Holiday Inn St Germain or the Hotel Le Regent. <BR>My fiancee' and I are spending a week in Paris this August and have reserved rooms at the Holiday Inn St Germain and at the Hotel Le Regent. <BR>I would prefer a fairly quiet, romantic place and the Holiday Inn does not suggest that to me. Which reservation should we confirm? If neither is good please forward suggestions in the $100-125 range.

Dan <BR>The Regent has been recommended many times on this Forum. You coulddo a search here by name if you wanted to read them. <BR>pluses seem to include air conditioning, <BR>rooms larger than some in typical <BR>left bank hotels, good neighborhood with a street market, double-glazed windows to reduce noise, and charming decor.

The Aramis St. Germain on rue de Rennes, number 124, is a very nice hotel. I hope it is not out of your price range. It is not far from Boulveard Montparnasse, which is alive well into the evening. In fact, one could say it is crowded.

I have a different opinion than the above as I don't think rue de Rennes is an attractive location (in fact, Bob, as I recall you yourself said once you disliked the hotel you are recommending and would not stay there again, what's the deal?--or was it another hotel close by). It's a large, noisy, dirty, ugly street, at least around there, with very cheap discount stores, Mc Donalds, etc on it. It's not attractive nor a pleasant ambience. The Holiday Inn is at the corner of rue de Rennes and Vaugirard. Your choice is no contest in my opinion, definitely Le Regent. Partly because of the location, the rest is my taste--you'd have to decide your own preferences regarding size and decor. Le Regent is small with more tasteful/French/older style furniture whereas the Holiday Inn is very modern; Le Regent is very small (about 25 rms) and the Holiday Inn is maybe 125? If you like modern, larger hotels choose the Holiday Inn. I'd bet both may be quiet internally, but externally rue de Rennes is not quiet. I presume you've seen photos of these? There are some online so you could see which one fit your idea of romantic.

Whoa here Christina!!!!! <BR>If you are going to challenge me, at least get the hotel names correct!!!!!!!! <BR>The hotel I am suggesting is the one I WISH I had patronized; it is NOT the one I stayed at last year. That one was/is the Acacias St. Germain!! The Aramis St. Germain is a different breed of cats altogether. It is higher priced and air conditioned whereas the Acacias St. Germain is not. I contemplated changing and looked at the Aramis St. Germain, but they could not make room for me until the last night I was in Paris. Moving for one evening was not worth it. <BR>The rue de Rennes is not that different than any other street in that area! And believe me, Dan, there are a lot worse. <BR>Along the street you will find mostly ordinary shops and entrances to apartments. <BR> And, what is wrong with a McDonalds's?? <BR>It is not infested with anything evil or unsanitary that I detected. As for the street itself, the south end of it is very close to Boulevard Montparnasse with everything going for it if you want to wander about until 1 AM. Moreover, the location is convenient to many bus and Metro lines that will take you all over the city. As with many hotels in Paris, it is a good idea to get a "back room", if there is one. <BR> <BR>I found the location to be convenient to the post office, a bank, pastry shops (La Brioche Doree), and places to eat along Montparnasse. <BR>About the only thing we used to hotel room for was to sleep, clean up, and change clothes. Because several bus lines and Metro lines were near there, it was no problem to go all over Paris. <BR>I did not particularly care for the Acacias St. Germain, but it was not dirty or patronized by sleazy people. <BR>The beds were OK and our room had a bath.

We stayed at the Aramis in 1996. We reserved a room with a bath for $150(US) per night. We arrivedto find what I would call a businessman's hotel with a small room contianing a double bed, a twin bed, an armoire, a desk all crammed in with very little space to utilize as a "pathway". You could touch the bathroom with your toes while sitting in bed. The bath did, however, contain a tub and shower combination and a sink (no where to put down your razor, though). We became adept at solving storage problems, though, for example, we put our suitcase atop the armoire and utilized the ledge outside the window as though it was our private balcony, and put the stool from the desk out there and I sipped my morning coffee while my spouse showered (as we both could not fit in the tiny bathroom!) We paid the same for this tiny box of a room as we did for a huge suite at the Chateau d' Chissay, in Chissay en Tourraine, where we treated ourselves to a giant room and sitting area with a dining room and full giant lovely bath! Your money goes further in the Loire! To stay in the nice district in town, you have to give up SPACE! The locals know it, and we have to deal with it. I would not call the Aramis romantic, however, we made it that way! AFter all, we had to constantly squeeze by eachother in that little room.....and the view from our "balcony" each morning was invigorating. I would, however, call the Chateau d' Chissay Romantic....we felt like royals when we dined in their restaurant and they removed silver domes simultaneously serving dinner entrees......we really felt rich.....and for the same $150 a night.

Hi Dan-- <BR> <BR>We just returned from Paris and stayed at the Hotel le saint Gregoire on rue Abbe le Saint Gregoire. I'm not sure I'd call it romantic, but it was pleasant, quiet, very close to Metro, etc. Price may be a little above your range, depending on the dollar. There was a Holiday Inn directly across the street, which, interestingly to me, was a three-star while the Saint Gregoire was a four-star. Not sure if it's the same Holiday Inn you have booked. You may already know that often a chain will buy up an existing hotel and put it's name on it, but that doesn't necessarily make it exactly equivalent to what you would find at home. In this case, that may be good news!

Dan: I think this quiet charming (romantic in my opinion) hotel might fit your requirements. It is in the 6th and has rooms that fall in your $100-$125 price range. Check out room #46. <BR>REGENT’S: 44, rue Madame. Tel: 0145480281. Fax: 0145448573. (34 rms., all w/toilet & bath or shower.) 460F/70EUR single; 525F/80EUR (double bed/shower)-575F/88EUR (2 twin beds or double bed/bath)-625F/95EUR (king-size bed)-725F/111EUR (balcony/terrace) double; 740F/113EUR triple; 850F/130EUR quad/duplex. Breakfast (7-11am) at 45F pp can be served in the room & in the courtyard in warm weather. Visa, MC, AX. English spoken, cable TV w/CNN, wonderful charming hotel w/beautiful contemporary furnished carpeted nice-size rms., #02 (ground flr. large rm. w/double bed, bathtub & faces interior) at 525F for a double; #55 (w/double bed, large bathroom w/bathtub, 2 windows & faces street) at 575F for a double; there are 4 rms. similar to #46 (huge rm. w/king-size bed, large bathroom & faces street) at 625F for a double; #51 (large rm. w/double bed & terrace), 52 (balcony) & 57 (balcony) at 725F for a double; #03 (ground flr. duplex w/double bed on the 1st flr. & 2 twin beds on the 2nd) at 850F; there are 6 rms. similar to #14 (large rm. w/2 double beds, bathroom w/bathtub & faces street) at 825F for a family; 1 rm. w/3 or 4 twin beds for a family; 1 rm. has handicapped access, hair driers, soundproofed, wonderful courtyard, elevator, 5 flrs. Owned/managed by the charming Mr. Alexis Aymard whose mother manages the wonderful Hotel Esperance in district 5e. Métro: Saint Sulpice. <BR>

Dan, <BR>Try: Le Hotel Sainte Beuve in 6th. Price <BR>might be a little higher, but only a <BR>little, .... only 23 rooms ... on a <BR>side street off a boulevard ... nice. <BR>Also check &lt;www.parisdigest.com&gt; and <BR>click on hotels and &lt;www.discoverfrance. <BR>com/hotelsparis&gt; both are great sites. <BR>Or, if you come into a little more money <BR>try &lt;www.shs (I think!) .com&gt; or maybe <BR>it's .... smallhotels.com. <BR> <BR>Have fun,

Dan, ignore Margo's guide book pastings above. She works for Hello Europe, as her e-mail indicates, and she is the author of the travel book she so freely pastes all over the Fodor's site. Notice that she does not give you her first hand experiences, just a laundry list of places featured in her book. Her goal is to pitch the places that have paid her to do so and to sell you her book. <BR> <BR>If you are posting under your real e-mail you may receive a private e-mail pitch from her, as others on this forum have. She works in the travel industry, for a Fodor's competitor, and posts here not to share her own travel experiences, but for her own personal and financial gain. She blatantly violates the rule here about no commercial postings. If she recommends it, be sure to avoid it.

I have actually stayed at Regent's hotel recommended by Margo.I make no comment about whether she should post here or not, but Regent's hotel is a perfectly good hotel, with an unbeatable location. It does not have air-conditioning, however, and as a two-star, is no doubt not as luxurious as the Regent. It was, however, recently renovated, so the rooms are fresh and very clean.

I also stayed at the Regent's Hotel on Rue Madame and liked it very much. I was there last November, so I did not know about the airconditioning. Otherwise, I would recommend it to anyone. The location is great, and the room we had on the 4th floor was the largest I have had in Paris. Everything was brand new.

While I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my previous message......... my original intent was to find out if anyone has personal experience with Le Regent or the Holiday INN Saint German so I could compare the two (pros and cons). If no one has experience with them, suggestions for Hotels of similar quality (charm w Le Regent?) for my Fiance' and I would be appreciated (quaint, charming, 3 Star in St Germain). We are running out of time. Thank you in advance for your help.

Re: The St. Beuve is the deluxe room spacious enough for three (one large bed plus a single)?

Ii just stayed at the Le Regent on Rue Dauphine last week. The delux or superior rooms are small but have very nice baths and are decorated nicely. The standard rooms are very tiny, you can bearly walk around the bed and the baths are much smaller the the delux rooms but nice. My daughters stayed in the standard room and were fine with it but it would not have been what I would have called a pleasant experience. If you go with the Le Regent, go with the delux room. They are nice and the location is great.

Hi Dan ; my my people are taking this a little too seriously. I have a couple of suggestions in the 6th & 7th try some of these: 1)hotel verneuil in the 6th or 7th? small charming very resonable prices get a larger room with terrace if you can.france-hotel-guide.com 2)le madison; can find on parisby.com under 6th 3)prince de conti fax(o1)44073634 hotel des marronniers fax (01)40468356. If you want to spluge look at the hotel or Le Tourville; and hotel Le Saint Gre'goire you can find them on parisby.com under 3 star rating or by arrondissement. I tried to stay with in your budget but if you have more ? email me. Sherri aka fluffygirl

Soem people are confusing the Regent on Rue Madame with the Le Regent on Rue Dauphine.