Question For Maribel
 

Hi Maribel-
I saw your post about Hotel de Varenne. I am going to Paris with my 12 year old in June, and we have reservations there. Can you tell me more about the hotel and area? I keep reading comments about the 7th being too "quiet"....
Thanks!

In case she's out for the night top this (ttt) in the morning.

I'll do that..Thanks!!

ttt

Hi WestonTravler and cigalechanta,

Yes, the lovely rue de Bourgogne where the Hotel de Varenne is located is blissfully quiet at night, and the hotel itself is tucked away, off the street, down a pretty courtyard, with tables set up for brk/drinks in summer, giving it even more of a sense of tranquility. We love it for this reason. And we love the two ample sized superior rooms where we usually stay (I'll give you the specific room numbers when I return home)-one is a dormer room on the top floor facing the courtyard and one a street side room.

Right outside your door you have a newspaper/magazine store, a wonderful bakery, whose baker has won pastry competitions, and a really top flight gourmet restaurant, Auguste, with a 35 euro prix fixe menu at mid day (but it's closed on wkds.), and across the street there's a small market for snacks for the room and a wine bar.
At the bottom of the street there's a very, very posh gourmet shop with upstairs tea room, where I have had just a plate for lunch seated among the very elegantly dressed "ladies who lunch" of the arron.-quite a fashion show.

When brk. isn't included in our rate (in June it isn't), to save euros we take coffee/croissants outside the hotel, but we need to walk a few blocks to our favorite neighborhood cafe. There's not a great place for just coffee on the run on the rue de Borgogne. There is a cafe on the Invalides below the Rodin museum, but prices are higher because of the tourist traffic.

We are avid walkers, so we walk to the 6th to our favorite haunts (used to stay in the 6th on the rue Jacob and at the Madison but left when we discovered the little Varenne, again to save those euros!)

For sightseeing further afield we just take the metro-two stops close to the hotel.

The Invalides and D'Orsay are an easy walk away from the Varenne, even Luxembourg gardens not far, the Rodin Museum around the corner, the Eiffel Tower walkable as well. Our favorite restaurants (Florimond, Chez l'Ami Jean, L'Affriole, Cafe Constant, Maupertu, Clos des Gourmets, Au Bon Accueil, Fontaine de Mars, Bellota-Bellota) are also in the 7th and walkable.

Another reason we love our new find, the Varenne, is the staff. When we arrive we don't even need to do the formalities of checking in; we're simply handed the key. The staff has been with the hotel for many years and they become like friends to repeat guests. Umbrellas are at the door, there's a shoe shine apparatus at the foot of the stairs, newspapers/brochures in the tiny reception area. Everything we need for a pleasant stay at a reasonable price for this very tony quartier. We've introduced friends to it, who have found it just right for them as well.

Hope this helps you to decide.

Maribel,
Thank you so much..that is great info! What is the internetaccess like at the hotel? I am planning to have my laptop with me.

There's a computer downstairs, and I don't remember whether there's wifi in the bedrooms.

The superior rooms we've enjoyed: 38, which is the dormer room with little sitting area and 42, the large twin that faces the street.