tom18

We’re going to be coming into Gare du Nord in Paris and would like to find a hotel that would be easy to get to from the station and that would also be within walking distance of a metro line that goes to the museum district. The hotel doesn’t need to be luxurious, but it does need to have a lift/elevator and be in a safe neighborhood with some nearby eating establishments. We’re looking in the 100-150 euro range. Does anybody have any recommendations? Thank you!

sandyh

Hi,
There is a hotel called Le Laumiere, in the 19th arrondissement, at 4 rue Petit, just a tiny walk to the Laumiere Metro stop for Line 5. This hotel is about 1 mile or so from Gare du Nord. The hotel gets generally good reviews, but is considerably less expensive than you specified; prices range from 66 to 77 euro, with 8.70 euro for breakfast. (Most hotels out of the central arrondissements are much less expensive than those in the single-digit arrondissements.) There are lots of cafes in the vicinity, and the Restaurant Laumiere is on the first floor. Nearby as well are the beautiful Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, Cite des Sciences at Parc Villette, and Canal St. Martin. ,
There is really no 'museum district' in Paris as such; there are museums all over the city. But if you mean the general area of the Louvre, the Orsay, and the Orangerie in the 1st and 7th arrondissements, you can reach those pretty easily by taking L5 to the Bastille stop and transferring to L1. You can exit that at the Louvre-Rivoli stop, the Louvre stop, the Tuileries stop, or the Concorde stop, any of which would get you very close to one or the other of those museums. And Bus 75, with a nearby stop at Place Armand Carrel, will take you all the way to Pont Neuf.

Here is the hotel website:
http://www.hotel-lelaumiere.com/index-gb.htm

Hope this helps,
Sandy

Poconolady

We stayed at the Mercure Paris Terminus Nord recently. The hotel is directly across the street from the Gare du Nord station. The room was small, but it was clean, had an elevator and a nice bathroom and the convenience of being across from the station made it the perfect choice since we had a very early train the next morning. I would not want to stay there for more than a night or two, but it was fine for our needs. Cost per night was right around 100 Euros and there is a metro stop right outside the front door. There were several restaurants, a patiserre, and a couple of convenience stores all within a block or two of the hotel. The neighborhood is "ok", but I wouldn't want to do much walking around the area late at night if I were by myself. You know, better safe than sorry. We took the bus from the Eiffel Tower back to the hotel around midnight and got off right at the station, walked across the street and we were "home".

StCirq

There is no "museum district" in Paris. The only city in the whole world that has one, to my knowledge, is here in DC, where the Smithsonian Institutions are all huddled together.

I wouldn't want to stay near the Gare du Nord. Can't you take a taxi or the metro to a nicer area of the city?

sandyh

Not to flog Le Laumiere too much, but I take you at your word when you say you want a hotel convenient to Gare du Nord. Although I can't speak personally to the flavor of the neighborhoods in the immediate vicinity of Gare du Nord or Gare de l'Est, I can say that the neighborhood of this hotel (3 stops on Metro Line 5 from Gare du Nord), is very pleasant. It's not at all unsafe.

Here is a link to the blog of a gentleman who always stays here when he's in Paris, and has been doing so for years. His description and photos speak far more eloquently than I can.

http://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/search?q=laumiere

The question about museums in your post sounded to me as though you plan to stay for awhile in whatever hotel you book, i.e., that it's not just an overnight before you go to the airport, or something like that. So if you're willing to take a Metro or bus ride to get to the more central, more touristy areas, then you'll be gaining a pleasant stay in a basically quiet, residential area.
Sandy

janisj

I personally would NOT stay near Gare du Nord. Tons of hotels are convenient to it by metro or cab w/o staying in that neighborhood. In fact I wouldn't stay there even if it was free (well -maybe if it was FREE )

But unless you have a 5AM train out of the station (and that is the ONLY reason I'd even consider it) I'd look in a nicer, more central area.

W/ your budget you can stay in just about any neighborhood. The 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th - anywhere.

yipper

Hi,

Try this hotel. I have actually stayed here once. The place was clean and every room has it's own bath. It is very easy to get on the metro to go anywhere and to walk to the gare du nord.

www.paris-hotel-republique.com

Have fun, Yipper

tom18

Thanks, everybody, for your suggestions. I should have been more specific about "museum district" - I really meant the Louvre area.

Sandy - are there any issues about accessbility to the hotel (La Laumiere) itself or to the rooms? My wife has a hard time with steps. Thanks!

historytraveler

If you want something in the Louvre area try the Hotel Louvre Bons Enfants. It's on a quiet street and about as close to the Louvre as one can get. The price is within your budget.

www.hotellouvrebonsenfants.com

sandyh

Hi, Tom,
Well, Reception is on the ground floor, and of course so is the garden area. They do have an elevator, but elevators in Paris are all small.
The best thing to do, I think, if you decide to stay there, is to specify when you book that you need a room on a lower floor, just in case. Some rooms overlook the garden, and getting one of those should eliminate any potential noise problems from being on a lower floor -- which I don't expect would be a serious issue anyway. Four of the rooms have little balconies, if that interests you; not sure if any are on the lower floors.


Have a good trip!
Sandy

sandyh

By the way, Tom,
If you do decide to stay there, your wife might prefer the bus sometimes. The closest bus stop is for Line 60, which essentially goes along the northern part of the city from Pere LaChaise cemetery to Montmartre. But if you walk straight down Ave. de Laumiere to Place Armand Carrel, there is, as I had mentioned, a stop for Bus 75 which will take you to Pont Neuf, handy for Ile de la Cite -- and also one for Bus 48, which ends with two stops near the Louvre, the closest to the museum at Palais Royal-Musee du Louvre, which is actually one street over from rue de Rivoli at Saint-Honore (this is also where it starts back in the other direction).
Since there are fewer steps involved in riding the bus, your wife might find this easier.

Hope this helps,
Sandy

P.S. There are also several cafes and restaurants on the Place.

annhig

Hi Tom,

on our recent trip to Paris, I started out thinking the same thing as you, as we had to get to and from the gare du nord/CDG.

however, lateral thinking brought me to the conclusion that so long as i was near an RER line B stop, there shoudl be no problems. and so it proved - we stayed up by the RER luxembourg station, and it was dead easy [apart from the lack of a lift, which didn't worry us, but may worry you].

were you to book a hotel near the St. michel RER, I'd have thought that you'd be fine - easy access to whole of the centre of paris, a boat stop, RER B & C and Rapt stations, and plenty of museums, including the louvre.

have a great trip,

regards, ann

PS - if your DW really can't manage steps, try Vienna- no, I'm not kidding - every stop on the underground has a lift!

Christina

Actually, Vienna has a museum district or quarter. They have a metro stop by that name, also.

I would highly recommend the HOtel des Ducs d'Anjou near Chatelet metro stop, if you want to be in the thick of things. I just stayed there a few nights last month and was very pleased with its comfort and service, and the price was very reasonable for a superior double (I think I paid around 110 euro--would not recommend regular double as it will be too small). Chatalet metro stop is just a few steps away, and you walk from there to a lot of things, including Notre Dame, Hotel de Ville, and the Louvre. Chatelet is a stop on a line direct from Gare du Nord.

Don't know when you are going, but this hotel has good A/C, also, and the soundproofing to the street is excellent so it isn't noisy at all.
http://www.hotelducsdanjou.fr/

janisj

If you want to see museums/sites, and have some mobility issues - the last place I'd stay is near Gare du Nord.

Christina

huh, the area around Republique at night is hardly nursery school.

kerouac

There are at least 50 hotels directly across from Gare du Nord in every price range, and it is an excellent area for cafés, restaurants, and transportation elsewhere. The Mercure Terminus Nord is the best hotel of the area, just across the street from the station, but there are plenty of others -- the New Hotel, the Kuntz, the Apollo and many more. One of the best resources is to go to the yellow pages website -- www.pagesjaunes.fr -- and enter Paris 75010 as the search area for hotels. Hotels with websites are listed first but there are many other options. You can pay from 300€ to 30€ in the area.