mauitammy

I am feeling overwhelmed. By reading the Rick Steves book I thought we wanted to stay in the Rue Cler area, but I think it is going to be too quiet at night for us. We don't want party all night scene, but some atmosphere and activity would be nice.

My husband, teenage son and I will be in Paris from July 1 for 5 nights. This is our first visit there. We want a charming and central area with good restaurants and safe to walk around at night. We want the hotel to be clean, safe, nice staff, air conditioned with private bath, triple room. We speak only a little French.

For example, last summer in Rome we stayed in the Piazza Navona/campo fiori area and loved it as it was fun to get out and walk around at night and eat in cafes, drink good wine, people watch and just soak up the awesome Rome atmosphere. We loved being able to walk to almost everywhere we wanted to see.

Hotels I have looked at have been Relais Bosquet in Rue Cler, Observatoire Luxembourg in Latin Quarter. I read that St. Germain is supposed to be good, but can't find specific hotels people recommend there, but they seem to like the restaurants in the area and the location.

I do not have a specific dollar amount I want to spend. I will spend whatever I need to in order to have a really nice place to stay, but don't really want to spend $500 a night.

Everything is starting to sound the same and I am getting very confused. Suggestions on specific hotels that sound like what we are looking for would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

sandi_travelnut

My husband, teenage son and I stayed in a triple for 4 nights at Hotel Henri IV Rive Gauche. The price is not even close to what you've mentioned but it's a lovely hotel, 1 block from the Seine. We had plenty of room to move around.

http://www.henri-paris-hotel.com/

Rich

You might want to think about the 6th . . a little more livelym but not so much so to be a negative.

We like the Flurie . . http://www.hotel-de-fleurie.tm.fr

It's a half block of St Germaine at Odion Metro . . so easy to get arrund. Efficient staff . . decent rooms

Rich

ira

Hi M,

We always stay at the Hotel Bonaparte, 61 Rue Bonaparte in the 6th. They have triples. It is located near 3 metro stops. Has AC and an elevator.

Tel 33 1 43 26 97 37
FAX 33 1 46 33 57 67
www.hotelbonaparte.fr

For more info, enter "Hotel Bonaparte" in the "search this forum" box.

Photos are at http://tinyurl.com/ludgd

mauitammy

Sandi Travelnut,
Did you like the location of the Henri IV Rive Gauche? That was another one on my list, but I wasn't sure about the location. Were there good restaurants to go to in the evening and nice to walk around? Thanks!

Rich, I am off to check out the Flurie. Thank you for the suggestion!

Ira, thank you. I will check the Bonaparte out! I always loved your advice about Italy so really appreciate your help with Paris.

Thanks again everyone for your kindness in helping me.

cmeyer54

We stayed with our two teens in the 6th at the Claude Bernard. It has a/c, lift, good location (near several metro stops, pantheon, sorbonne, 1 block to the Seine, etc). Safe to walk and with the sorbonne nearby, there were a good number of young people with restaurants, bars, etc. The desk staff was very good, spoke good english and were very helpful.

sandi_travelnut

The location is lively without being noisy. It's on the edge of an area with more touristy Greek restaurants but always walking or cab distance to any great place to eat. It is in an exceptional location to the Seine, Notre Dame etc. We really enjoyed it. It's also directly across the street from St. Severin church.

Travelnut

I am sure if you enter "triple" and "triples" into the forum search, you will get some threads with hotel recs.

Rastaguytoday

The difficulty in your comment is $500 a night. What do you want to spend? Stay in the 6th Arrondisement, it has decent restaurants, great patisseries and is close to most everything in the city via Metro. Try google.fr and search from there. On purpose, my last trip to Paris was near the Seine as I only had a weekend. My business traveling partner and I were in walking distance from Musee d' Orsay, St. Chapelle and Notre Dame. It was an easy walk to the ATMs on St. Germain. One can find simple foods to 1* restaurants in the area. A 20 minute walk will get you to Tour d' Argent, where your $500 will come in handy.

chevre

The Hotel Bonaparte is well located and gets good reviews though I've never stayed there. I have stayed at the Relais Bosquet and really liked it. I'm also partial to the 7th, but would agree it is quiet at night. I agree with other posters that the 6th sounds like the area for you and your family

ira

Happy to help, M.

Margaretlb

For our first Paris visit in 1999, we stayed at the Claude Bernard on Rrue des Ecoles (actually 5th not 6th arr.).We loved the location which was great for a first visit. Caveat: the hotel fronts a main bus and truck delivery route so both noisy and alot of diesel smell. The next visit we stayed at Hotel Dauphin Saint Germaine on Rue Dauphin in the 6th arr. Great location for cafe sitting, restaurants and shopping and close to many sightseeing venues. Ira highly recommends Hotel Bonaparte and their location in the 6th is a great spot for a first visit and an area that you wouldn't hesitate to let your teenager go out and about on his own. IMHO, you should definitely look to stay in the 6th but the 5th is a good second choice. The 7th may be a bit too quite at night.

kerouac

Interesting to read all of this, as, unless I am mistaken, every single comment is about hotels on the Left Bank. The great majority of tourists in Paris (perhaps not Americans) stay on the Right Bank.

I have perhaps lived in Paris too long to look at it through a tourist's eyes, but if I wanted to stay in a tourist hotel in Paris, I would probably either stay in Montmartre (probably on rue des Abbesses or within 50 meters of it) or else in the Opéra-Grands Boulevards area (which is where the great majority of the hotels in Paris are found).

Travelnut

I think that package deals offer up more Right Bank hotels than they do Left Bank ones... and that may correlate to my impression that there are more chain hotels on the Right Bank.

WillTravel

We stayed in the Opéra-Grands Boulevards area recently and liked it. Some of the hotels in the area are chains (which I don't mind at all), but I think less than 50%.

mauitammy

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I am contacting hotels mentioned for rates and availability. I really appreciate your kindness in helping us.

sherm99

My wife and I stayed at the Marriott on the Champs. We used points for a week. Next to metro and very lively all day and night. Hotel rooms are very quiet though. Enjoy Paris, once you go, you will always want to go back.

fakemark

If you haven't already booked I'll say something positive about RS's Rue Cler recommendation. It's true the area around the hotels isn't super-lively at night. But the great thing about it is that it is a short walk from the Champs du Mars. It may be too touristy for some, but I think the Champs du Mars is one of the best night areas during the summer. Bring a bottle of wine and a blanket to sit on. There are tons of people - even some locals.

plafield

After looking at "triples" all over Paris, I stayed with my 2 daughters at Hotel Residence Henry IV. This is not the Henry IV Rive Gauche but a hotel that has "apartments." It was fantastic. We had 2 large rooms and a big bathroom, a tiny kitchenette w/ a mini fridge, a couple of burners and a sink. I'd think with a teenage son, he'd want a bit of space, as opposed to a cot in the same room with you. The location was great, a five minute walk to Notre Dame, great boulangeires, and lots of night life, but very quiet since it was at the end of a street across from a small park.
Here's a link to their website:
http://www.residencehenry4.com/rooms.html
Have a great time

Michel_Paris

Hi mauitammy,
I'll throw out couple of names, with triples.

I stayed at the Hotel Le Notre Dame on the Left Bank. We rented in the rooftop loft, which had a double bed and a single in the room's loft. The view out of the window was of the Seine and the front of Notre Dame. Traffic noise was not an issue. You are steps from the RER to CDG, and of course 5 minutes from Notre Dame /St Chapelle, 10 mins from Vedettes du Pont Neuf Seine tour boats, 10 mins blvd St Germain,Ile St Louis, etc...

http://www.paris-hotel-notredame.com/

The next one is on Ile St Louis, the island next to Ile de la Cite (where Notre Dame is located) The hotel Lutece is located on the main street, which is a very nice "slice of neighbourhood" street, with a shops for cheese, wine, chocolate, olive oil, world famous Berthillon ice cream, gifts (e.g. Pylone). Also many good restaurants and brasseries on this island. There are regular concerts at the church on the island. At night the street is quite quiet, with little traffic (not a street that is used to get from left to right bank). It has easy access to Right Bank/Marais, Left Bank, Notre Dame, Metro is just across on Right Bank, and the same RER station I was talking about above is 10-15 mins away. I recommend this one.

http://www.paris-hotel-lutece.com/


Mike