I usually stay around St. Germain but would like a change. I was thinking about Butte Aux Cailles area but don't know enough about it. Once stayed in Montparnasse and liked it.
I am 72, pretty fit so can walk around. Not looking for young and hip (I am neither) but not someplace stuffy either. Would love recommendations for neighborhoods and hotels (preferably under $200/night). I'll be there September 13-17. Thanks.

Moved to Europe board and tagged for France.

We also gravitate towards St Germain, but have enjoyed the Marais before.

My sister and I stayed at Les Jardins d'Eiffel in January 2019 and it was great. Under $200/night, on Rue Amelie between Rue Saint Dominique and Rue de Grenelle. Very close to the Metro, good restaurants and a fab patisserie right across the street. We could see the Eiffel Tower from our window. Highly recommend.

Our first visit to Paris was in 1999. This was the hotel:

https://ceramic-paris-hotel.com/

A ceramic vine decorated the outside. Although it was a hop skip and jump to the Etoile metro, it was in just the right direction away from crowds. If memory serves, it was convenient to Lafayette shopping and Parc Monceau.

More recently, in two different places:

April in Paris...with a Side of Bordeaux

This will be our 7th visit to Paris this Fall, but again for 3d or 4th time, are returning to Hotel des Jardins du Luxembourg, on a little cul-de-sac right near the south-eastern corner of the Lux gardens. On the corner is the RER B, which is very handy to/from CDG. We also enjoy taking the 63 bus from down the street (believe its Blvd St Michel) across Blvd St Germain and over Seine to Champs de Mars, from which we walk back. Our street is super quiet and very convenient to all things on Left Bank, but easy walk over to Right. We are finally exploring Rue Mouffetard and Jardins des Plantes, the inspiration for NYC's Highline, BHV over in Marais, along with the Musee Carnavalet, Musee Marmotton, and of course back to Angelina, Shakespeare & Co, and other must-dos,

Andib, I like to stay in different parts of Paris so as to get to know those areas better and on my recent 4 night stay I was persuaded to stay on the Rue Mouffetard in the 5th which was a great experience. Of course it was very busy as it's full of restaurants and cafes but it was a lot of fun and very convenient for exploring places I hadn't been to before like the jardins des plantes, and the Pantheon, and also for the metro on the Place Monges which I found could take me to most places I wanted to go to with only one or two changes. Nice market there too on Fridays and Sundays. Because I wanted to use my points I stayed at the Best Western Hotel Apollonia Rue Mouffetard which was very clean and quiet and had lovely staff. Highly recommended.

I was in Paris first week of June…
wanted a change from usual: small, old hotels in St. Germain …booked a new hotel Villa M on Boulevard Pasteur …across from the metro Pasteur.’
I had a room on the courtyard side…it was perfect for what In needed.
It may be above your price range, though.

Thanks for the thumbs up annhig, we’ll be staying near Rue Mouffetard and Métro Place Monge for six nights early August. Haven’t been to the area in 20-25 years and was in two minds, but research shows it to be eclectic and fun, I think we’ll enjoy trying out the various restaurants. Am also looking forward to revisiting the Jardin des Plantes, which could provide a welcome refuge if the current heatwave continues.

Again, have mixed up my Jardins! Top of my list for October is Promenade des Plantee, which is the 3 mi elevated garden running from Bastille to Bois Vincennes. It is the setting of the delightful "Before Trilogy" featuring Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke. It runs above Viaduc des Arts. But might as well take in Jardins des Plantes too!

We visited both the Jardins des Plantes and the Promenade before the plague. As a home gardener, I found the jardins more interesting. In addition to a glass house with various environments, outside were demonstration gardens from various seed distributors showing their stuff. The Promenade was more formal in style. It was a very pleasant walk, with different plantings strung along it like beads.

The Promenade is also on my list of to-dos, let’s see if we’ll be able to make time for it. The Jardin des Plantes is an old haunt from when I was a student at Sorbonne in the early eighties, my friends and I would go there quite often. Went back once in the mid nineties, but not since.

geetika, it was a completely new area to me and I loved it. There is a terrific choice of restaurants from a buffet style sushi joint [excellent value at lunch] to a takeaway greek place [the longest lines every night] to a restaurant presently virtually every area of France from Breton crepes to Alsatian choucroute to Dordogne confit de canard. Also a wide range of shops, bars, outdoor cafes, - you could spend a whole week there really.

I was in Paris last in 2019 and had nice stays at two hotels, one of which is probably too "young and hip" (Jules et Jim) for your taste.

The other, Hotel Original, was considerably less expensive and kinda wild in decor but now has new ownership (?) and more traditional/soothing room design. Location was perfect for my priorities that trip, and I lucked out with a (quirky) room with a beautiful view. It's now called Hotel Le Petit Beaumarchais and is near Bastille. It may be more expensive these days as it appears a bit more polished. No more jellyfish lamps. Also, it is on a busy boulevard, so if you want to step out of your hotel lobby onto a peaceful little street, it's not for you.

Somewhere on St Mich? That's convenient and fun.