Anna

My friend and I are going to travel to Paris next year. I have narrowed down my choices to these hotels:<BR><BR>1. Hotel Des Jardins Du Luxembourg<BR><BR>2. La Gallerie Hotel<BR><BR>3. Hotel COLLEGE DE FRANCE<BR><BR>I'm pretty sure Hotel College is the cheapest, but we wanted a safe neighborhood. <BR>Did anyone stay at these hotels, and would you stay their again? Are the pictures from the websites really what the rooms look like?<BR><BR>I'm more concerned about cleanliness, safety, and "charm" than the size of the room.

sandy c

hi anna,<BR><BR>i would like to tell you about our experiences with a hotel in paris and give it a recommendation. i just came back from paris in october. we booked everything for 5 women online and had a blast (i even met the elvira in paris for dinner).<BR><BR>i was the one responsible for doing all the planning and the booking. i angst more over the hotel choices than anything else. why? because of a previous experience with a dud of a hotel in paris.<BR><BR>we really came up lucky this time and i would like to make a great recommendation. a friend recommended using holidaycity.com for booking my paris hotel because of the great rates. and we found a hotel called hotel du bois.<BR><BR>what a find. we book 3 rooms there and had no problem with the reservations. i even emailed the hotel direct about a week before since we used a 3rd party for booking (i got kind of antsy with all the talk here about some problems with other 3rd parties) and was assured they had received the reservation.<BR><BR>now about the hotel. this hotel has it's own website with pictures. and the pics are entirely accurate and in fact i actually found the rooms to be bigger. they are rated 3 star. why? because they do not have air conditioning or an elevator. they do provide fans in the rooms and they have 3 floors of rooms. <BR><BR>the rooms. huge....huge in comparison to most 3 star rooms in paris and very tasteful, charming and nice. the bathrooms for a superior twin with bath are huge. i recommend paying the 100 franc difference for the superior bath vs standard shower. the bath has both a bathtub and a shower spray. (you would be surprised in some when they say bath they do not have a shower spray). the rooms all had cable tv and phone. they have internet access for purchase at the hotel and thru holidaycity you get cont breakfast included in the rates. a superior twin was 635 francs per room. not per person. this is about $90 a room or $45 per person.<BR><BR>location. the hotel is located off of the champs elysees and arch area. about 3 blocks south of the arch directly off of victor hugo. the area is very safe even late at night and there are all kinds of stuff right there on the champs elysees at night. the main metro station is a major one and hooks up with everything. there were at least 4 metro station entrances all around the arch and down the champs. all were withing a 5-7 block radius. the major one that has 3 or 4 entrances around the arch and then the kleber station(main one that goes by the eiffel and hooks up with montparnesse) about 2 blocks away and then around the corner. the area the hotel it is located in is a busy shopping and tourist area, but the rooms were very quiet. the hotel staff was great.<BR><BR>i found out later that it is listed as one of the "charming" hotels of paris and it certainly deserve that listing.<BR><BR>because of the no air conditioning i probably would not recommend it during the heat of the summer. but for late fall thru late spring it is definitely worth it.<BR><BR>if you want links and details email me.<BR><BR>hope this helps some.<BR><BR>sandy c

Anna

Sandy, <BR><BR>I plan on going to Paris at the end of May - would it be too hot to get a room w/out ac then?<BR>

BTilke

Sandy, no, no no!! The Hotel Residence du Bois is one of my favorite places and now you gave it away!! That part of the Ave. Victor Hugo is great and despite the 16th's reputation for being far from things, it's actually quite easy to get to anywhere in Paris from there and you're just a short walk from the Arc de Triomphe. However it IS away from hordes of tourists, junk shops, etc. It's a pretty, upscale residential neighborhood. While you were there, did you pop into the Scossa restaurant/cafe on the Place Victor Hugo? Great coffee and fresh squeezed OJ. I love sitting on their terrace on a sunny morning, having my coffee, watching the fountains and the Parisians go by.<BR>BTilke

Christina

All of those neighborhoods are safe enough, College de France and JdLux are very near each other. For location, I probably prefer JdesLux as I like being around that park, there's a good internet cafe just around the corner (Orbital on rue de Medicis) and there are good bus connections there. College de France has always looked nice to me but I haven't stayed there (style looks better to me than JdesLux but that's my preference, I don't like modern stuff that much). I had never heard of La Gallerie before but I see it's around Opera/Madeleine--that's safe but more of a busy business area than the others, not as "charming" or residential, so I wouldn't choose it but many tourists find that area convenient for sightseeing.

sandy c

hi all,<BR><BR>BTilke, I know,,I know....i almost didn't post. hotel du bois is a great hotel and the area was wonderful, but you find nil about it on the net as far as recommendations goes. now i know why,,everyone wants to keep it a secret. by the way, did you know that thru holidaycity the rates are much less. we got superior rooms for only 635 francs. <BR><BR>we loved walking down victor hugo. so much to see and do. it is also very easy to pop over to the champs elysees and people watch at one of the cafes at night.<BR><BR>like you, i found this location to be wonderfully convienent. it is misleading when people say it it not central because it is very central and quiet. with the kleber metro a few blocks up and around the corner everything was just one or two connections away. if not that one you have about 6 metro extrances around the arch and on champs elysees. <BR><BR>when did you last stay there? we just got back in october and i would recommend it to anyone fall to late spring.<BR><BR>anna, i am not sure about late may. they do not have air conditioning but i would think since there weather is like here that may days would be moderate. but i am simply not sure. the luxembourg does have air conditioning so may be a better choice for may-august.

joy

Anna, I don't mean to confuse you further but a few years back we stayed at a sister hotel of Hotel Du Bois which is the Queen Mary in the 8th arr. That hotel has air-conditioning which you might need for your May trip. It is on a very quiet street near the Opera and a couple of Paris' department stores. The decor and size of the bedroom, I think, is comparable to the Du Bois.