lodging bargain in Paris??
 

I am looking for a bargain lodging in Paris. Easy access to public transportation a must. Anyone got any favorites to recommend??

check on VRBO.com for studio apartments in whatever arrondisement you desire.

No one can really make useful recommendations w/o knowing your budget. "bargain" means different things to different people . . . .

Looking for low cost, basic 2 bed twin room. Under $100/night if possible. Considering October or Dec.

do a search here for 'Paris Hotel'. You will find much information to answer your question.

i stayed at the timhotel palais royal for a little over that with breakfast off season.

i found it at www.gtahotels.com cheaper than their own website.

The Hôtel de France on the Blvd. de la Tour Maubourg in the 7ème has doubles for around 75-80 euro. It does not have AC, though, if that's important to you.

So that's about 75€ for a twin...

I don't offer these from personal experience,just from staying on this and other forums a lot.

http://www.andre-latin-paris-hotel.com
Special offer for 3+ nights (74€)

http://www.hotel-sunny.com/ (83€)

www.hoteljulescesar.com/ (68-80€)

Hi BQ,

Also www.france-hotel-guide.com/h75012lux.htm

For basic and cheap rooms, check out the Formule 1 web site.

formule one??????????????
can´t think of a worse way to start my day.

i feared for my life at one in alicante.. unattended at night, and i was travelling alone. Actually went out to sleep in the car, after paying, but it was cold so went back inside.

a colleague "recommended it".

boy did she get a phonecall.

if you forget your purse in the room when you go down the hall to pee, and you don´t have the paper slip with your room code on it.. tough luck.

been there ..ALMOST did that.

please look for alternatives. it might be o.k.in the countryside near a highway to rest your head for a few hours on a long driving trip..

but in paris? if you can afford to get to paris, you can afford to stay OUT of formule 1.

Barring special events that crank up room rates, your budget is quite doable.
Sites to look at:
http://www.accorhotels.com
http://www.fastbooking.com
http://www.ratestogo.com
http://www.hrs.de
http://www.bestwestern.com
http://www.flyhotel.com
http://www.hotels.de
http://www.booking.com
http://www.eurocheapo.com/Paris

One hotel I've seen recommended frequently here is Hotel Cosmos in the 11th arrondisement.

I can't think of a good reason to stay at a Formule 1 in this case - none near Paris are conveniently located nor in an attractive area. If it really were that desperate, I would recommend a hostel.

Hotel Résidence Les Gobelins is an excellent budget hotel in a wonderful area. They have twins for 87 euros.
http://www.hotelgobelins.com/

In September I will be staying at the Hotel Pacific, a 2-star in a great area with very good transportation options. Quite decent reviews on tripadvisor.com. The standard price of a twin is 70 euros.
http://www.paris-hotel-pacific.com/

I would also try to check the Hotel d'Espagne. It's a nice 2-star in a great neighbourhood. Their normal price is quite higher than your budget but they often have special offers. I stayed there last month for 65 euros for a single and would gladly go back.
http://tinyurl.com/2xglpz

We tend to visit Paris in the off-season (October through April)and are able to get rooms at considerable discounts - compared to the rack rates.

Our favorite bargain hotel is the Citadines - Place d'Italie. We have paid as little as 65 Euros a night but usually pay around 80 Euros for a twin room with a kitchenette. The accomodations include a small living area with a couch (that becomes twin beds or a queen bed), a television with two English channels (BBC and CNN), a CD player, a desk, coffee table, and two chairs. The kitchenette includes a small refrigerator (with freezer compartment), stove top with two burners, microwave oven, dishwasher, toaster, french press coffee-maker, plates, bowls, glasses, utensils, corkscrew, and pots and pans. The bathroom has a tub with shower (and clothes drying rack), toilet, sink, and towels (towels are only changed twice a week). The lobby has a computer with internet available for guests. Newspapers are also available for reading. Breakfast is available for an extra charge, but we just buy croissants and pain au chocolates from the local boulangerie.

The hotel is just across the street from the Place d'Italie metro station. This station is on three metro lines so most tourist sights are easy to get to. The hotel is in the same complex as a huge shopping mall with a Champions Supermarche in the basement.

The neighborhood is residential with lots of small restaurants and shops. It is not in the middle of the tourist area.

I have stayed several times (most recently more than 10 years ago...) at the Hotel Esmeralda, housed in a 17th Century building with some rooms offering awesome views of Notre Dame. It is steps away from the Metro in the Latin Quarter. It is quirky with loads and loads of atmosphere...don't expect all mod cons but I found it comfortable enough; rooms vary so be sure to inquire about the larger ones with view of ND.
An unforgettable experience! Book in advance.

Our friends Dave & Aralyn rent their fabulous super-budget studio:
http://www.slowtrav.com/cl/detail.asp?l=1208

If not theirs, then check on studio apartments in Paris on www.vrbo.com, as other suggest. There are many and they will afford you a tad more space than a hotel room with greater comforts -- and may very well be cheaper than a hotel so long as you are staying for at least 5-6 nights. Plus, renting an apartment is much more fun than a hotel, in my opinion!

Have a great trip!

FWIW, the Formule 1 we stayed at in Bretagne was totally fine: clean, safe, and typical French breakfast with good bread and coffee. The staff did not speak English, but that was not a problem for us.

(I realize this does not speak to Paris, but I did want to say that I don't think all Formule 1 are the same.)

If budget is important (I think it is from your name), accor.com Willtravel mentioned above is a good one. Especially search on it's 2-star level establishments Ibis hotels.
http://www.ibishotel.com/gb/home/index.shtml

If you like Bastille/Lyon station areas (close to Marais), there are 4 - 5 Ibis's. Compared to other 2 star hotels (that have their own non-chain like charm), they tend to have nice larger reception area, reasonably well euqipped rooms, breakfast served from 4:00 am as their site says. Check their rates often because they show special rates occasionally, e.g. "Happy 30" (reserving 30 days before ...). Their typical rates within Paris city center are about € 70 - 80.

I always thought the area beween Lyon station and Place Bastille was sort of seedy and avoided to stay but last May, I stayed at Jules Céasar (that Travelnut mentioned above) there and found the area not bad at all. I'd rather be in 5 - 7th arrondessements (esp. I like Les Invalides area) usually but with bus and metro (Lyon station, Bastille, Ledru Rollin, etc), it was not a big problem and I discovered a new area that I had not known much. Jules César itself was quite ok too. I thought it was a risk to take for my super budget weekend but for €56 single room per night, I was not expecting much. Actually it was not bad at all. In an old building, my single room was (not surprisngly) small but clean looking (perhaps renovated recently), had air-con (not bad for a 2-star and that worked well), a flat LCD TV. I requested a room facing the street (I like to have a view), that was noisy but no problem sleeping with double glazed French window). Some rooms had balcony. Not my single.

If you want English speaking staff, you might prefer Ibis.

HELP!!! I have called up most of the hotels mentioned in this thread but all of them are fully booked for end October! I heard from a French friend that it's due to the Rugby World Cup... :(

I need a triple-room (3 persons) for the nights of 3rd and 4th Oct, and rooms for 4 person for the nights of 5th and 6th Oct.

Budget is Euro 40 per person per night.
If some kind soul can help, would really appreciate it...

I think it's unlikely to help if people start listing their most favorite hotels, because those are almost certainly booked. I'd suggest that you look at as many online booking services as you can. Also consider a triple room at a hostel.

http://www.accorhotels.com (but most are likely booked)
http://www.gtahotels.com
http://www.hotelclub.net
http://www.venere.com
http://www.hrs.de
http://www.hotel.de
http://www.hostelworld.com (includes more than hostels)
etc.

you might try laterooms.com as well.

but I'd hurry!

Just for the record, to me "bargain" means getting something for a price well below what it should be or normally is. So if you could get a $2500 a night suite at the Ritz in Paris for $1250 a night that is an incredible BARGAIN.
By the same token if you pay 40 Euro per night for a "dump" that normally goes for 40 Euro per night -- that is NO bargain.

I clicked on Budget Queen's name and looked to see if we ever got a report what she did find since this was three months ago, but I didn't find one. Just curious.

saint honoré apartment, 1-3 persons is 90 euro a night, its 2 minutes from the louvre. has to be a bargain.
http://www.way2stay.com/Paris-apartm...n-109-1684.htm

Budget Queen's question on $100 rooms was a long time ago, and I think she is gone.

Now for why8, that is going to be very difficult in peak hotel season, as you found. It's always busy at that time of year, and now that rugby thing -- if you find anything at that rate in the city, you should probably take it, so you could try Priceline for the heck of it, although I kind of doubt you'd get anything for that much money.

Try the Ibis hotel chain in Paris. They have several very large hotels (so better chance of free rooms), and they are pretty cheap -- usually 2*.

Here's another idea, a decent 1* hotel in a very good location that is very cheap http://www.hotelportroyal.fr/

You can also find cheap hotels on www.eurocheapo.com and www.venere.com

Some of the Holiday Inn Express hotels on the peripherique have quite a few rooms and are pretty cheap -- like the one near Porte d'Italie might be okay.

Thanks, all you lovely people!

I'm still in the process of finding the room, so I'm just here to report my progress so far...

Firstly, the saint honoré apartment recommended by travelbuzzing is not available for the dates I'm there, and they offered another apartment which is going for 90Euros per per person per night!

2nd, I'm determined to get a room by tonight, and I've shortlisted about 11 hotels and called them up one by one. What I've caught so far: Hotel Andre Latin is offering me to change rooms every night, some crazy system like this:
3rd Oct - Euro 145 for a triple room
4th Oct - Euro 145 for a double room + extra bed
5th Oct - Euro 145 for a triple room + extra bed
6th Oct - two double rooms, prices are Euro 106 and Euro 114 respectively

Looks like I've to bust my budget. I've to e-mail them tomorrow with my credit card details to confirm the room.

Meanwhile...

3rd, I've phoned up several other hotels but they're either fully booked or their room reservations desk are only available in the daytime (not evenings).

4th, I've gone to Hostelworld.com and selected did a search on Budget Hotels. It gave me of about 125 hotels, and I'm slowly combing through it one by one:
- checking availability (directly on Hostelworld.com)
- checking Tripadvisor.com for reviews

... so far my comments is that the hotels there generally don't have great reviews, or aren't even found on Tripadvisor.com.

Thanks to WillTravel, SuzieCII and Christina for their suggestions too!

Christina: Hotel Port Royal is on my list of hotels to phone tomorrow.

I will report back to tell you which hotel I ended up with. My favourite Hotel Tiquetonne is fully booked already, unfortunately! :(

Thanks, and if you have some more bright ideas, please keep them coming!

vacationinparis.com has a studio in your price range in the 2nd bordering the 3rd. They have some others that are a bit more in other locations. With vacation in paris you can pay by credit card in dollars.

Hey basingstoke2, great link!

But unfortunately, there's no way to check online for apartment availability. I won't be surprised that they're fully booked but I'll add it to my list of hotels to phone for tomorrow. Thanks!

Here is a hotel I keep on my list just in case I might need it. Excellent review in the NY Times (see hotel website). It looks very nice but is a little farther out than my usual favorites. It's in the 5th, outside Jardin des Plantes...Saint-Marcel Metro is very close.

They appear to have availability. I figured up the average for:
2 nights, 1 triple room @125eu
2 nights, 2 double rooms @92eu each

It averages 43eu each per night for those staying 4 nights. For those coming later it came to 46eu each per night.

http://www.hoteldevillas.com/ENG/hotel.htm

http://www.quaivoltaire.fr/english/index.asp.htm

This 2-star hotel has a great triple room (it is the one on the website with white bedspreads), for appx. 150 Euros; I believe there is a single room just next door, which could give you the four beds you need. This hotel gets mixed reviews on Tripadvisor, but everyone I have taken there has been happy. The view is unbelievable, and the staff is French quirky with good to passable English. With the view, you get street noise; it's on the Seine so there is vehicle traffic and the tour boats at night. I have never had trouble sleeping with the windows either closed or open. It's part of the ambiance.... :)

Hello JeanneB,

I checked Hotel Devillas website and it's exactly as you said! I've made a reservation online, and I expected to submit my Credit Card details, but there's no request for me to submit it. I expect they will send me an e-mail to ask for it. In any case, I'll phone them tomorrow to give it to them.

To confirm that my reservations has been taken care of by the system, I logged in again to try to reserve same rooms on the same dates, and the system has removed them already.

The reservation system is great!
Many many thanks, JeanneB!

...

Hmm, just saw palette's recommendation for l'esprit Paris. Will consider it if somehow my booking for Hotel Devillas doesn't go through.

Thanks thanks thanks, dear Fodorites!!!
Once again, you've restored my faith in planning my own trips (recently faith highly shaken due to difficulty in hotel hunting)! :) :) :)

Terrific! I haven't stayed there, so please write it up when you get back. I hope it works out well for you.

You will be relatively close to Place d'Italie...lots of metro and bus options there. If you haven't considered bus lines, it's really the best way to get around. If you search here for "Paris and bus" you will find lots of info. You might also look at the Batobus (river taxi). I'm pretty sure it stops at the Jardin des Plantes.

Check oout Pauline Frommer's Paris book, p. 22-70 for suggestions.

Once you get a name of a hotel, check out reviews at www.tripadvisor.com.

JeanneB - will certainly do so, thanks again so much! The hotel is confirmed now. It was really a lifesaver.

I'm so glad that I was thinking about how amazing kindness of strangers is. :)

The Devillas isn't very close to place d'Italie, it's about right across the street from the St Marcel metro stop. There's also a convenient bus that runs right in front, the 91, which I take a lot as it goes from Montparnasse Tower to place de la Bastille.

There are several good ethnic restaurants of various types in a small "restaurant" street , rue des Wallons, which is about right across bd St Marcel, and then around the back of it (it's a small street running parallel to St Marcel). There is one restaurant right on the corner there that has music students who do live music at times -- pianists, but it's only classical, I think. They have music Wed-Sat. It's called L'Olivier and is at 18 rue des Wallons. It's a typical French bistro, reasonable price.

Dear Christina,

L'Olivier at 18 rue des Wallons - I've taken down the recommendation, thanks! I'll be there from Wednesday onwards, so I really don't mind some classical piano over a French dinner!

To All: flying off tomorrow to London first, then will be taking the Eurostar to Paris. Thanks you all for all the great help! Excited: will be my 2nd visit to both London and Paris!

oh, good, will you post back what it is like? I went there once, but it wasn't open or it was the wrong night for music or something, so I didn't get to hear that. I'd like to know how the food is, and the entertainment. They have several other types of ethnic restaurants around the corner from there and down rue Wallon, you will see them.

Hi All,

Sorry for the late reply. Had a wonderful Paris trip.

Hotel Devillas was okay, but very noisy if you have a room facing the front -- almost unbearably loud due to the Metro passing by. For this price, I think one can stay better somewhere else, or get a room facing the back. It's about 15 to 20-minutes' walk to the Notre Dame, so it's a convenient place. Staff could be more friendly, even though they were passably polite.

I'd stay elsewhere next time.

Dear Christina,
I didn't make it to L'Olivier at 18 rue des Wallons, so can't tell you how it was, sorry!

Thanks for all your help!

Well, I guess I can take it off my list then. Sorry it wasn't up to expectations.

Too bad you didn't get to l'Olivier but it was your holiday! Nice of you to post back with a follow-up, anyway.

I think most hotels that are on main streets will have noise problems in Paris, so that is par for the course. That is a very big and busy thoroughfare, bd St Marcel. But what do you mean about being noisy due to metro noise from the metro passing by? The metro is underground around there, isn't it? I know the metro is above ground in some parts of the 14th, but don't remember it being that way at St Marcel. That would make a hotel really noisy, if the metro was going by outside your window (which can happen around La Motte-Piquet, for example). I did stay in a hotel that was a little noisy because it was on top of the metro line, and you could hear it if you were on a lower floor, but you said it was in front.