long stay in a Paris hotel???
 

Just curious.For our Spring trip..my husband not eager to get an apartment. I am just curious, has anyone stayed a month or so in a hotel?..If so, comments?...

Hi L,

It depends if you're talking about 1 star vs 4/5 star hotel.

Although not common - some hotels have a few rooms with a bit more space and a small 'fridge and microwave - I would think a full month in a small hotel room would get antsy.

Only for business - and it gets OLD fast.

I'd look at Citadines - a European chain similar to an Embassy Suites or Residence Inns. You'll have a small kitchen, living room and separate bedroom with the convenience of maid service, front desk help, etc. of a hotel. They have locations all over Paris.

Personally, for a month, I'd rent an apartment. You can negotiate great rental deal if you are staying 4 weeks or more.

Check out the Résidence des Arts, a sister hotel of the more pricey Villa d'Estrées. Rooms have small kitchens.

FYI, the hotel aspect of Citadines was nice (front desk, free computer access in the dining area - when someone wasn't on it, etc.). Be forewarned that maid service is only once a week; you pay extra for additional service. With that, the towels only get replaced with fresh ones once a week - and they are comparable to Motel 6 towels, so they get old fast! Other than that, the rooms and the location were excellent (and other services as previously mentioned). They have a website with an English version...

Hi lois,

>has anyone stayed a month or so in a hotel?..<

Some people, such as Eloise, live in hotels.

As noted, a lot depends on where you are staying.

((I))

A friend of ours spent a year at the Sheraton in Brussels. He was a bachelor who didn't feel the need to have "his" stuff all over the place and he liked not having to worry about cleaning (daily maid service, not weekly) or utility bills etc. so he was fine with it.
We spent 3 weeks at a hotel in Angers, France. Occasionally, we got a little tired of it, but overall, we didn't mind. However, our room was quite spacious and next to one of the city's nicest gardens; it didn't feel like we were stuck in a box.
In Paris, there are other hotel+ options besides Citadines. One of them is www.hotelhome.fr located in the nice upscale Auteuil residential area of the 16th.

If someone offered me a month's stay in a suite at a 4L star hotel, I'd have no complaints. But I wouldn't want to spend a month in a "regular" hotel room, given that there are so many comfortable and attractive short term apartment options in Paris.

What are your husband's ojbections to an apartment?

Husband's objections might include the stuff he does at home, taking out the garbage? But it would be FRENCH garbage!

I definately could stay in a suite at say the Crillon, but since that is not going to happen, I'd prefer a nice - i.e., larger, apartment...two rooms so my beloved and I wouldn't be "attached at the hip" at every moment.

Not sure what your husband's objection to an apartment might be, but as others have noted, the tolerability depends on the type of hotel. I get really tired of it after about a week unless it is a very spacious accommodation, well appointed and with excellent amenities/service.

If your husband is concerned about having to look after an apartment, he may not realize that most short term vacation rentals are a bit different than standard leased properties in that the owner/agent usually does provide regular cleaning about once a week, more for a fee. If you do a private sublet from someone who is just looking to produce some revenue while they themselves are away the owner may not have a property manager available - one of the advantages of going through an agency.

http://www.les3poussins.com/

This hotel has rooms and suites with a kitchenette (not all rooms)... not as central as some, but that isn't always a bad thing.

Well...the apts.we seem to like are way too expensive for us.When we look, we look for possible good air circulation, etc. We would rather spend it on other things. The apt we liked would be about 11,000 a month. (Paris perfect) We very often change our minds..this is our first investigation.

We had an rv for 25 years or more so we are used to smaller spaces. This Fall we are staying in a triple room at the Miguet so maybe that would be something we could do..take a larger room?..I will look into the ones you have given me. And I do thank you.

egreen...which citadines did you stay in ?..They have several locations in Paris all with different prices.I think they would be good..I can always buy a towel at Monoprix!

Actually I will look into all these things..but location is very important to us.

Thanks all of you. I think we are on the right path. Hubby doesn't object to garbage...lol...we just think the price of the apts is high and we like the idea of someone coming in to clean and more importantly we like a desk or reception to ask questions...I would never cook but it would be nice to bring in things from those fabulous charcouteries and bakeries..

I stayed about a month in Paris at Hotel Le Bretonnerie in the Marais. I will be happy to answer any questions you might have about my experience, but do know that this was about 15 years ago. I have stayed in hotels all over for weeks at a time..not sure how this would help you, though.

...ps. I also liked very much having staff on hand to answer questions and make reservations since my French is sorely lacking. And I often brought food to the room...mostly snacks but once in a while a meal from a take-out place. I see no reason NOT to stay long-term in a hotel if the price is right for you. As I said, I have done it all over the world and cannot complain!

Well ek, that is encouraging...!! I am not at all sure if you can eat snacks in the room?..at the Bonaparte two years ago they said no food in the room. That's why we thought a kitchen would be nice...actually we would never cook..like you just bring in a snack!!

Loisco: I have never stayed at that hotel. But I have stayed in many hotels of every description and price range, all over the world. And I have never had a problem bringing in food or drink. I can't imagine that this would be an issue as long as you bring it in unobtrusively and dispose of the remains properly.

I often eat in my hotel room (traveling solo). If I have the impression there might be an issue with it, I remove my own trash in the morning and put it out in a public rubbish bin.

I prefer a hotel because I often ask the front desk staff for assistance, with directions, calling a taxi, if I had to make a phone call in French, etc.

Check the Residence Des Arts in the 6th. They have kitchenettes for basic cooking. I stayed in the top floor apartment with a friend and we cooked soup once but used the refrigerator for cheese, fruit and cold drinks.

The apt. has a large living room and a separate bedroom (TVs in both rooms) and a nice bath with glassed in shower and tub.

Good location, less than a block from the Seine and a very short walk to Place St. Michel.

If I remember correctly there was daily linen service.

I will check out the Residence des Arts. The trip advisor had some negtive reviews but since you have been there, I question them. We will also check the Citadines.

My husband wants ac but ......

As for bringing food in the hotel, never really tried.

I agree with Suze. As I said, I often do this..rarely for full meals but for snacks (cheese, pastries, etc) and, certainly I always have my own water and wine in the room. But if you can get a place with a kitchenette, even better. When I stayed at La Bretonnerie in Paris, I had what they may call a suite....large room with sitting area. But even in a normal room, I like the convenience of staying in a hotel, especially when I am alone, which I was during that month in Paris.

And sometimes you see something in a market, for example, that you absolutely MUST try, like the luscious roast chickens someone mentioned on another post. I would not hesitate one minute before bringing one of those back to my room!

The only places I can imagine that might enforce a rule like "no food or drink" would be hostels or dorm-like accommodations. Was this rule actually posted at the Bonaparte?

You know I can't remember how it was communicated to me at the Bonaparte but it was!

We would never cook but yes those roasted chickens look great. We would need a room with a table so we could sit and cut them, right?..also we were at Bon Marche in the food department so at one time (never fotgot that place) and we thought that we would like a place where we could eat!!! Often we are too tired to go out.

I spent two hours on the puter last night searching for kitchenette places in decent locations...no luck.

We will be in Paris in October so we will look harder.

If you think of any places that are LARGE please let me know. I appreciate your help..

Well, you might try the Bretonnerie, where I stayed that trip. As I said, I had a large room with two levels and beamed ceilings....it was very, very charming. I think there are photos of their rooms on their web site. Great locatiion, too, in the Marais.

Thanks again...now you have me thinking of the roasting chickens...they always smelled so good.

Lois, I haven't ever stayed in a hotel for a month, but I do agree that this would be fine if you are in a luxury hotel with very nice rooms. However, in regular hotels, that is a very long time. I'd suggest if you do that, to switch around to different hotels for a couple reasons.

First, it will give you a chance to experience different neighborhoods. Second, you are not depending so much on really liking one hotel. Third, I think a change of room and situation will help avoid the boredom and claustrophobia you may feel in any hotel, even if the rooms are the same size.

As for the food, I have heard that about certain budget hotels -- telling the guests they can't have food in the rooms. There are definitely one-two around rue Cler that do that, from what I remember. I'm not going to speculate further, as I suspect that will cause much vociferous debate (based on my opinons as to why they do this and which hotels). I think the Muguet, BTW, is one of them that officially doesn't allow it.

I have stayed at the Trois Poussins and they do have rather large rooms for Parisian hotels at that price range, and kitchenettes. They also have excellent air conditioning, unless some cheaper hotels (I've been in some where you couldn't even tell it was one, although they claimed it was). They are very nice, also, and it's a nice unpretentious neighborhood with good street markets and small local restaurants. However, it may not be to your taste if you want something more glamorous, I know. I will admit about the only thing I didn't like about the hotel was they had cheap mattresses, which was a shame as otherwise it was very nice (they were foam). Some people don't mind that.

They do have moderately-priced suites with kitchenette (I am pretty sure) at one of my favorite hotels in Montparnasse, which I think is an excellent location. You might look into that. They have AC and are very nice there. That is the Hotel Aiglon on bd Raspail at corner of bd Quinet in the 14th. They have a website which is fairly easy to find by google where you can check the facilities. Their nicer rooms are quite spacious and very nice.

Lois, what is your budget, exactly? I stay at the Aiglon in summer usually and they have very good discounts, but for Fall, I think their suites are around 175 to 190 euro, although their superior doubles are less. That is a good price for what you get, in my opinion, compared to hotels in St Germain, for example, where double rooms in a 3* hotel may be over 200 euro and the Bonaparte, which is only a 2* hotel, is pretty pricey. The Aiglon does have minibars in all rooms, but I've only stayed in the smaller ones, so am not sure if the superior doubles have a small table or not. They might, you could ask, as the rooms are very nicely furnished.

Hi lois,

>I am not at all sure if you can eat snacks in the room?<

We often have snacks in our room when we stay at the Bonaparte. They even provide a minifridge for cheese, fruit, wine, water, etc.

They do frown on people who bring in dinners (pizza, chicken, etc) and leave the residue in the trash cans.

((I))

Christine...excellent idea about switching hotels...I would like to look at the one with the kitchenette trois poissons but I can't seem to find a website????
Can you help me?

Also we have stayed in the 6th twice, will be at the 7th in the Fall so let me ask...if we venture out what arrondisements would be good. We are older and need to have restaurants and metro nearby...or maybe I should ask, which ones are bad?

Author: Travelnut
Date: 07/12/2006, 10:37 am

http://www.les3poussins.com/

This hotel has rooms and suites with a kitchenette (not all rooms)... not as central as some, but that isn't always a bad thing.

When you say it's not as central, I assume you mean it's not near the Louvre, etc. But don't you think as long as there is a metro and restaurants we would be ok. Probably we would get better value too.

I wrote to the hotel as there is no info on rooms with kitchenettes. I like the idea of staying somewhere else for a few weeks and then moving..I want to experience it all. I just hope there are good restaurants in that area. That's all my husband asks about. LOL

When you say it's not as central, I assume you mean it's not near the Louvre, etc. But don't you think as long as there is a metro close by (is there?) and restaurants we would be ok. Probably we would get better value too.

I wrote to the hotel as there is no info on rooms with kitchenettes. I I just hope there are good restaurants in that area. That's all my husband asks about. LOL Also we would hope that if they have ac it is on...!

Hi Lois, sorry it's taken me a few days to return to this post! You may well have decided on one of the other locations, but FWIW, here's the details on my stay chez Citadines!

We stayed in a 1-bedroom (bedroom + living room + galley kitchen) at the Citadines Louvre. As this was basically a museum trip, the central location was terrific for us: We could see the Richelieu entrance to the Louvre from our window. The space was plain but very clean, and we had a nice view of one of the fountains at the foot of Avenue de l'Opéra. Mº Palais Royal was two short blocks away.

The furniture was all very basic, but there was a rectangular table/desk (would seat maybe 4?), chairs, tv+stand, sleep sofa. Oh, and a phone with a local number for incoming calls! Local outgoing calls were no extra charge. (I think long-distance were 3€ per minute, but we used a télécarte.)

The kitchen had a tall minifridge, stovetop, sink, plus a toaster oven/microwave combo and dishwasher (neither of which we used). There were pots, dishes, flatware, wine glasses, etc., plus a water heater pot (not sure what this is called) which my BF used to make tea every evening.

The bedroom had just enough room for the double bed and two nightstands and a decent-sized closet with a safe in it. (No dresser, just shelving in the closet; full length mirror was in the hall.) Bathroom had wall-mounted showerhead, towel heater, built-in (hotel) hair dryer... and no shower curtain! Just a partial glass wall, so it got a bit damp in there.

It felt like there was plenty of A/C - it being mid-May, we had a few cool evenings where we wished we could turn on the heat instead! (You can adjust the level, but like many buildings, they have heat for half the year and A/C for the other, and never the twain shall meet... The staff was very nice about giving us extra blankets to compensate.)

Dining in the area is a bit of a mix, given that it's literally tourist-central. We never found a café we really liked, but we did try an interesting range of cuisines in the streets behind the Palais Royal, specifically rue de Richelieu and rue Molière. My BF's sister who was with us is vegetarian, so we sampled Indian, Lebanese, and some contemporary French, none of which I'd write home about, but all were fine. There were two inexpensive Italian places that we liked within a few blocks of the hotel, both on rue de Richelieu just by Place Molière. (I don't remember either name; the one right on top of the Place Molière has homey pastas and a full antipasto table, and a liberal hand with the EVOO(!), while the other is more spare and modern and packed with young people.)

There is also a large number of Japanese businesses in the area and the many restaurants looked tempting (but a no-go with the vegetarian!). Also in the immediate vicinity is Le Grand Colbert, seen at the end of "Something's Gotta Give". We thought it would be cheesy, but thoroughly enjoyed our classic French meal there...

As for the kitchenette: We purchased pastries at a branch of Paul and made ample use of the Monoprix, both on Av. de l'Opéra, left side of the street as you ascend towards Garnier. I would have loved to have done more, but there was no time!

hi Lois, I think the Trois Poussins website mentions the kitchenettes; dont they? I had a room with one. They charge 15 euro or so extra on top of the room fee if you use them, for the dishes etc I guess. It's a nice neighborhood with good restaurants and good metro connections. It is near St Georges metro and Trinite. I thought there regular rates were a bit high for that neighborhood, actually but I got a good discount in summer.

I at the Aiglon in Paris right now and checked out the suite they have. It is really nice and the size of an apt. It has a living room, separate bedroom, large bathroom with tub and shower spray wand, and a small kitchenette in a separate room. It has a couple burners and a half fridge. The bedroom and living room are pretty big. They dont have a table and chairs but a small table/desk kind of and some chairs. There is a comfortable couch and arm chair and some buffet or so,ething zith a TV, and I think coffee table. It overlooks the Montparnasse cemetery which is the side of the hotel I like. In regular season it is around 195 euro plus the 20 euro kitchen charge.

Christine and ggreen...wow!you are great. We are debating now between 3 poissons and the Louvre Citadine. Your description of the Louvre one is wonderful. They need you for the brochures..

I am even thinking we might stay 2 weeks at each.

Looking up Hotel Aiglon!

Aww, thanks Lois! :">

I am never satisfied with the info I get from websites and even TripAdvisor recs - I have such a difficult time imagining the space in real life! Likewise, the Citadines website didn't give me a full understanding of what the rooms were like, especially for the Louvre location as half the pics are of the outside! (That made me nervous, as if the interior wasn't worth showing, but it ended up being totally adequate.)

Good luck with your decision!

Hello loisco, I have not read every post here in depth but notice you say you will be in Paris the month of October and that you will defintely need airconditioning.

I have never been in France but in Italy just because a hotel has airconditioning it does not mean that you will be able to utilize the airconditioning whenever you want as they seem to have some months when the airconditioning is available and other times when it is not. The same is true with the heat. And one never has excess to airconiditoning or heat at the same time as we are use to here in the states. Or at least that has always been my experience in Italy. Surely other Fodorites that are familar with Paris can advise you about this.

So just wanted to mention this in case it is the same in Paris, I would hate to see you rent a place thinking that the airconditioning could be used only to find it is not available.

Hello again loisco, guess I misunderstood. I just reread your posts and see that you will be in Paris in October to find a place for your month in Paris in spring. Anyway, the subject about the airconditioning is the same..do check to make sure it would be turned on so you can use it during the spring month you are there. Best regards

well, they are now part of the Esprit group of hotels and here is one site
http://www.hotel-paris-aiglon.com/

there is another of their own I cant find now due to weird keyboard in France

I was going to say, if you are in Paris in Spring I dont think you will need AC anyway, though I dont really know when the Aiglon or Poussins turns it on as Ive only been there in July. The Aiglon has really good AC, also

I am probably confusing everyone with my two trips. Yes Christine, this discussion is for the Spring trip in late April/May. We will be in Paris after our Italy trip this October and I will visit the Pouissins, Aiglon and Citidines...
Thanks for all your help. I am starting to think we should just live there!

well, I don't really think you will need AC in late April/early May, or that they will even have it, but I'm not sure.

The Aiglon sounds nicer than the above description of the Citidines. Their furniture, etc., is a lot nicer than that, they have decent towels, etc. Their bedroom was large and had a bureau. I think they are about the same rate (around 175-200 euro a night).

There is another place you might put on your list, although it doesn't have AC. But with your dates, you might rethink that requirement -- or you could book it at the beginning of the stay if you move. That is the Residence Henri IV in the Latin Qtr. It's a 3* hotel with several apartments and is a great location. They are 150-240 euro. Here is that URL
http://www.residencehenry4.com/rooms.html

For a month, you could do three stays, 10 days each, that might be a good mix. Actually, you have three diff. locations and that would be a good overview of Paris, actually (Trinite/9th, Louvre or Latin Qtr, then Montparnasse). Of course, there are many Citadines in diff. areas.