Paris - Abbatial or Residence de Arts
 

Hello,
I have reserved 2 hotels in Paris in July, but don't know which is better:
Residence de Arts & Hotel Abbatial...both located in the Latin Qtr, but Arts is $220 a night, while Abbatial is $160.
Which do I keep?
Sergey

would also like information about the Abbatial saint germain, specially the single rooms.
thanks. shula

You know I have stayed at Abital St. Germaine near Rue Des Bernadins three times in four visits. It has always been a reasonable hotel with great staff. You are in easy walking distance from the Maubert Metro stop

The ONLY problem I've had is the rooms they put me in are consistently on the noisy side. Unfortunately the noise is from other American Tourists! Skip the breakfast and go down the street where you will find plenty of places to grab something at the bar. I don’t know the Residence des Arts so I can not offer any advice there.

I am planning a trip with three of my nephews and their wives on 2009. For that trip I'm going to try the Hotel St. Jacques, simply to be different. The rates aer about the same, however.

Bon Chance.

Three of us stayed in the Abbatial's triple rooms which was a large double with a tiny single bed. It was on the 5th floor and had a balcony that you couldn't use. The room on the whole was excellent. I saw either a standard double or single and it was quite small. We weren't bothered by the noise on the boulevard as we were on a high floor unless we opened the windows (one large window was in the bathroom!). All in all it was a very nice experience staying there and so convenient to the BNP ATM's and the Seine. The only minus was the extremely thin walls, but this seems to be typical in Paris.

I would be cautious with the Abbatial only because of the time of year you are going. Although, they have air-conditioning, it did not work very well for us a few years ago when we stayed there in May, 2004 during a heat wave. We actually had to change rooms three times in four days.

I will say the the rooms were absolutely spotless. But I agree, one of the rooms we were in had a view of the Pantheon from the balcony, but you couldn't go out there--it was sort of a roof. The room was so small, we put one of our pieces of luggage out there! This was the room that had the most cool air, but was also the smallest.

Everyone was very nice, but that did not help that fact that it was unbearably uncomfortable. Since I am told all air-conditioning is mediocre at best, I may be somewhat harsh with my assessment. But on another trip also in late May, we stayed at the Madison hotel in the 6th and the air worked beautifully. Are you sure the price is $160 USD or €160? = $240 before CC charges.

thanks for the feedback.
I booked a single room for mid-June (they told me it will be at the back, so probably dark, as single rooms are...) .
hope I am before the heat.