Your memories are nice to read about. Yes, I remember heading down the hall to most places where we stayed years ago. Now, I can't imagine not having an ensuite. (Of course, I didn't used to get up in the middle of the night for certain needs, either.)

KTravel, what does "ideally around 100 euros/night" really mean? How far can they stretch: 110€? 115€? I suppose how many nights they plan to stay may factor into the equation.

Cosmos Hotel in the 11th used to be a pretty good choice for an ultra-budget hotel in a central location, but I wonder about late March/early April pricing.

Leely2, I am not sure how high they are willing to go. I think they are going to need to increase their budget at least a bit. I'll let them know about the Cosmos.

There are hostels that offer private rooms. Perhaps that could be an option for them, and a bit of an "adventure" as well.

Not a Paris expert, but I still think one of the Astotel Chain hotels might be really nice for them and close to their budget. I spent months last year researching for convenient, comfortable, and cheap hotels, and Astotel kept popping up. Also, rates would drop as I got closer to my stay, so I held only cancelable rooms. [At Astotel 34B, I ultimately paid 544 euros or (at the time) $117/night with b'fast, on a free cancellation room Sun. 5/5-Fri. 5/10. So, I did NOT have a Fri/Sat night, which likely made a difference. But also, this was May, before the summer Olympics.)]

I looked at the last weekend in March (Fri-Tue), and the rates are lowish. The Joke is ranked #24 of Paris hotels on tripadvisor. Hotel George and Hotel Lorette are very close to the Saint-Georges metro. The 34B was also close to metro and bus stop, but so well located, it was enjoyable to just walk to/from many places. (The Louvre was a 10-15 min walk away, and it's Paris, so lovely walking.) Interested to hear what they find, as I hope to return next year!

Thank you ChgoGal. It's great to hear your enjoyed staying at the 34B. I think those look like excellent options. They are narrowing down their travel dates soon and then will check hotel availability.

FYI, the Saint-Georges Metro is right near rue des Martyrs, one of the great food streets of Paris. An amazing array boulangeries, pattisseries, traitteurs, fromageries, chocolatiers, and markets specializing in fish, meat, truffles, tea, fruits and vegetables. You could have a picnic every day and live like a Parisian.

There is an Ibis Budget at metro Laumière that is usually less than 100 euros. Since it is near the Buttes Chaumont, the Bassin de la Villette and the Parc de la Villette, I consider it to be an excellent location.

Looks like it is 89 euros at the moment.

Ahh, yes, we experienced the Esmeralda several trips ago -- the location was the best as we had huge shuttered windows that opened onro full front view of Notre Dame across the Seine. The lobby was rather interesting, very dark, lots of cats, and had to get to our room by going outside and opening another outer door and racing upstairs hoping the timed lights would not go out before getting there. It was quite huge with large tubbed bathroom, a kitchen and a bedroom with ancient stone wall behind the bed. We'll have to walk around behind Shakespeare & Co and check if still there when we arrive in few weeks. But DH reminds me to this day that I picked it. Ahh. We were young.

I note that in my favorite Paris guidebook, The Collected Traveler, Hotel Chopin and des Grand Ecoles are mentioned as budget choices, the Grand Ecole being in the 5th, Chopin in 9th, also des Grand Hommes in 5th, and St. Thomas d'Acquin in 7th.

Hotel des Grandes Ecoles is no longer a secret and no longer cheap. Sounds like old info, though everythting is relative...

Thank you for all of the suggestions. They have found an apartment in the 17th that they are happy with. It looks adequate (no charm but gets good reviews and walking distance to the Metro.) Merci!

It would be quite difficult inside the Paris city limits to find any address that is not easy "walking distance" to the metro.