Hi Ursula: Got your name from Fodor's chat site. Was searching Hotel Le Meridien Montparnasse and saw your comments. Right now I have a reservation there for a large room with two queen beds which would accommodate our family of four (two teenagers) for four nights in July. <BR><BR>I was considering smaller three star hotels ( Le Regent and Millesime), but we would have to get two double rooms and that would end up costing us more than the one quad room. I know LE Meridien is a big, American style hotel, but it's the location that concerns me. Is it within walking distance of shops, restaurants, museums, sights, etc. SOmeone posted that the metro stop nearby was a pain??? <BR><BR>This is our first trip to Paris, so we don't have any firsthand knowledge or any basis for comparison. We will be coming off of 12 day cruise to Northern Europe and the British Isles which drops us off in Southampton, UK and we plan on taking the chunnel to Paris. We'll start off the trip by spending a few days pre-cruise in London. So you see by the time we reach Paris, we'll have been gone from home a long time, and I'm almost thinking the large hotel would have a comforting sameness for the kids. Am I nuts???? Maybe I'm just trying to justify saving some money. But I don't want to do it at the expense of staying in a place that's going to give us an all around better typical Parisien experience. <BR><BR>So whatever you have to offer in the way of advice or guidance will be much appreciated. Thank you. Maria <BR><BR>P.S. Tried to e-mail you, but yahoo address doesn't respond anymore.<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>----------------------- Headers --------------------------------<BR>Return-Path: &lt;&gt;<BR>Received: from rly-ye03.mx.aol.com (rly-ye03.mail.aol.com [172.18.151.200]) by air<BR>

Maria, I stay in that area so know it pretty well and can give you my opinion, because I'm not sure Ursula will see this. I haven't stayed in that hotel but I do stay nearby. That part of Paris is not as old as the small streets around the Seine, Latin Qtr, St-Germain, etc, so you won't get quite that small, older shops and streets feeling. However, it is very convenient to tons of restaurants, no problems there, of all kinds. There are plenty of shops, also, depending what you want. There is a shopping center practically right across the street where Montparnasse Tower is which has a branch of the major dept. store, Galeries Lafayette, as well as other stuff, there is a discount large dept. store, Inno, very nearby also (which has a good supermarket on the bottom floor, a great patisserie, etc.). There are some good book and kitchenware shops nearby. There aren't a lot of small, old, hole-in-the-wall boutiques like you'll find in some older parts of Paris. However, most people don't just stay within the immediate vicinity of their hotel in any case.<BR><BR>The Montparnasse metro station is very large, being combined with the train station and about four lines go through it. But, there are a couple other small metro stops on a variety of lines within a few blocks you can easily use if you wish (Gaite, Edgar-Quinet, Vavin).<BR><BR>Your teenagers might actually like it around there, it is lively at night and a lot of younger people hand out around there, there are movie theaters, cafes and some dance spots. It's not within walking distance of the major museums or tourist sites, no -- depending on how far you want to walk, you can get to those places within about 2 km., but there are plentiful metro and bus lines around there, so I would not worry about that. I never stay in Paris in a spot where I can walk to everything. For what you got and your needs, I think it will give you a comfortable experience in a convenient area from where you can easily go the places in Paris you wish . I wouldn't say the immediate vicinity of that hotel and its street are charming, but lots of other hotel locations aren't either.<BR><BR>Maybe Ursula will see this and answer your questions as she sees it.

Christina: Thanks so much for your help. Your reply helps me to weigh the pros and cons of the hotel situation. Maria