First time in Paris -I am overwhelmed and can't decided between two hotels. Hotel Royal Saint Michel and Hotel des Academies they are both about the same price. I am thinking royal Saint Michael is in more Convenient area but i'm not sure.

Did the comments on each one at Tripadvisor.com help any..?

As a general rule, the more convenient the area, the higher the street noise level.

These hotels are air conditioned and sound proof, so street nose is not a factor.

I think you are right. As far as I know all 4-star hotels in Paris are nice.

Given the location of both, air conditioning is important to you can keep the windows CLOSED to shut out the noise.

Both are located in high street noise areas.

Which one is best. Take your pick. I like the area along Montparnasse because it is lively at night, really festive and full of people.

The important thing is the nearness of metro stations and bus lines.

I stay at a hotel off of Montparnasse with a/c so I can reduce the street noise. Montparnasse tends to be full of sirens!! As I said, it is a lively area!

I agree that the Royal St Michel is more 'convenient'. You could use the RER-B line between CDG/Paris with no transfers if you wanted. There are quite a few typical tourism sites that you could walk to, whereas Montparnasse is further away. We stay further south, around Denfert Rochereau, but we aren't new visitors, either.

Both hotels are in areas where there are plenty of cafe/restaurant choices.

Note that the Hotel des Academies et des Arts is a 'new' hotel, renovated in 2006 and won't resemble any reviews/comments you might find that predate that reopening.

Just returned from Paris. If u are looking for a 4 star hotel, I stayed at the Hotel Nepoleon. Half a block from the Arc. Read my and other reviews on tripadvisor.com web site under hotel reviews. Great hotel, great location.

Thanks everyone - I booked the Royal Saint Michel. It turns out its a Best Western and i called them directly and got an even better rate... AAA discount 132 euros a night.

Good job!

bae215 - Just a little word of warning about the hotel being a Best Western.......... On our second trip to Paris our travel agent booked us into one such hotel on Blvd de la Tour Marbourg in the 7th.
OK, granted it had the Best Western sign hanging outside but inside it was a simple typical French building with a miniscule elevator and very small rooms. As a matter of fact when we had to shower (in the bath naturally) my husband who is quite tall but not a 7 footer -stuck his head right through the plastic (removable) ceiling!
So be prepared - it won't be like a Best Western in the States.

&quot;<i>it won't be like a Best Western in the States.</i>&quot;

And just what might that be? Since Best Western is not a chain and each one is independently owned - even in the States they are all different. Some posh, some quite basic. It is a marketimg group - not a chain of identical hotels.

S'pose what I meant to say was, not modern facilities - in other words the interior would be just the same as if bae215 had booked Hotel Bonaparte to mention just one.
It did come as a surprise to us that The Best Western was totally &quot;ancient?&quot;. In recent years we booked the Holiday Inn Opera on Rue de Echiquier. This interior WAS modern with wide passages to the rooms. Also it was the first time we experienced a room with a kingsize bed in Paris and never since!
But apart from it's modern enterior it still had that teeny little elevator for two people only and I guess that'll never change unless they rip down the building.