At the completion of our Elderhosel Tuscany trip we contemplate stopping over in Paris since we are routed that way. This will be my first trip to Paris in 14 yrs and the first without an expense account so I need some help regarding best way from airport to hotel, nice hotel choices and of course resturants where the Parisians eat. The travel agency booking our air has (2) 3 day packages, one for 3 Star and one for 4 star hotels which include Bkfst, 3 day Metro pass,
3 day museum pass, one hour sightseeing tour via bus and a one hour boat ride for $402 pp
for the 3 star and $537pp for the four star
option. We plan to stay 4 days and pay an xtra $101pp and $146 pp for the extra day. The question is do we go for the package or seek out a better deal for hotel etc. Any help will be greatly appreciated. As I have noted we arrive in Paris on April 10,2005. Hopefully it won't rain excessively. The hotels in the packages are: 3 star-Hotel Mercure Ronceray-Paris opers and the 4 star is Hotel Mayfair on Rue Rouget De Lisle.

I would think that the hotel choice would depend upon the degree of comfort you require. The rate for a large room with bath at my little two star, including breakfast, is $115 [dollars, not euros], and there are plenty of nice places to stay in that range.

Then there is the fact that the star rating system is based on criteria that may have nothing really to in a practical sense with how one hotel might compare to another.

I think you can do much better than that package...you can get 3 nights in a 3 star hotel for less than $600 easily (and many already include breakfast), and the museum passes, metro fares, and tours shouldn't add up to more than $200. Last year we were only in Paris for 3 nights (previous trips have been longer) and we did it very economically (if you don't count our splurging on meals...and even those cost about half of what comparable meals out do at home in DC) This is probably too early to get a good read on hotel costs in May 2005, but since that is before the "season" begins in earnest, you will be able to find some great deals. I like using www.parishotels as well as a couple other hotel-finding sites. Last year we thought our hotel had lost our reservation about a week before we left home...and a last-minute check found me three wonderful alternatives in the same price range. (For us that has always been under $120US per night for a double, but with the strength of the euro vs the dollar recently, we will probably have to up that budget for European hotels in the future.) I'd do some serious web-surfing...check out tripadvisor.com for reviews on something that looks good to you, or ask again here and you should be able to beat that package VERY easily. You've got plenty of time to "shop." Don't let the travel agency push you into a package at this early a date!

Hi Bob,

I agree that you can find a very nice hotel and enjoy your time in Paris for much less than the tour pkg.

We always stay at the Hotel Bonaparte, 61 rue Bonaparte in the 6th. Use the money you save to take a cab into the city from the airport, buy a carnet of 10 tickets (10E) for the Metro, and tickets for a cruise on the Seine.

A 3-day Museum pass is 36E.

See http://www.ratp.fr/ParisVisite/Eng/A...etmonument.htm

PS,

The Bonaparte is 120E/nite dbl w/bkfst.

If you enter the name in "search this forum" you will find several threads giving details.

I, too, agree you can arrange hotels, etc., on your own for less than the travel agency is asking. And star ratings at Paris hotels are deceptive. Your travel agency's four-star hotel might be a big chain hotel removed from the main sites.

We have two favorite Paris hotels - the three-star Duquesne Eiffel (http://www.hotels-exclusive.com/hote...l/index_en.htm), where a double is about 140 €, and the Hôtel de France (www.hoteldefrance.com), where a double is about half that.

You can do better on your own mainly because under their system you are paying double for the hotel room. You could get a hotel room for maybe $125 (the Muguet comes to mind)/night, the bus might be $50 for both of you, the boat ride is less than $10 each, and as someone has said, the museum pass is $36. You don't say whether all these tour prices include your transport from Tuscany to Paris, the

Bob,
As everyone has said, you can certainly save on these rates if budget is a concern, but if you want an excellent 4 star on a quiet street just off Place de la Concorde, you would be hard pressed to beat the Mayfair, and the $292 rate for an extra day is about $50 less than their normal double occupant room cost.

BobG, please tell us a bit about the Elderhostel trip to Tuscany. I've heard good things about that organization. J.

You can obviously spend less if you want to stay in lower end hotels, but as someone noted, that is a good rate for the Mayfair.

There is some misinformation above -- May is not before the hotel main season starts, that is considered peak rate season in almost all Parisian hotels. Summer is not hotel high season in Paris. Also, you are not paying twice for a hotel room, they have simply split the price in half so it is per person, not per room.

>you are not paying twice for a hotel room, they have simply split the price in half so it is per person, not per room.<

Even so, thay are paying about $670/3= $235/nite for a hotel room and there are lots of good quality, central hotels at that price, with bkfst.

jmw44 The elderhostel trip we are taking is their number 3013. Get a look see at elderhostel.com Also to several of you who kindly responded we will be in Paris on April 10 not May as some of you seem to think. I wish I could find a definition of what constitutes 3 star and 4 star hotels

Hi Bob,

The star system rates hotels on their "amenities", elevator, A/C, conference room, bar....

Here is a discussion:
http://goeurope.about.com/cs/hotels/a/hotel_stars.htm