This will be our first trip to Paris, traveling as a couple with a female friend along for the ride. My husband is not a fan of large, impersonal hotels. He is also a bit of a "market street" addict. The Rue Cler area has been recommended, but I see nothing really in that area save the Eiffel Tower as far as the big sites go. We will do the usual, Louvre, d'Orsay, Notre Dame, Sainte Chappelle, etc. We also do not want to spend an arm and a leg, as I am sure there are several things in Paris I would much rather spend my Euro on! We plan to be there for 4 days at the end of April (starting our trip in Amsterdam, then Brussels/Bruges).

Thank you for any info you can offer. I will also say that I have an issue with stairs (bad knee), so probably will not be leaning heavily on the Metro due to the steps involved but we are all fine with straight up walking!

Rue de Buci is also a market street and might offer you more. It may also be more expensive.
Your assessment that there isn't really much there except the ET is sort of true of a lot of places you can stay, but Paris is a very walkable city--and the bus and metro system will have you anywhere you want to go.
The nice part of the rue Cler area is that it is serviced by 4 major bus line and two major metro stops. Everyone here will tell you it is boring--it is a more residential area. It is also charming with great restaurants--as MANY many other areas also have.
Your knee problems should lead you directly to the bus system and you get to see things on your way. it is excellent.

Hi
Waht kind of hotel do you want ?
Low budget, expensive, central, in a cosy arrondissement, doesn't matter ? Please state your budget per night in Euros if you wish some recommendations.
All hotels are relativeley close to a Metro, so I don't find it important to choose a centrally located hotel, which will be more expensive and will save you 10 minutes.

Main sites are spread around Paris, so in the end it doesn't play much a role.
All of Paris intramuros is safe, just stay a few hundreds meters from the doors (portes) that mark the limit of Paris, on the periphérique.
Time of visit has a huge impact on price. August is low season, june and september are hard to come by.

I'd say you should look at booking.com or such sites, after you familiarize with the map of Paris and decide where to stay.
http://www.plandeparis.info/plans-pa...nts-paris.html
Look via booking.com and or ask for specific guidance.

For Brussels, I cannot recommend any hotel except le Novotel de la tour noire, where I've put some US friends. Close to la Bourse and Place Ste Catherine, very central and nice area.
Allow for at least one day in Bruxelles (la grand place, le sablon, musée horta et musée de la BD, then eat at Place Sainte-Catherine). Gent is a very lovely city, bigger and more alive than Brugge, a very nice but museum like city.

Trains from Paris to Bruxelles are foudn on thalys.com and tickets are on sale about 90 days in advance, best price as early as possible. Same goes for AMS - Paris.
From Bxl to Brugge, just take a ticket on the day of travel, no reservation asked, price independant of moment of purchase.

Rue Cler is famous because of Rick Steve's books.
I managed to never notice it until I saw it come quite often on US visited travel forums and went there.
Nothing special imho, not a bad street, but no better than a lot of others. Rue Montorgueil is much nicer and as touristic.

Thank you for the prompt replies. Rue Cler was actually recommended by a friend who stayed in the area last summer, not via Rick Steves. We would be comfortable with anything under 275 Euro per night, but that would be the upper end of the budget. Have marked my map with the two mentioned market streets, Rue Montorgueil and de Buci - thank you very much for that. As for type of accommodation, we would be fine with a small place (we booked a B&B in Amsterdam and a small hotel in Brussels), and we could do either two rooms or share a room so long as the single traveler would have an actual bed and a little bit of space for three people. In tight quarters, we would rather have separate rooms.

Thanks again!
Tina

Gretchen - thank you especially for the bus advice. It is nice to know that if we do decide on Rue Cler area we will have easy access to the bus lines. Our friend said she enjoyed the residential feel of the area and they did walk pretty much everywhere from their hotel.

hi
Hotel Tourisme Avenue, 66 Avenue de la Motte-Picquet 7e

Been there recently, you should have a room for under 150 e, so two for under 300 €. I Paid 130 €.
Rooms are spacious enough for Paris, location is just in front of a metro. They have a lift, AC. etc. Price is breakfast excluded.
I liked the area (but I like 90% of areas in Paris).

Another area that you might enjoy is in the fifth near Maubert Mutualite. There is a market every other day in front of permanent shops...the cheese shop there is incredible. It is right on Blvd St Germain and near the markets of rue Mouffetard. This area is close to the Cluny and Pantheon and also quite close to Notre Dame and isle St Louis. There are lots of small hotels in the area. We stayed in an apt, so I can't advise on the hotels.

I think both rue de Buci and Cler are expensive, but the hotels are cheaper around rue Cler, actually. And really, you aren't going to just stay around your hotel, so the fact that there aren't a bunch of big tourist sites within a couple blocks of your hotel doesn't matter (and is probably a good thing). the ET isn't really that close to rue Cler, a lot of people don't want to it from there (at least from the part near Ecole Militaire). there are several permanent market streets in Paris, but if one is crazy about markets, you'll porbably want to go to one of the roving ones, anyway, and then you'll go to it.