How is the neighborhood around Hotel La Familia?
 

My 18 year old daughter and I are looking for a budget hotel for mid-June. La Familia has a twin room for 119 euro. I've read the rooms and bath are small, but we can live with that. I was wondering what sort of neighborhood it was in, and if we can walk to a lot of the sites. Grand Hotel des Balcons also has a room in the same price range so if you have any comments on that hotel, I'd love to hear them. Thanks!

It is near the Sorbonne.

Suki, could you please tell use EXACTLY where the hotel is.

I hate when people ask about a hotel but don't tell us where the hotel is located, as if we are supposed to know every hotel in Paris.

I stayed at Hotel College de France on Rue Thenard in the 5th. This hotel is around the corner from the Sorbonne on Rue de Ecoles.

If your hotel is in this nabe, it is in a good location.

Thin

The Hotel Familia is in the 5th and it is great location on Rue des Ecoles. I just stayed there with my family last week and would recommend it highly. It is comfortable, clean and friendly. One block from St Germaine - a couple of blocks to the Seine and Notre Dame and St Michel. We stayed on the ground floor and it was a nice quiet area. Good food shops and bakeries in the neighborhood and the daily market around the corner at the square was lovely.

Sorry, thin. I guess I anticipated that people who had stayed there would respond, and of course, would know where it is. But others with a good knowledge of Paris could respond. I overlooked that fact.

Thanks, 4totravel. Is it a busy, well-lit neighborhood for 2 women coming home after dinner?

I've stayed there as well. Very nice, and the neighborhood should be fine to walk through in the evening.

T

The location is super..The last time that I was in Paris with my daughter and grandaughter, stayed at the "Hotel Des Grandes Ecoles". located in the Latin Quarter,near the famous Rue de Mouffettard.

Here is the websites..
http://www.europe.org/paris/hotel-de...les/index.html

Yes, safety should not be an issue - I always felt safe - walking alone or with my little (well I guess not so little anymore - to me always) kids. It really is a nice little neighborhood, good restaurants around the area too. Busy but not loud, central location with easy metro stations around.

We actually left Paris in the middle of the week and returned and spent the last part of the week in the 8th and I preferred the La Familia neighborhood.

I am absolutely shocked that you have had no input from MomDDTravel. Isn't she a Fodorite friend of yours? She recently stayed on the Rue des Ecoles whilst in Paris.

The neighbourhood is definitely safe. There is a Monoprix (I think it only sells to-go food and not groceries like other Monoprix stores) and a Starbucks on Rue Blvd. St. Michel.

You can get the Metro at Maubert Mutualitie or Cluny.

A stroll up Blvd. St. Germaine with take you to Deux Maggots and Flore. Down Rue Bonaparte and you will find Laduree.

A short stroll to Luxembourg Gardens and St. Sulpice.

There are lots of cafes in the area, especially around the Pantheon.

Thin

A lot of people would kill to be in that neighborhood.

I certainly wouldn't, but most tourists love it. It is a total tourist area.

We stayed just a couple of blocks from La Familia a few years ago when our kids were 11 and 13, and absolutely LOVED the neighborhood. Great for walking everywhere, wonderful food markets (not a big outdoor market, just markets - butcher, baker, etc.), good restaurants, a laundromat if you need it, ice cream, everything. I'd definitely stay in that neighborhood again.

But, Suki is a tourist, so what is your point?????

Thin

PS Are the students at the Sorbonne tourists, too? What about the people who live in that neighbourhood?

You are ridiculous, kerouac.

Thin

We didn't think it was a total tourist neighborhood at all. There were no tourists in the laundromat around the corner from our hotel, at the musical instrument store a half-block away or, for that matter, in the markets to which I referred above. Maybe there were some tourists getting ice cream at the corner.

Great information. Thank you. I will ask MomDD about her apartment stay as well.

I stayed at the Familia with my daughter a few years ago and loved the neighborhood. It is very close to the (ugly but you don't have to look at it) Jussieu campus of the University of Paris (closer than the Sorbonne), so is filled with students. Lots of reasonably priced ethnic restaurants as a result.

The excellent Kayser bakery on Rue Monge is just around the corner, with lines of people out the door Sunday morning after coming out of the church across the street. Several days a week there is an outdoor market at Place Maubert, just a couple of blocks away.

I also stayed with a friend at Hotel des Grands Balcons a couple of years before that. I really liked that neighborhood also. It is a bit more upscale than the neighborhood around the Familia. It is also on a much more quiet street, if noise is an issue. The room was a little bit larger and nicer as well, but neither hotel is luxurious. The Jardin du Luxembourg is very close, which is a nice perk.

It is probably a bit easier to walk to many of the tourist sites from the Hotel des Grand Balcons, but that is only a small factor. I would say both are convenient, and the Familia is very close to good metro and bus connections.

Grand Hotel des Balcons. Waiting patiently for an edit function.

I stayed at the Familia with an old boyfriend about five years ago. It was very clean and we thought the size of our room and the bathroom were fine (and we were in one of the very smallest, cheapest rooms in the hotel)

The area was perfectly safe day and night. It's a fairly busy street but a busy street is safer for women than a quite, deserted one. You could always request a room facing the back courtyard instead of the street, although I think the windows have double-glazing. Our room faced the back so I'm not sure if noise is an issue or not.

Very easy walk to Notre Dame. More than one metro nearby. Plenty of amenities. The few restaurants on the street (except for the corner cafes) were the most part filled with university students and I remember being quite taken with them because they seemed far more mature and serious than North American students.

We stayed at La Familia in September and thought the room and neighbourhood were fine. The bathroom was quite modern and we appreciated the plasma tv. We did not enjoy breakfast in the much too crowed lobby though.

Last time in Paris (Sept. '08) I stayed on Rue St. Andre des arts in the 6th. Less than 100 meters from the flat was an ecole maternelle, so someone must be living around there as those weren't tourists waiting for the little kiddies to be let out every afternoon. Granted, many tourists but also students, shop owners, residents, etc. One reason why I love that area.

Haha, you people get so upset if a place you like is called a tourist neighborhood. You must really hate tourists.

I work in the Champs Elysées area and there are schools and bakeries there, too, so I guess that qualifies it as a nice normal neighborhood.

We stayed there a number of years ago. One of our favorite activities is to collect food during the day and have a feast in the hotel room for dinner. The rooms at La Familia are so small we could only have an appetizer.

Wonderful neighborhood. Have you checked into ira's favorite hotel not too far away?

LOL Adu! :-)

I did look at Hotel Bonaparte, and I know that we are spoiled but since they didn't have WiFi, and the twin rooms were 159 Euro per night (more expensive than some other hotels in the 5th,) I crossed them off the list. I've reserved a twin room at Hotel Claude Bernard at 43 Rue des Ecoles for an average of 139 E a night. It puts us right in the heart of the 5th (I think)& the rooms are larger than at La Familia and it has AC. I think I was misled by one of the booking sites into thinking there was WiFi although I know internet access is available. I'll have to write to the hotel and find out for sure. Thanks, everyone for your input.

Adu, I see you were using your award-winning ability to write one-liners. Thanks for the laugh.

When you come out of la Familia, turn right and right again. Small restaurant called Alexis & Daniel. Great food and atmosphere.

DH and I have stayed at the Familia and it's sister hotel next door the Minerve many many times. It is a great area, walking distance to all, never felt unsafe even late at night. It's our favorite area of Paris, perhaps because we tend to always stay in the 5th and are very familiar with it. The Beer Academy on the corner is a great place to mingle with students and have an afternoon cocktail. Interesting to hear that Alexis and Daniel was good. Dh and I ate there a few years ago and it was quite simply the worst meal I ever had. Food was cold, wine from a box......

<i>Dh and I ate there a few years ago and it was quite simply the worst meal I ever had. Food was cold, wine from a box......</i>

But I thought there was no bad food in Paris :-)

Suki~If you are still looking...We stayed at Hotel Caron de Beaumarchais(more $4 but not much more) and loved it. We are two women who walk the streets of Paris with some familiarity.
All that being said, the hotel was small, well appointed and we felt immensely safe. It is in the Marais.

whoops that was supposed to read "more $$". If there is a way for you to get in touch via e mail(g mail account or the like) let me know. I have more Paris suggestions.
Pam

The neighborhood is wonderful and very accessible. I have lived there. I have never stayed at the Familia, but I did spend three weeks between apartments at their sister hotel, Minerve. They have both gotten great reviews, but I was completely underwhelmed.

sf7307 - Oh it is possible to have bad food in paris....

RE: Alex & Daniel... Each to his own I guess. We have had nothing but good meals there, but then again we didn't order wine in a box.

Don't know anything about the neighborhood, never been to Paris...just wanted to say...Have a GREAT TIME!

ty

Thanks ty! I plan to.

Pam, thanks for the offer. You can reach me at sukipa at comcast dot net.