Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Paris hotels...advice please

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Paris hotels...advice please

My husband and I will be going to Paris in January. I've done a ton of research, including reading posts on this board, and have narrowed down my hotel choices to a few. It seems hard to pick just one...everyone has their own favorite, or a really bad experience at a hotel. Here are the finalists: Millesime Hotel (175 euros standard, 190 superior) Pavillon de Paris (165 euros) Hotel Madison (I've gotten 2 separate price quotes from them, which worries me a bit) I've also gotten price quotes and are considering Hotel Verneuil and Hotel Therese (sister hotels in the Left and Right Banks, respectively), Caron de Beaumarchais (I've seen some very mixed reviews on this one, so it makes me a little nervous), Hotel de L'Arcade, Hotel Relais Bosquet, Hotel Lenox St. Germain, Hotel Littre, and Hotel Villa Opera Drouot. As you can tell, I'm having a really hard time picking! We're not terribly attached to staying in any one particular area, or even Left vs. Right Bank. We'd mostly like a quiet, relatively spacious (for Paris) room in a good area. We're big into walking and taking subways on our vacations generally, so if a hotel isn't exactly near something, I don't think that's fatal (esp. considering how small and accessible Paris is). Any thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

There must be something in some district of Paris that would make you want to stay in the general area. If there is, pick a hotel from your list and stop worrying. The hotel, assuming it is not a one-star or less, and is not a 4 star or greater, will probably not be a memorable part of your trip anyway. Honestly, without trying to be critical, I think you have agonized over this decision too long already.

I've only been to Paris once, but I agree that the location of the hotel (which arrondisement you pick) is far more important than the specific hotel. I chose the Latin Quarter (5th) but also liked the 7th (Eiffle Tower, Rue Cler) when we were walking around.

I'd choose Millesime as that's in the 6th dist. on rue Jacob. You'll be in the St. Germain des Pres area so there are many shops & restaurants. It's a quiet and scenic area. I hear the staff is very nice. We saw the Madison from outside & it's in the same area but on Blvd. St. Germain so it's in a busy area. The 7th dist. to me doesn't have that many shops & restaurants.

I don't know, I never spend that much time getting hotel quotes myself, I first pick the hotel I want, but I kind of know the rates ahead of time. I don't like the location of Littre, I'd scratch that, and the Opera Drouot (which may be fine, just not where I'd want to stay. I'd pick the Millesime, Verneuil or Madison, myself--good location and I know they all have good customer comments and reviews. The Madison is on a busy street, but is kind of set back, is a smaller hotel, and the noise won't matter in January because the windows will be closed (okay, I might prefer slightly higher floor). I've never heard of the Pavillon one, though. Relais Bosquet would probably be fine, also, that might be my second choice after the St-Germain ones. I do care about a hotel myself, I think a nice, charming, comfortable hotel really enhances a trip and makes it so much more enjoyable and pleasant. I've stayed in crummy hotels where I hated going back and it did lower the overall enjoyment of my vacation, I will admit. None of your choices can be that bad, though. I don't know the spaciousness of your choices, I'll admit, I am only picking on location. I don't stay on the Right Bank so that's just not what I'm comfortable with, but could be fine. I don't think you're going to find anyone who has stayed at all or most of those hotels to give you direct comparisons.

Christina & Cheryl, thanks for your input, that was exactly what I was looking for. I am generally able to narrow down a hotel's location by area (ie: St. Germain), but it's so hard to know whether it's on a busy street and likely to be loud or not unless you've walked by or stayed there. It's also nice to just get advice from people who have visited the place you're going to. Thanks! I may seem a little compulsive about hotel research, but I've had some extra time on my hands lately, so it seemed like an interesting thing to do (I get very excited when I have a vacation planned). I have stayed in truly awful places that were supposedly 3 or 4 star hotels, and it sometimes puts a damper on things, so I do take some extra care with selecting a hotel.

No problem. Thought I'd give my input since I just returned. We researched hotels also and picked Hotel d'Angleterre which is on rue Jacob also but did not think the room we got was worth the money. Others have had great experiences with this hotel though. So it can be hit and miss even if you do alot of research, but I think the hotel we stayed in needs maintenance in some of its rooms but not all therefore, feedback is mixed depending on the room you end up with. Anyway, I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay in the St. Germain area!

Kristina, I don't blame you for doing much research on hotels - I do the same thing! I think choosing the right hotel is important. I prefer the Left Bank of Paris, and St. Germain is a great area to stay in. I haven't stayed at any of the hotels you mentioned, though. Also, many, many people really like to stay in the 7th Arron. and I've heard great things about the Relais Bosquet, I'm tempted to try in for my next trip to Paris, for a change of area. I've stayed at Le Clos Medicis near Luxembourg Gardens, and loved it. I know it's really hard to choose, but you'll be glad you researched!

Kristina, I was in Paris last week and stayed at the Millesime. It's main "wow" feature is it's location. Rue Jacob is a quiet street around the corner from all the hustle & bustle of the 6th. We had a Superior room that was large for Paris and very clean. The decor of the hotel is modest and there are few services available. We did check out some other hotels while there. We had a drink at l'Hotel and plan to stay there on our next trip. It's a 4 star a couple blocks from the Millesime. The Madison is a larger hotel in the heart of the action, right on Blvd. SG. The Verneuil is a short walk (5 mins?) from the Millesime on a quiet street and looked very nice. I've read a lot about it and it always gets good reviews (Bon Appetit recommended it in an article last year and Michelin has it high on the list for the 7th). Even though it's in the 7th, it is on the border of the 6th and very close to the action, also a good location. Regarding location, we love the 6th; walkable to most areas, plenty of metro stops, lots of restaurants, cafes, shops, etc. It is full of life. The Millesime meets all the criteria you listed, as does the Verneuil. The Madison is not in a quiet area, but I'm sure they have quiet rooms, especially in January w/ windows closed. I hope this helps. I know how hard the hotel selection can be, it takes me forever to choose one. Please ask if I can offer more info. Have a great trip, j.

Thanks Mary & Jon. All this input is really helping. I was a little suspicious about the multiple emails with different prices that I got from Madison to begin with, and the busy location doesn't really help, so I'm thinking of ruling that one out. I'll have to check out L'Hotel! I keep coming back to Verneuil...but am wary of the reviews I've read that consistently say that the rooms are very small. This is the first stop on our trip, so we'll have more luggage than we otherwise would for a 4 night visit. Cheryl, your experience at the d'Angleterre is entirely what I'm concerned about. I'm more used to travel in Asia and Australia, where 5 star hotels can be had for $100 or so, so I'm used to getting my money's worth! Thanks again, and keep the posts coming! :)

I stayed at the Madison in April of last year and can highly recommend it. I had a standard double room facing Blvd. St-Germain, and can tell you that street noise is no problem. The room was spacious by Paris standards, and had a great bathroom with double sinks. The hotel is set back from the Blvd., and the front-facing rooms have a nice view of St.-Germain des Pres. They also have rooms facing an inner courtyard. The location couldn't be more convenient.

hi kristina, I have been to paris 3 times now. the 1st was in a small 2 star hotel in the 12th...the second was the hotel du louve right across from the louve. I would not recommend the 1st hotel...the district is too far from central paris and the hotel was really a 2 star. small room...very shabby. the second hotel du louve was great but very expensive. we had come across a special and grabbed it. i appreciated the 4 stars but if it hadn't been for the special would never have selected it because of price. what was really surprising....the room size was only marginally bigger than the 2 star hotel. we could at least walk around the beds at the hotel du louve. last year 1 took a 2 week trip to london and paris with 4 other friends. we were on a budget, but all agreed to afford at least a 3 star hotel. i searched for months, checked out recommendations etc. made my head swim. then i came across a site called holidaycity.com and it was advertising some great specials for paris. one of the hotels was a small boutique hotel named Hotel du Bois on the rue du dome off of victor hugo blvd north. I checked out it's website and one on 360 degrees .com and found it be very charming. we could not beat the price and booked the hotel 2 twin superiors with bath and 1 double with bath. we struck GOLD! This was really a charming hotel in a great location. rue du dome is about 2 blocks south of the arch du triumph (sp?) on victor hugo. it took us less than 5 minutes to get to the champs elysees each morning where one of the main subway hubs is located. the main tourist office is right there. night clubs...restuarants, shops etc. all the people watching you could want at night. right around the corner about a 5 minute walk is another subway station Kleber which happens to be one of the few stations that go directly to the eiffel tower. as far as convienence goes we could not have asked for more. no site was more than a change or two away on the subway. as far as the hotel goes...it was a small boutique hotel that is listed as one of the charming hotels of paris. it had been renovated about 2 or 3 years ago and really was charming. the big surprise was the size of the rooms. the double was bigger than the room at the hotel du louve and the twin superior were huge as far as paris hotels go. all were tastefully and quietly decorated. nothing garish. we were on the 2nd floor and we had an inner room and 2 outer rooms. the rooms have been soundproofed because of the morning and evening traffic on victor hugo so you wouldn't notice it. the bath was huge. if you decide to try it the rates range from 99 euros fro a double or 119 for a double/twin superior with bath. i recommend the bath (comes with bath w/shower). thru holidaycity.com the rates may be lower and comes with cont. breakfast each morning. those are the pro's. now for the con's. this hotel was rated 3 stars but could have been 4 stars but for 2 things. it does not have air conditioning so summer would not be a good time to go. we went in the fall during a warm spell and still had no problem each room had a fan. the room has hair dryers and minibar. even a clothes line in the shower. the only real minus for this hotel was that it did not have an elevator. we had to walk two flights up with heavy lugguage. it is a small hotel so no bellboy. it was worth the lugging. for comfort and convienence i would highly recommend this hotel. the evenings were quiet on victor hugh and with the arc right down the block, and the eiffel south the views were breathtaking. to tell you how convienent this location was....the morning we went back to london on the eurostar we got up at 8.30 and took the subway back to the louve area and back to the hotel by 10am (we left something at a shop). erin b

Kristina, paying $100 for 4 and 5 star hotels sure beat what we paid to stay at d'Angleterre. Because we reserved a triple room (large bed plus a small sofabed for our son) the cost was 248 euro per night! For that amount at a highly recommended hotel, one would expect a well-maintained room which we did not receive unfortunately. I'm thankful that because we broke up our trip to visit other areas we only spent two nights there and then I reserved the rest of our stay at another hotel. Otherwise, we'd have spent well over $1,500 for a horrible room. You seem to be researching your hotels quite well and I'm certain that you'll be satisfied with the Millesime. One hint, you should probably take the superior room because as you may know, rooms in Paris are quite small generally. You're right in scratching the Madison if their emails are inconsistent regarding the rates.