I have two nights next weekend in Paris. Thirty and single I wanted to stay in the Marais or Bastille area so my one full day would be near the areas I want to walk around in. I have been to Paris before so I just want to enjoy the day walking around etc. Does anyone have any suggestions of nice, safe boutique hotels or areas to stay in? Would you choose the Bastille or the Marais area if you were me? Any suggestions would be helpful and appreciated. Night time is always a challenge as well Thanks in advance!!

I don't understand what you mean by "night time is always a challenge." Could you enlighten? Also, budget is critical. What is yours?

Marais for sure. But no idea what your budget is.

What is the challenge re the night time? I'm in Paris solo right now and have had no problems finding thins to see/do at night.

Just feeling safe and finding the right places to go. I am a new yorker so no worries really just know there are the right places to go and than not

If you are in/near the Marais or Bastille or pretty much anywhere in central Paris there aren't any "no go" areas at any time of the day or night.

See if there is a concert at St. Chapelle at night. Really nice.

And a ride on Bateau Mouche after the concert, pretty nice way to spend an evening in my book.

Agree with DebitNM although if you take a Seine cruise before or after a Ste. Chapelle concert, I would use the Vedettes du Pont Neuf line - closer to both Ste. Chapelle and the Marais.

There are also concerts in many churches and elsewhere. Let us know what you like and perhaps we could be more helpful.

this sounds great! Thank you! Are there any cool restaurants or music venues for indy music or younger crowd? All sounds wonderful. I know you can't go wrong with a couple of nights in Paris

Duh! I meant Vedettes du Pont Neuf line; thanks for edit!

We enjoyed an evening here:

http://www.38riv.com/


Also - http://www.parisjazzclub.net/en/accueil/

The Marais and Bastille neighborhoods are right next to each other, and either would be a great area to stay. To my mind, the Bastille has a slightly younger vibe. But that whole area is full of cafes bursting with people at night.

I would think night time would be a challenge for people who don't go out at night ever alone, or people who only want to go to clubs and that kind of thing. I've never been that kind of person, but when I was young(er), people didn't go to dance clubs (or discos) much by themself especially, or bars to some extent (especially women).

I don't have a problem because I do a lot of stuff alone at night alone, but I like to go to the theater, concerts, dance, things like that, where being solo doesn't matter. A lot of people don't do stuff like that and only go places with people. And I have no issues with eating alone as some people do for reasons I don't understand (some people won't go to restaurants alone). Eating is just normal, you go in, order something, and eat it.

I don't think it is so mysterious that someone young would find nighttime a challenge being alone, as most people don't go to classical music concerts, the opera or ballet where you probably wouldn't feel that way.

Those two areas are next to each other, as noted. I've stayed in the Bastille and the Marais but not the area a lot of other people like. I didn't do it for nightlife so much. I think it would matter more what hotel you find and where it is. When I travel solo, I make sure I find a hotel very near a metro stop, and near some nice cafes with good sidewalk sections where I can hang out at night for a glass of wine if I want, alone. I never go to clubs.

People on TripAdvisor either love or hate the Hotel de la Place des Vosges. I know the location, which is awesome, but we have always stayed in apartments. You can use the search function at he OP right of the page to look for "hotel Marais" (there are tons of them) or "hotel Bastille", though I remember fewer.

These are wonderful areas.

centeno: I would suggest trying some other forums as well as this. Whenever I see a question here about night time venues in Paris, the answers almost always involve a jazz club or a church concert or a more formal theater or opera or dance venue. We are, to tell you the truth, as a group, a little old for indie music venues.

I know someone will tell me to speak for myself, but I read lots of questions like yours, in order to pass on information to clients, and I just don't see that many great answers. Generally, one doesn't get guided to the hippest places here on Fodors.

Try a TimeOut guide or their Paris website, and maybe others can suggest some forums where people might know about things like indie music clubs.

This isn't to say that there is absolutely no one here that has this type of information, just that it's not common on Fodors.

I would focus on the Bastille area, but honestly, I'm at least 10 years behind on what's cool in Paris or anywhere else.

While I am not looking for indy music venues, this strategy probably works for them too. I would look at http://www.timeout.com/paris/en to see what is playing in Paris during the dates you will be there. I also would look at www.billetreduc.com and see what they are offering on your dates.

I thought the place for younger stop-outs was around Oberkampf nowadays? But what would I know, apart from what I read in the papers.....

Indy music, younger crowds?
Check this:

www.nouveaucasino.net (in Oberkampf)

http://www.pointephemere.org/ (by the canal, not far from Stalingrad)

Yeah, that's the sort of answers I think the OP was looking for, but I would know less than what PatrickLondon reads in the papers.