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long stay in a Paris hotel???

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Old Jul 13th, 2006, 08:13 AM
  #21  
 
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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?
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Old Jul 13th, 2006, 02:30 PM
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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..
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Old Jul 13th, 2006, 07:03 PM
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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.
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Old Jul 13th, 2006, 07:40 PM
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Thanks again...now you have me thinking of the roasting chickens...they always smelled so good.
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Old Jul 14th, 2006, 02:21 AM
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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.
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Old Jul 14th, 2006, 02:32 AM
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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.
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Old Jul 14th, 2006, 03:21 AM
  #27  
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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.

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Old Jul 14th, 2006, 11:52 AM
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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?
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Old Jul 14th, 2006, 12:05 PM
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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.
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Old Jul 14th, 2006, 12:15 PM
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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
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Old Jul 14th, 2006, 12:38 PM
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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...!
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Old Jul 16th, 2006, 01:55 PM
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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. Mē 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!
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Old Jul 17th, 2006, 03:50 AM
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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.
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Old Jul 17th, 2006, 12:04 PM
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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!
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Old Jul 17th, 2006, 12:13 PM
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Aww, thanks Lois! quot;>

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!
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Old Jul 17th, 2006, 12:51 PM
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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.
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Old Jul 17th, 2006, 12:55 PM
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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
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Old Jul 18th, 2006, 11:58 AM
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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
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Old Jul 18th, 2006, 12:41 PM
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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!
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Old Jul 20th, 2006, 12:11 PM
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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.

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