Isn't there one great Paris hotel for under $200?
 

My boyfriend and I are headed to Europe in October and will be in Paris for 3 nights for our one-year anniversary.

I spent a month in Paris last year, but he's never been there, so I really want to show him a great time. The problem is, I can't seem to find that perfect (affordable) hotel or B&B (or apartment, if they'll rent for just 3 nights).

Here are some parameters:

BUDGET: Ideal: $150/night. Okay: $200/night. Must be very special: $225ish/night.

LOCATION: Ideally the 5th, the islands or Montmartre, but if it's something REALLY special, location doesn't matter (e.g. "there's a great place right over the canals!").

IDEAL FEATURES:
A view (courtyard, canal, river, pretty church, Eiffel tower, all of Paris, etc.)

Not too small (my bf is 6')

Not too frilly (considered Hotel des Grandes Ecoles, but didn't like bad reviews and rampant lace)

Style and character. No generic chain hotels, bland spartan rooms, or places trying too hard to be "romantic." How can some of Paris' cafes be so magical, yet the hotels so faded and bland? If Amelie could rent me her apartment, that would be great.

Maybe I'm looking for the impossible, but I feel like there must be at least one interesting new (and affordable) place for a couple to stay?

Have a look at Hotel des Deux-Iles or Hotel Lutece, both on Ile St Louis. Old mansions converted to hotels, great location on main street, quiet at night,easy walk to Left bank, Right bank, Notre Dame, one block to walk along Seine. You will feel a bit more of a neighbourhood vibe. Nice shops and restos nearby.Rooms can be small though.

I also stayed at Hotel Le Notre Dame, Left Bank, in the loft. Our window overlooked Notre Dame and the Seine. We watched sunrises over the Cathedral.

Hi Michel_Paris,

I benefited from your advice during my last trip! :-)

Those are perfect suggestions (especially the Lutece and Hotel le Notre Dame, which I think I spotted in another of your earlier threads), but they're all sadly out of our budget.

The Hotel des Deux-Iles and Hotel Lutece are both $300/night for a double, and the Hotel Le Notre Dame is $313. (I think our president owes me a hotel refund.)

Did you look at the Hotel College de France? My sister and I loved this location and the hotel when we were there in April, and if I remember correctly, it was under $200.

I knew they would be a bit $$$ but these are ones I was a bit familiar with.

The other hotel on the island is the St Louis, at 140 euro a night for a double.

I've been going 'basic' with my hotels the last couple of trips.

The Hotel Familia is in the 5th and meets your budget.

It's not luxury by any means but comes close to meeting your other requirements.

If you want a place that is modern, bright, clean with an elevator and walking distance to nearly everything, you might consider Hotel Andrea Rivoli in the Marais. We've been to Paris five times and this is one of the best located places you can find -- on a quiet street but close to wonderful resetaurants, etc.

http://www.leshoteliersdeparis.com/H...a-Rivoli.htmlO

It's near the top of your budget for a double, but:

http://www.selecthotel.fr/fr_content/hotel.php

Argh. the web address didn't copy

http://www.leshoteliersdeparis.com/H...ea-Rivoli.html

I meant to include links for the Hotel Familia:

www.familiahotel.com
www.hotel-paris-familia.com

Maybe something in here will work for you

http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-dyn/c...060400600.html

Thank you all for the suggestions so far (some of which I'd seen on previous posts)!

Michel - I'm SO with you on the "basic" thing. We're normally basic travelers, but I was really hoping for something special on this particular visit to Paris.

Some responses (though keep in mind that ALL of these would be more than perfect were it not for the occasion);

Hotel College de France - A bit basic, but I'm attracted by the "superior" room for its balcony and incredible price!

St Louis - the price is right, but it's no Lutece, sadly.

Hotel Familia - I've seen a lot of posts on this... I like it a lot for future trips, but it's just lacking a bit of charm for this one.

Hotel Andrea Rivoli - I like the Marais, too, but I've just never found a hotel there that knocked me off my feet.


http://www.selecthotel.fr/fr_content/hotel.php - tres chic! At $284/night, it might be out of our price range, but I really like it.

I wish I could articulate that certain je ne sais quoi that makes for a great hotel. I've seen it in budget hotels like Amsterdam's Hotel Brouwer and luxury hotels like Minneapolis' Chambers Hotel. But there are some great options here, thank you.

(By the way, I think I've come to the conclusion that we should all pool our money and open a new hotel in Paris.)

Take a look at the Hôtel Duquesne-Eiffel.

Have a look at Hotel Langlois. We really enjoyed staying there, especially for the enormous room. It's very convenient to Montmartre.

More ideas!

StCirq, Hôtel Duquesne-Eiffel has some incredible views, but it looks like the price for that view is $317/night... too much for us, sadly.

djkbooks - that's a possibility! I definitely like the size of the rooms.

Have any of you heard of the Bonne Nuit Paris B&B (http://www.bonne-nuit-paris.com)?

I just found it on a Times article on unique Paris hotels (http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/...cle3284049.ece) and it looks very interesting. Apparently one of the rooms looks out over a courtyard, but I can't figure out how big that courtyard is.

I think you will have to make this trip a mission to find the perfect Paris hotel. We all look forward to your report.

I accept that mission. I might not get any work done between now and October, but I accept it.

I had a very similar quandry when searching for hotels in october.
We settled on the Grandes Ecoles, but I'm traveling with my mother, so the floral wallpaper should be ok. ;-) Don't remember reading too many bad reviews though.
We're also staying at the Hotel Beaubourg, you might want to check that one out. it's in a very central location right down the street from the Pompidou.
http://www.beaubourg-paris-hotel.com/.

For October, you should find and book somthing ASAP, that you can cancel if you'd like to keep looking.

Otherwise, your options will be further limited by availability.

We also appreciated having a good sized (empty) refrigerator at Hotel Langlois.

Note also, when booking Hotel Langlois, confirmation e-mail indicated that could not be guaranteed, but we did get a room with a view of Sacre Coeur.

I agree with booking NOW. I found availability to be severely limited already (for 1st week in Oct).

How about the Hotel du Lys, rue Serpente, in the 6th, just 2 min. away from Blvd. St. Michel, so very near the 5th. Not luxurious but quaint. Good value for the money, IMO. www.hoteldulys.com

You can see candid photos and reviews at Tripadvisor...

(I think your budget is kinda low for all those criteria you've given).

Hotel Mayet
http://www.mayet.com/ (Invalides/St Germain)
130/140 euro, includes complimentary breakfast

Hotel Acte V (Arenes)
http://www.hotel-actev.com/?myref=adw
135-150 euro (not incl breakfast)

Grand Hotel Jeanne d'Arc (Marais)
http://www.hoteljeannedarc.com
89 euro (not incl breakfast)

Good, probably; great, no, given your price range.

Hi slangevar,
My husband and I stayed at Hotel Ferrandi on the Rue du Cherche Midi ([email protected]). You can get a room in your price range. The street is very close to St. Germain de Pres and Montparnasse and had good shopping and restaurants.
I would have to call it quirky but it was clean and we loved the neighborhood. Near Vaneau metro (ask about local cut through!)
Yes, please share how it all works out! TD

I stayed a long time ago at the Hotel de la Bretonnerie in the Marais. A quick glance at the reviews on Trip Advisor seem really good.

I remember the locationas being good and the room we had was timbered. While a bit of a walk (15 mins), the idea of taking morning coffee at Place des Vosges has some allure.

Hotel Familia 11 Rue Des Ecoles, 5th www.hotel-paris-familia.com
or the sister hotel
Hotel Minverve 13 Rue des Ecoles, 5th www.hotel-paris-minverve.com.
both should fit your criteria.

I've stayed at Hotel Langlois, but am not sure it fits your criteria, which I think are too picky for your budget. It has no view, for one thing, and is not upscale, and isn't in the area you want. I really liked it, but I didn't have those criteria.

You want too much for 100 euro a night, expecting some special great hotel for that budget, with views, large rooms, etc. October is the peak hotel rate season, also.

Thank you all so much! Such great ideas.

I do keep hearing a lot about the Familia and Hotel des Grandes Ecoles. If you had to pick between them, which would you choose?

Travelnut, totally agree that my criteria is high for my budget, but I've found the impossible before! Btw, the Hotel Mayet looks very interesting... have you stayed there? We love art, so anything with a bit of stylistic adventure is perfect.

No, even that price is too much for me. But I recalled the style and thought it might appeal to you.

Hotel de Varenne in the 7th (near the Musee Rodin) has internet specials starting at 125 Euros for a standard double with shower.

We stayed here for seven nights during December 2006 and liked it and the location.

((H))

The problem is a) the best places have been overexposed in travel magazines/articles and on travel forums, and b) prices keep going up while the exchange rate keeps going down.

And, you always have a much greater selection farther in advance, especially for busy months. Year before last, I got an amazingly low web special rate at one of the Best Westerns, and last year we stayed at the Hilton Paris for $110/night with Hotwire. Great hotels, spacious rooms, well enough located, and for the rates I didn't care about the rest. But, the Best Western had a lovely rooftop terrace/garden, and our room at the Hilton Paris overlooked a nice garden.

I agree, djkbooks... it feels like the guidebooks (and a lot of forums, for that matter) all push the same hotels, and some of those hotels have become a bit lazy because of it.

Someone in another thread mentioned that they like to find hotels on the tourist info. sites of their destination cities, because they often had smaller, more affordable gems that hadn't made it into the books. I remember finding a great B&B in San Sebastian that way once (one that hadn't yet been reviewed on TripAdvisor).

Fodors should put together a Zagat-type guide of places like that.

MY last tripp I stayed at a hotel in the 16th, far from the tourist crowds, with what look like a mostly business clientele. I found it on Travelocity, and picked it mostly for price. It was a 3 stra hotel and was a nice, comfortable location. I could walk two blocks and have a view of the Eiffel tower. Two blocks in the other direction was 'my' cafe, where I would go every morning for my coffee, croissant, and OJ, read newspaper and plan my day. And the metro stop was 10' from the cafe.

No crowds, local restaurants and shops were frequented by Parisians.

So...maybe,like you said, it is a matter of finding the hotels that are not discovered... perhaps further away from the 4-7th arrs.

You compromise on travel time, but you could get a lower cost gem (not that I would have classifed mine as such, more 'functional')

I would suggest Holiday Inn Saint Germain des Pres - E 120 for double room(no breakfast0-but across the road you have nice and cheap places to have lovely breakfasts. Try the hotel through google.I stayed there 2 years ago, and I am coming back now in July. I found it perfect.

Hotel Clement in the 6th...at 6,rue Clement. I've stayed there for years. One block south of Blvd. St.Germain and a half a block west of rue de Seine...on the Marche St. Germain. Happy Travels!

Hotel Muguet

double room 135 euros
double superior room with view 190 euros

The view is of the Eiffel Tower. I've stayed here twice, getting a regular single room once and a regular double room the second time. Both times, we had a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower through our window. Watching it sparkle at night was magical.

Maybe one of these hotels might appeal to you:

http://tinyurl.com/48cl9z

That is a link to a UK newspaper's compilation of 10 Paris hotels in your price range (calling them budget hotels seems to stretch my definition, though!).

I've been checking into hotels for my own trip in Nov - have you looked at the Grand Hotel des Balcons?

We stayed at the Claude Bernard two years ago and loved it. You'd want to specify a larger double there because i know they have tiny and on up in size. It had a wonderful breakfast and really nice staff when we were there. they also have an internet promotion now which starts at 98 E and up for a double and includes the breakfast, but I would email them to discuss the room size first. I wrote a review on Tripadvisor back in 2006 (I think) with pictures if you want to look for it. My kids' triple room had a distant (very!) view of Sacre Coeur.

I love to try new places when i go to Paris, but keep coming back to this one.

Oops - What I meant to say is that I keep thinking of going back to the Claude Bernard - I've only been there once!