paris hotels - palais bourbon or abotel prince albert?!
 

hi there. my husband and i will be in paris for a week in september (following a week in london - and flying in to CDG). i have been researching hotels and have my short list of two. if anyone can help me make my final decision, i would really appreciate it.
it will be our first time in paris. we want to see the usual tourist attractions, museums, etc, and will probably do the hop on and off bus tour on the first day to get a feel for the city. we are big walkers, and may do one day trip.

our basic criteria is a clean, air conditioned room with a fridge, elevator and breakfast included. these two fit the bill, and the traveller reviews for palais bourbon and abotel prince albert are very good. i know palais bourbon is in the 7th arrondissement, and prince albert is in the 1st.

are there a variety of restaurants near both hotels? we are happy to have some half decent ones and some quick and inexpensive ones. having the fridge will also allow to buy things like meat and cheese to make sandwiches. this is not so much to economize, but also for times when all we want is a sandwich. i would be interested in your thoughts on either or both areas.

the rate i was quoted for palais bourbon is 125 euros per night -
http://www.bourbon-paris-hotel.com/

the rate i was quoted for abotel prince albert is 109 euros per night -
http://www.abotelparis.com/abotel-pr...sentation.html

thanks for any help you can give me!

I'll respond a little if only to raise your post up...
I seem to recall that the Palais Bourbon has renovated in recent years, and many people post about good restaurants located in the 7th...
and based on the user reviews and photos I saw on Tripadvisor, I'd choose the Palais Bourbon over the Prince Albert.
The reviews mention the presence of a bakery across the street, a couple of grocers nearby and the metro stop around the corner...

I stayed at the Prince Albert in March. It is a 'very' central location and there are places to eat near by. We didn't need air conditioning so I can't verify if they have it.

I can't recall our room number but it was at the very end of the hall. We had twin beds and there was a mini-frig. The elevator held one person with one suitcase. The front desk was friendly and helpful. We booked through Eurocheapo and breakfast was not included. It is a block or so off Rue de Rivoli which is a very touristy area.

thx, travelnut and barbara, for your responses.

just to make things a little more interesting, i am now also considering hotel residence monge in the 5th. ive been quoted a price of 100 e per night for a double room. contintental breakfast is 6.5 euros, which make it the same rate as prince albert.

http://www.hotelmonge.com/

the reviews ive read are terrific, and im now thinking this may be an interesting area in which to stay.

decisions, decisions!

I stayed around the corner from Hotel Monge and it was a nice area... it's around the corner from des Arenes and rue Mouffetard... bit more of a walk to the Pantheon. Look for posts by "Nikki" for good places to eat.

I just got back from Paris on April 28th and I spent a week at the Hotel Monge. I highly recommend the hotel as it is clean and quiet. I particularly recommend the room w/ a view of the garden. it's quieter and it was 99 euro/night. i never ate breakfast there so i cannot comment on that. the staff was pleasant and i enjoyed the neighborhood. it is particularly convenient if you plan on using the metro b/c it's very close to two metro stations. it does have an elevator that works, but it's about the size of my linen closet. and i do recall airconditioning and a fridge.

Two friends and I stayed at the Palais Bourbon the second week of April and loved it. In fact, it was our favorite hotel of the three hotels we stayed in during our three weeks in France and Italy. It's very nicely located with a variety of restaurants nearby, two great markets (actually, a third was going in while we were there), and a metro station right around the corner; and the Rodin museum is literally a half block away. And the staff is very nice.

The one thing to note is that the elevator is miniscule and the stairs are many although you'll be walking so much in general (if you're like us) you'll be bragging about your buns of steel by the second day :-)

Have a wonderful time, wherever you stay!

Sara

hi, and thx again. our executive decision has still not been made. as i said in another thread, i am not pleased with hotel residence monge's cancellation policy (if we have to cancel, we pay approx. $300US). this is just too stringent for us.

so at this point, we are still trying to decide between palais bourbon and prince albert. any other comments? for the difference in price, we're leaning towards prince albert, but it aint over yet! :-)

xplors,
We don't stay at the Palais Bourbon, but we do stay just up the block a bit, across the street from it, at the Hotel de Varenne. The P de B has lower rates, and we have gone in to check the lobby and ask for a brochure. (Elevator at the Varenne is miniscule as well!)

I can certainly recommend very enthusiastically the street, the Rue de Bourgogne, where it's found. It's quite elegant, sophisticated, with lovely architecture, very quiet, but just around the corner from major tourist attractions. As Sara and others have noted, you'll have handy markets, a wine bar, the gourmet Restaurant August, an ATM machine, 2 metro stops, a wonderful bakery that has won pastry competitions, a news shop, and at the end of the block, one of the city's most elegant gourmet delicatessens/tea rooms.
We love this street!

xplors,
Forgot to add a list of our favorite restaurants in the 7th, within walking distance of the Palais Bourbon.

For inexpensive breakfast/lunch/snack or inexpensive dinner:
Café du Marché at the rue de Cler market.

For wine/cheese/omelettes/charcuterie/appletarts:
Le Sancerre at 22 Avenue Rapp. Open continuously til 10:30 p.m. Closed Sat. night/Sun.

Bellota-Bellota at 18 rue Jean Nicot for casual but impeccable Spanish fare serving melt-in-your-mouth jamón ibérico platters, terrific gazpacho to accompany the platters, delicious cheeses and bread from Poujaran. Great fun.

Chez L'ami Jean on rue Malar 27 (former sous chef at La Regalade)

L'Affriole at rue Malar 17. Wonderful value for the money. One we always return to.

Le Florimond (seems to be everyone's favorite on the forum) at 19 av de la Motte Piquet

Cafe Constant at 139 rue St. Dominique, owned by the chef of Le Violon d'Ingres.

La Fontaine de Mars at 129 rue St Dominique Oozing quaint Parisian bistro ambience, but always packed, always a wait for a table, but the terrace seating in summer is worth the wait.

Au Bon Accueil at 14 rue Monttessuy, literally in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, with a few sidewalk tables set up in summer under the tower's magic spell.

Le Maupertu at 94 La Tour Maubourg, across from the Invalides.

Nabuchodonosor at 6 av. Bosquet (very good value prix fixe at lunch)

Le Clos des Gourmets at 16 Avenue Rapp (what a tony block!) Charmingly run by a husband and wife team. (This is actually our very favorite of the above).

For a splurge:
Les Ormes , 22 rue Surcouf, cuisine by Stephane Mole, a disciple of Robuchon.

Good luck with your decision!

maribel!!

thank you so very much for all the detailed info. you know, i actually emailed hotel varenne, a while back, but i was told the most inexpensive room was something like 150 e a night - that theres some sort of conference the week we'll be there. so thats when i looked at palais bourbon instead.

if we do stay at palais bourbon, we'll be armed with a great list of restaurants. thanks again, and i'll keep you posted!

xplors,
I think you'll be just fine at the Palais Bourbon, and you'll be in a very tony section of the tony 7th arrond, surrounded by lovely mansions. The Palais du Bourbon is recommended in the Alastair Sawday's "Special Places to Stay Paris" as well as the de Varenne.

Forgot a restaurant for your list:

Le P'tit Troquet on 28 rue de L'Exposition. a very narrow street between Saint Dominique and Grenelle. A husband and wife team, antique filled little bistro, always packed, offers a good value 27 € fixed price lunch and 30 € dinner. It's a Michelin red guide "Bibi Gourmand", meaning that it offers a nice bang for one's buck.
Closed Sat. lunch, all day Sun., Mon. lunch.
We go on Mon. night.

And at the end of the rue de Bourgogne, at the Place du Palais Bourbon, there's that wonderful gourmet shop/delicatessen, "Rollet-Pradier" (whose owner spent 20 years at Ladurée) that produces some truly exquisite pastries. Very classy.

Plus you're only a 10-15 min. walk from the classy dept. store Au Bon Marche whose food emporium, in the building next door, La Grande Epicerie, has everything take-out under the sun, and a great selection of wines (plus there are frequent tastings!). We make a stop here once a day!

Have a great time!

hey maribel. thanks for all of your great info. i truly appreciate it. if anyone else has anything to share, especially about prince albert, i would love to hear. thx

bookmark

Hi xplors:
I have to add my two cents.

We try to go to Paris every year or so and we always try a new hotel. My husband and I stayed at the Hotel du Palais Bourbon in 1999. While the hotel was nice, good-sized room, nice bathroom (I took a tub almost every night) and breakfast included - a rarity in Paris - I don't think I'd stay there again.

The reason being is that the area around the hotel is very quiet at night. We are not "party-ers", but we enjoy having a nice dinner, strolling and people-watching. Not the case near the Palais Bourbon.

We found we did quite a bit of walking back to the hotel - which we do enjoy - but have since discovered other arrondissments we like a lot better.

Especially because it's your first time in Paris - I'd stay in the 3rd, 4th (right bank) or 5th or 6th (left bank).

The 6th is our favorite area - St. Germain de Pres.

If you want to read more about our Paris travels, visit our website where my husband keeps our travel journals.

Whatever hotel you do choose, you'll have a wonderful time in Paris - it is magic! We'll be there also in September and it's a great time of year to be in the City of Light!

Enjoy,
Carol
www.davidandcarol.com

xplors

I don't have a thing to say about the Prince Albert (unless you want to hear a very bad, very old joke) but I am one of the folks that wrote praising the street where the Palais Bourbon is.

As I wrote in another thread, we liked it so much that we have stayed in both the Palais Bourbon and the Hotel de Varenne.

On the Palais B. side of the street, there is that elegant deli that made me the very best chicken sandwich I ever ate in my entire life.

I think you have to go for it.

"..the area around the hotel is very quiet at night."

sounds like a good night's sleep to me...

okay, so...i feel kind of bad, but im still holding on to both reservations, and i want to free one up very soon. i have talked to a woman who is from the US, but is working in paris. she said that all things considered, she would go with the cheaper option. she said she thinks both the 1st and 7th districts are fine for 1st-timers.

if we go with prince albert, and sorry if ive said this already, we would save roughly $200 over the eight days.

anybody stayed at prince albert? i emailed both hotels, recently, and they confirmed that we will have a/c in the rooms!

thanks!

I haven't stayed at either but here is my rationale, based on Tripadvisor comments:
I would choose Palais Bourbon over Prince Albert b/c -
Prince Albert has 'thin' walls and is located in a very busy area, so it will be noisy from both outside and inside
Someone could smell smoke from other rooms
Palais Bourbon has been renovated in recent history, is in a quieter area(you're there to sleep, right?) and just sounds better to me.

Have you factored in that breakfast is included at Palais Bourbon, while it is an extra cost at Prince Albert? (according to their websites).

thanks for your thoughts, travelnut. we have breakfast included at both hotels, which is great. 125 e per night @ palais bourbon, and 109 @ prince albert. weve really got to decide soon!