaller. The smaller rooms aren't as small as we expected; I would say average for a Parisien hotel. We elected for our next trip to stay in one of their smaller rooms, on the theory of how much time do we spend in our room anyway - and spend that extra money on restaurants! I don't remember the rate, but I remember thinking it was a bargain for a hotel like that in Paris. <BR> <BR>We've never had breakfast there; we always go to a nearby cafe & people-watch as we eat.

Thanks for the info thus far. I am not one who likes to hear others snoring, talking, etc. through the walls at a hotel when I am trying to sleep. I have no problem with small hotels and all of these have been given the o.k. by many people, but the Familia has been given a lot of positive feedback. My only reservation would be the noise factor. Can anyone tell me if it is as bad as some have mentioned? For the price, I have heard only good things about this place. The others sound great too, but we were trying to spend a little less this time. <BR>Thank you.

Lori: I pulled up the Minerve on the web and it looks nice. There are actually two sets of photos and one set looks much nicer than the other. I am hoping that is the remodeled version. The breakfast sounds pretty good too. All I really like is cereal, breads, and coffee anyway. I can't believe how cheap the prices are on both this and the Familia. You seem to like this one better. Any tips you can give on your stay there? Thanks.

Michele <BR>All 3 hotels you mention have been commmented on many times here in the past--for complete feedback you could do a search on each one <BR>Le Regent has been especially praised and it may be a star above the Familia. The Familia has also been praised but I believe it is a simpler hotel. I can vouch for the location of le Regent because I stayed down the street at the d'Aubusson. <BR>Many cafes, rue de Buci just around the corner for buying cheese, fruit, even <BR>roasted chickens for a picnic even one in your hotel room <BR>5-7 minute walk to Odeon or St Michel metro stops. 20 minute walk to Notre Dame, perhaps 30 minutes to the Louvre. <BR>Rue Dauphine is a narrow street but leads directly to Pont Neuf. I only heard traffic noise (horns, actually) <BR>on a couple of weekday mornings. <BR>On weekends it was dead quiet. <BR> <BR>I also recall seeing at least one negative comment on the Regents Hotel on this forum. It may have been one isolated complaint, can't say.

Michelle, while I cannot say that I ever heard anyone snoring at the Familia, it, like many other small hotels can be a bit noisy. the constant slamming of doors at all hours is most annoying, but I find that at all small hotels. What can you do? The thing I like about the Minerve is that the elevator and the stairs are kind of separated from the rooms by two doors, you get off at your floor and have to go through a door to get to the rooms. I felt that this cut down on the noise considerably. In addition, to contradict Fred, I have always found management at both hotels to be extremely helpful, from making dinner reservations, concert reservations, getting taxis, and general information etc. I believe that Eric has recently redone alot of the Minerve, so it is possible that the photos on the website are a bit old. I haven't looked at them.