Planning my 2nd trip to Paris this summer around this trade show in Sept.04. Would love your help re where to stay? Last time thanks to all fellow fodorite's help I stayed in St. Germain des Pres at the Hotel LEnnox and absolutley loved it but while walking around I came accross many charming small hotels . This show is held at the Paris Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre. What arrrondisment would that be in? and any suggestions as to where to say? How about this time I rent an apt.? Anyone have any leads? Any fhelp would be greatly appreciated.

hi, it's hard to say whether you should get an apt. or not as you don't say how long you are staying. Some people love renting apts. on short trips but I don't and think there are many drawbacks, so my tendency would be to say no if you don't know Paris well and aren't going to be there that long. There are a zillion Parisian ST apts for rent, though, and there have been quite a few threads with many URLs listed. It takes a lot of time looking through them to find what you want. Maybe I"m pickier than some, but I won't rent an apt. if it looks worse than a 3* hotel, and many do to me.

Anyway, as to the area, Villepinte isn't in Paris proper and not in any arrondisement. It's in-between Paris and the CDG airport. It's a common area for trade shows and there is a stop on the RER B line for it.

So, if you have to go up there a lot, I'd choose something convenient to the RERB line, I guess. You'll be closer on the Right Bank, but I don't really like any of the areas right off the RERB over there. I do like the area around the Pantheon/Luxembourg Gardens, though, and that would be convenient for the Luxembourg RERB stop. That's a nice area for hotels and restaurants and other things. If you've been there you probably know it somewhat.

If I were going to pick an area on the Right Bank that would minimize commuting time to Villepinte, I'm not sure where I'd pick -- maybe something on the no. 4 or 5 metro line as they go right into Gare du Nord in the area fairly close to transfer to the quay going north on RERB. This could be the Oberkampf area of Paris or around Etienne Marcel/rue Montorgueil. I'm not sure that would be best for you, however, as they aren't as upscale as St Germain des Pres.

So, maybe it would help if you said how long you were going to be there and how much of that time will involve commuting to/from Villepinte and how you feel about long commutes.

Thanks Christina for your speedy reply. I really appreciate it. I will be staying in Paris for maybe 5-6 days cause I want to spend at least a week exploring Provence this trip and really only plan to go to the show 1 day since I will spend another day at the flea market and the other days exploring areas like the Marais that I missed the last time around. I 'm not a big comuter but for 1 day I can handle it I guess. There is so much to see and do In Paris that I don't want to waste valuable time comuting.

oh, well if you only have to go up there one day, it doesn't really matter so much where your hotel is--although you don't want something way out of the way of course. I would then pick the area around the Pantheon/Luxembourg RER stop myself. There are several nice hotels around there, like the Pantheon or Grands Hommes or others. That's really not far from St-Germain, though, so you may want a bigger change and know it already.

I would never rent an apt. for 5-6 days myself. Some companies won't even rent for that time, although others do, but they often are more expensive. If you are dying to do that though, others probably would, also. I just don't like spending time inside in a hotel or apt. on a short trip to Paris myself, and don't want the trouble of renting one nor the financial commitment.

www.rentinparis.com has some in that area that look nice, however, on rue Victor Cousin. They also have quite a few in the Marais. There are lots of other agencies, www.chezvous.com also has some nice places around there but they are pretty expensive. It really depends what you are willing to spend on that as generally I think you will pay more than a hotel, especially for one person. Rentinparis has a 6 day min., I don't know about Chez Vous.

Thanks for the info.I just thought it would be more economical to stay in an apt. than a hotel especially for a longer stay and it turns out that I may be in Paris for a full 7 days cause now I am also looking into the Pret A Porte show. I will check into the links you suggested. Thanks again for your help.