Paris hotel
 

I will be travelling to France in mid Sept. Will be in Paris for 3 or 4 nights before going to Normandy.
Would appreciate some suggestions for a 3 or 4 star hotel on the left bank. Thanks for any help.

The star system might be different from what you are used to.
Try the three hotels on Ile Saint Louis - except for the Jeu de Paume, which is a 4 or 5 star hotel.

http://www.hotellutece.com/en/

I was very happy with the above in my trip in February. Three Star, excellent service, impeccably clean, recently renovated, reasonably priced, well located for what I wanted to do.

Regarding 3 or 4 Star. I have traditionally stayed in 4-Star hotels in Paris for several years out of habit. This time, I decided to save some money and stay at a 3-Star hotel. This hotel had everything I needed. The Star system is based on amenities, not necessarily luxury. There are loads of great 3-Star hotels in Paris that are just as good as 4 Star hotels at the lower-medium end, but cheaper.

Check out Hotels.com or Bookings.com. Try searching on the 'Latin Quarter' (5th) as a start.


Regards .. Ger

So the original poster is not left dangling:
The hotel star system is a government function, rather than a tourist promotion scheme as some other places. The stars indicate the facilities available. If the hotel has a restaurant, for instance, its star rating rises. However, it does not indicate quality of service.

Hotel Edouward 7. Three star. Hotel D'Aubusson 4 star.

I think the stars in France are about what an American would expect, actually. I always think of hotel stars as being what facilities are available in any country, I don't know anywhere that they mean something different.

Just having a restaurant does not give a hotel another star in France as I've read the extensive criteria. Very few hotels in Paris have a restaurant, as it isn't even required for a 4* hotel. But in way, that is just not going to happen, that some hotel will have a restaurant that is only a 3* hotel in Paris, and thus it becomes a 4*. It is required for a 5* hotel to have a restaurant open 5 days a week. For other hotels, if they have a restaurant, they get 3 points but you absolutely cannot get another star just by having an additional 3 points, it requires over 50 points to go from a 3* to 4*, for example, and 72 points to go from a 4* to 5*.

I imagine the OP means what most people mean when they say that, a 3* hotel is midlevel, 4* a bit above that. And that is true in France as well as anywhere else I've been.

It really depends on your budget. I often stay in MOntparnasse and it's a bit cheaper than St Germain, etc., but I like it better, lots of restaurants and excellent transportation options. Two hotels I like there are the Hotel Raspail and the Hotel Aiglon.

Those hotels on Ile St Louis would be central. the Jeu de Paume is not a 5* hotel, there aren't very many of those in all of Paris, but it is not one.