Please help me choose a hotel in Paris.
 

Hello my friends.
We're planning to go to Paris for a few days at the end of September/beginning of October. We can stay 3 nights. I'd like to be in or near the Saint Germaine neighbourhood because we'll be seeing friends who are staying here. After reading a million threads and looking at a million websites, I've come up with this shortlist. I haven't checked yet to see if there are vacancies or if their 3-night or last-minute specials are in effect. Just tell me, please, if you would eliminate any of these or which ones you'd put at the top of the list. If there's no room at the inn, I may have to go to the second string list but right now, these would be my first choices (in no particular order):

Hotel Agora Saint Germaine
Les Jardins du Luxembourg
Fontaines du Luxembourg
Hotel Fleurie
Hotel Odeon
Hotel Abbatial

And how do they get all the hotel rooms, which I know are small, looking so great on their websites. Man oh man, I want the name of that photographer!

Thanks
gtg

hi gtg,

we actually stayed at les jardins du luxembourg earlier this year, and my only comment would be that it may be further from st. Germain than you want, as it is right up by the Luxembor RER stop, so if you are anything like us, you wil spend a lot of time walking down the boulevard st. Michel [which isn't so bad] and then walking back up it [which is!]

otherwise it was very quiet and pleasant and did exactly what it said on the tin!

can't help you with any of the others, I'm afraid.

Hi ann,
I saw your review on TripAdvisor and the location is fine. I've been checking my list on-line and so far no luck with rooms at all but I realize that calling them directly may be more profitable. I'll start doing that tomorrow.
Thanks for your help

well, I haven't stayed at any of those but I know the area very well and actually Les Jardins du Luxembourg is right across the street from St Germain, basically, if you call the 6th arr that almost in all areas north of rude d'Assas or so. I consider bd St Michel the dividing line. But if you really mean some specific area of St Germain you should say so, as what annhig is referring to is the boulevard and then all the stores, etc. are somewhat west of that, even.

I do know your first and last hotels aren't even in St Germain, however. ALthough they could be about the same distance from it as the Jardins hotel, I suppose. But their advantage is they would be near the metro line that goes direclty west to it (line 10) and the Jardins hotel would not. SO they would be more convenient in that regard, I think. Really, the FOntaines du Luxembourg is very near that location, also (near Les Jardins du Luxembourg hotel). I stayed right across the street from it once at the Trianon Rive Gauche hotel.

I think the Fontaines due Luxembourg and Jardins... are not as convenient to the metro, of course, if that's a consideration. They are right near the RER B stop which goes to the airport, however.

The RER stop that goes to the airport would be handy. We don't have to be right at a metro station -- we're fine with walking fairly long distances. Last time we were in Paris, we stayed in the Latin Quarter and walked to the Saint Germain area, so 'in' or 'near' is fine. It's just that the closer we are to where our friends are staying, the easier it will be for us to get together, but it's not a must. I'm going to look at the Trianon Rive Gauche. I don't think it's been mentioned before. What did you think of it?

I will echo goddesstogo's Q to Christina: What did you think of the Trianon Rive Gauche?

It's a little farther from the "heart" of St Germain than I wanted, but it has a promotional rate of 137euros/nt for a twin, which looks almost too good to be true for a 3* in that area. But the TA reviews are all over the place, so it seems like the rooms vary a lot.

I have a hotel thread and some on your list have been talked about. Type in the Search Box, "Paris Hotels Left Bank Thread" and it'll pop up.

I haven't stayed at the Hotel Fleurie, but the location is very good and I've walked past it for decades. I have read quite good reviews on it. It's a block south of Blvd. St.Germain. Quite central. Happy Travels!

Guenmai,
Your thread was very helpful -- it's where I got many of the hotel names. I do have lots more. These are just the first choices.

You might like the Grand Hotel St Michel.
It's between Place de la Sorbonne and the
Pantheon. Close to the Luxembourg RER stop.

We were there in June last year and enjoyed it.
If you check the hotel using Streetview the scaffolding is gone as that was the reno they did in 2008...

http://www.hotel-saintmichel-paris.com/index.html

I liked Hotel Left Bank. It was marvelous, and had a great breakfast. The location is THE best.

gtg - the jardins du luxembourg are/is a croissant's throw from the RER stop.

30 mins to CDG.

I liked the Trianon Rive Gauche a lot. It had huge rooms compared to most Paris hotels, very nicely decorated in traditional style (but not too frou-four, no Louis XV or whatever). The staff was really nice and helpful, also, and they have a nice lobby if you are going to be waiting there for anyone. The location is very convenient, of course. Of course I am talking about my experience as my room was huge, but it was just a modest double, not the highest end. Now my room had one drawback as it was right next to the elevator whihc was very noisy being one of these old contraptions. However, I was sent there by a hotel where I had booked which overbooked and didn't have a room for me, so I don't blame the Trianon for giving me that room at the last minute. The room itself was very spacious and nice, as I said, just the location was noisy. I was just staying in Paris that one night on a trip before leaving by air the next day (which is why being near the RERB worked), so I way happy enough.

Goddesstogo: Glad you found my thread of help. Happy Travels!

Thanks, everyone, for your help. There are many very nice hotels in the area and many have specials in our price range but few of them are honouring those specials in the week we're going but the Trianon Rive Gauche did have a double room at their internet rate so we grabbed it. It's a bit more than I was hoping to spends but it looks nice and gets good reviews on TA. So thanks, Christina. I've requested a quiet room away from the elevator but we'll see.

We'll be taking the Eurostar and I don't know where that comes in but will find out. Any suggestions re transportation from the station to the hotel? We'll just have carry-ons.

Well, I hope you have a good experience and your room is as nice as mine was. Their rates are pretty good compared to many St Germain hotels, I think.

The Eurostar arrives at Gare du Nord. This makes it very easy to get to the hotel as the RER-B rail line from the CDG airport goes through Gare du Nord, also. So you get right on the RERB line going south (towards central Paris) and get out at Luxembourg stop. The hotel is just off bd St Michel on rue de Vaugirard about one block away from the RER stop(heading north which is towards the Seine). The RERB line will probably say the endpoint of its direction, and going south, that would probably be either Robinson or St-Remy. Any line going from Gare du Nord in that direction should stop at Luxembourg, you just have to make sure you get on a line going south, not north. In any case, the overhead boards in the RER stations above the quay light up the names of the stops where the train will go that is departing.

Thanks, Christina. I'll print that off and take it with me. I'll report back about the hotel too.

I stayed Hotel Fleurie several years ao and it was nice (small, everything there is) but the room was comfortable and clean in a great location...close to everything but the street was quiet. Very close to two metro stations (Odeon is one)

Fleurie was one of my top choices but we couldn't get a room there at any of the special rates. Otherwise, too $$$$$$!

Christina has you all set up but be sure you exit the Luxembourg station at the back of the train... the exit from the front leads almost to the opposite end of Luxembourg Park...

Oh, thank you, Paris. I'll remember that!

I don't know about the back versus front of train, I just look for what the exit says, usually it gives a street or something (and often map). I forget what those say there, but I would think it might be the rue Soufflot exit you want, perhaps place Rostand.

If you're looking for a small and affordable hotel ,Hotel Tolbiac is a good deal. Rooms starts at 33€/night and it's close to the subway. there is also some interesting special offers.

www.hotel-tolbiac.com

Thanks, everyone. We're now booked at the Trianon Rive Gauche.

goddesstogo: Please come back and give us a TR on how you liked the Trianon Rive Gauche. I may be booking it for my trip in May and I'd love to hear what you think.

hi GTG,

don't tell me that tea with mesdames Staunton and Thompson wasn't enough for you - you want Paris too.

greedy, greedy.

I'd be interested how you liked it, also.

Now GQ's suggestion of a hotel on rue Tolbiac for 33 euro is completely inappropriate here, but is interesting to remember for those folks who want something less than 50 euro instead of a hostel. It looks okay for that price (although the cheapest is a single without private bath, of course, but still would be an alternative to a hostel).

I want it ALL, annhig! I've got three and a half months and I'm packing as much as possible into it!

Just to tie things up, we're at the Trianon Rive Gauche and as Christina has noted, it's an excellent location. It's very near everything we want to do and where all the various groups of our friends are staying and, coincidentally, about a two minute walk from our favourite restaurant (Le Perraudin, at rues St Jacques and Soufflout -- have the lamb or the duck confit and scalloped potatoes).

The hotel is a four-minute walk from the north end of the Luxembourg metro station and that's three stops from Gard du Nord, which makes it a great location for the Eurostar.

Our room is not large but then we know better than to expect that, but the bathroom is big and there's plenty of closet and drawer space. We have a beautiful view of the airshaft but that's fine -- the airshaft is never noisy and we're out and about all the time anyway.

The room itself is a little strange. It's not square or rectangular because there's a wall that's not at right angles to the others. The fabric wall coverings are yellow background with a big red toile pattern (and I mean big). The carpet is striped in red and yellow. It made me a little dizzy when I first opened the door but I'm getting used to it now.

We don't eat breakfast here so I can't report on that but the desk staff has been quite helpful with our few questions.

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions, and special thanks to you, Christine for suggesting the Trainon RG.

sounds okay, how big is the room? My room was pretty large, as I recall, I think it was at least 15-18 m2. I could have had a view over the airshaft, also, I don't really remember as I wasn't in the room in the day time anyway. I think mine had the same decor as yours but I liked it.

Christina,
The widest wall is about 15 ft long and the wall opposite narrows to about 10 ft. Maybe we're in the same room -- 201? We're a closet (or something) away from the elevator but we don't hear it.

GTG - how was the confit de canard? [you do know that it's quite easy to make yourself, don't you?]

Alas, no confit de canard this trip, annhig. I did have a wonderful salad with a sort of thick-sliced duck proscuitto. That's not what it was called but it was delicious nonetheless. My SO had salmon in sorrel sauce and that's what I'd order next time.

they both sound good.

do i gather that you are back "home" in London?

No, not yet. We leave this afternoon. Spent the morning walking in the Luxembourg Gardens and we're hoping to have lunch with the friends we missed last night and then we hop on the metro to the Eurostar.

So, how was your trip? How was the hotel :)?
It's too bad that I didn't see this thread before, I'd have advised you the hotel Odeon st germain http://hotelparisodeonsaintgermain.com/ If you go back to Paris, this hotel is really one my favorite! I really enjoy its style, decorated in a luxury and intimist way. The staff is welcoming, caring, and the breakfast is delightful. It's close to the Luxembourg Garden :). Really a great hotel !

Hello friend here a tips for you
Before booking a hostel, make sure that you are keeping your safety a priority. Get information on the crime in the neighborhood the property is in, check how close the nearest metro or bus stop is, and see what kinds of security measures the accommodation has in place. Do you need a key or code to get in the front door? Can anyone come into the hostel or only people with a room booked? Is there someone at the front desk 24 hours keeping guard? Are there lockers provided to store your valuables? Keep these questions in mind before booking.

AndyMoody strikes again!