Pat

Planning a trip, can't decide on a hotel. What has been your experience? Anything up to $150 for two - 2 or 3 stars. Help!

Geraldine

Dear Pat,

Stayed at HotelDuquesne in the Ecole Militare area. 3 star £100 per night double room. The view of the Eiffel Tower was amazing. Stayed there February 2000. Very central hotel.Friendly staff,newly decorated bedrooms,very clean. Loved it and would
go back again.

Katie

Stayed at the Hotel Luxembourg near the Luxembourg Palace. Good location - easy to walk to EVERYTHING. Metro stopped right down the block (Odeon Station). Had a small open courtyard with a fountain & tables & chairs. Had a very unique underground Breakfast room & a lift. Very clean, nice new bathroom with tub. Only view we had was of the Parisian rooftops. Don't remember the exact price, but it was REALLY affordable.

Jan

I was interested in Katie's recommendation of the Hotel Luxembourg because we have a reservation there for April 11-19. However I read so many terrible things about that hotel on this forum, and Sandy Gustafson's Cheap Eats/Sleeps now says "avoid at all cost". We've been so scared off by this that, though we haven't yet cancelled our reservation (bird in hand),we are looking elsewhere.
Katie's recommendation makes me wonder if things have changed and if others have had a positive experience too.

Donna

Have you checked the Paris board on AOL re: Hotel Luxembourg?

jparis

When I go to Paris I always stay at the Hotel de L'Universite on the street with the same name. It is right on the "border" of the 6th & 7th arrondissements and right near the St. Germain metro stop and Rue de Bac. It is in your price range. They do have web site. It is lovely, charming, quiet and well -located. They have a breakfast, but I would take breakfast at the cafe down the block - cheaper and better. I have stayed there 4 times and have never been dissapointed. They speak English and are very helpful.

Jayelle

Regarding the Hotel Luxembourg, I've never stayed there, but stumbled across it as I was looking for a 3-star in St. Germain for my trip in April. You should check out the comments about this hotel on the French Hotel Reservation Center site (access through www.france.com). I don't think that I've ever seen so many negative comments from former guests about hotel before. Even the French Hotel Reservation Center says that they will no longer recommend the Hotel Luxembourg due to the unprofessional behaviour of the front desk staff and their overbooking policies.

If you're looking for a 3-star in this area, both the Regent and the Madison have been recommended highly to me. I decided to book at the Madison.

Elaine

We are going to Paris in mid-February, and the Grand Hotel des Balcons and the Hotel des Grandes Ecoles both have availability for about the same price - 525FF. Any comments on either of these?

wendy

I live between Paris and the states and rec'mend the same hotel over and over again! It is the ONLY hotel on the river and is across from the Louvre and has fabulous views of each bank. Walking to metros, monuments and museums is a piece of cake! Two blocks from the Musee d'Orsay. Very helpful staff and undiscovered so far.
Hotel Quai du Voltaire. You can find them on the web. Click on photos to enlarge them for a better view. Bon Voyage!

Thyra

My favorite hotel is Hotel des grand Balcons, that is right next to the Odeon and the Luxembourg gardens *(morning jog
It has a truly lovely art deco b-fest room and serves up the very best 2 star bfest I've EVER seen..baked brie and all.
The rooms are around $100.00 in March and include bathrooms and hair dryers and the staff is very nice.
Found it in Fodor's hotels of Character and Charm in Paris. Close to metro I always will stay at this hotel when I am in Paris.

Monica

My favorite is Grand Hotel des Balcons, and just as Thyra mentions, it's in a great location. The hotel staff is friendly and the price is right for what you get. Although I haven't had breakfast there, I have heard from 3 others that it is great!

When I was in Paris in October, my friend Judy and I moved from one room to the next after 2 nights. The first room, #601 I believe (but I could check if needed) had a view of the E. tower! We were quite surprised. It's a corner room with a twin bed and a full bed. A little tight in the room, but we didn't care. The balcony was very small, but we enjoyed the rooftop views and seeing the tower in the distance!

Have a wonderful time!

Maira

There are two hotels in Paris that I strongly recommend; Hotel Muguet on the 7th Arrd. and Hotel St. Christophe in the Latin Quarter. Hotel Mugiet has been reviewed countless times on this board. The location is superb, quiet area, yet you walk two blocks and you are in the middle of a bustling, charming Paris neighborhood. We walked everywhere; Eiffel Tower, Trocadero, Les Invalides, Musee D'Orsay, great bistros & restaurants. Helpful staff, rooms were very clean, comfortable, A/C, some with views of the Eiffel Tower. I have recommended this hotel many times and consistently gets rave reviews. Website is
http://www.france-hotel-guide.com/h75007muguet.htm

St. Christophe was a very charming, small hotel. The staff at the St. Christophe was also very courteous and friendly, walking distance to many sights.

When are you going? Try to make a desicion pronto. Good hotels in Paris book fast.

Patti-Suttle

Maira-we will be staying at the Hotel Muguet in early July - I have a few questions and thought you might be able to help me. How long would it take to walk to The Arc de Triomphe, the St. Germain Des-Pres area,and the Latin Quarter from the Hotel Muguet? Did you walk to many places or take the metro everywhere? I know I will want to try to walk to some of these places. Also, is it true that the hotel is locked late in the evening and you have to knock on the door to get in? (I think I saw that on a prev. Hotel Muguet thread). Thanks for any info.!
Patti

Maira

Patti-- We walked to the Eiffel Tower every night (about 10 minutes stroll), Le Invalides (about 5), Rodin Museum (5), St. Germain (about 15; for St. Germain des Pres about 10 more), Musee D'Orsay (about 20 mts; gorgeous walk along the Seine). The Latin Quarter is quite a walk from Rue Chevert. I would use the metro for that kind of outing. On the the south end of Rue Chevert (towards the Seine) is the Latour Maubourg metro, the north end is Ecole Militaire. Either one is about 5-10 minutes walk to the Muguet. I also remember reading about the lobby hours at night, but I thought this was in effect only during the winter (low) season. Have a great time in Paris!

Patti Suttle

Maira-thank you-that info. helps alot-we are "THE" group of 10 adults heading to Ireland, London and Paris this summer-(I've posted other questions as well AND it won't be the last I'm afraid!) Anyway, I love to walk etc. but one of my friends can't walk as much as I can and thought it might help to know how long it would take to walk from the Hotel-so thanks! Also, that would be good about having to knock on the door only in winter.
Thanks again!
Patti

Hope

Have never been to Paris but planning a trip as well. Looked up several of the hotels listed in this posting trying to stick mainly to the 1 & 4-7. Not familiar with the European star system and have heard that anything less than 3-stars is probably better to skip over -- BUT, also saw that Hotel Quai du Voltaire and Hotel des Grand Balcons (both of which have gotten rave reviews on this site) are 2-star locations. Is the star system based more on price than quality or is room size the big factor. I am all about an inexpensive (under $125 for double per night), CLEAN, convenient and safe hotel. Nice people would be a great bonus!! Have been looking more at Caron du Beaumarchais and have also read great things about Familia and Minerve (owned by the same people??) on both the Frommers and Fodors sites. Don't want to make a snooty choice and give up charm and character, but don't want to spend a week of vacation in a rat trap (and have made that mistake before). Thoughts, anyone?? Thanks!!

Thyra

Hope, there was a discussion on French hotel Star ratings a while back.. I believe Elaine or possibly Elivra was the expert on that. From what I recall the French Hotel star system, has more to do with the bathroom to room ratio (as opposed to bed and breakfast style bathroom down the hall" type of set up) and a variety of other amenities like how many hair dryers are in the room and things like that, I don't recall room size being a qualifier nor cleanliness actually.
I can only speak for Balcons, and the rooms are slightly smaller by comparison to standard USA hotel room size, but that holds true for all over Europe and only once or twice have I really noticed that the room I had booked was really REALLY tiny. Not at the Balcons. But since I spend so little time actually IN the room the slight difference of size never bothered myself or my 6'1 husband.

Quicksilver

Hope:

I was at the Familia in the spring: it's "clean, convenient, and safe" *and* has nice people! (the owners, the Gaucherons, who do also own the Minerve next door) The rooms are on the small side, but, as Thyra mentioned, I don't think they're exceptional for Europe. Just bear in mind that it tends to book up early.

Happy planning!

- Quicksilver -

tim

To Pat, Katie and Jan: We picked the Hotel Luxembourgh off the internet and stayed there for five nights last April. Bottom line, We will never need to look any further. Its our second home in Paris. The rooms are beautiful, but small,(so what!) The baths are clean and modern. Our room window overlooked the courtyard. Breakfast included in the very reasonable price. Easy walk to Notre Dame, metro stations close by. In my opinion its the best value in Paris. You are only a block away from Luxembourgh Gardens, most beautiful park in the city. Drop me an e-mail if you need more info.

Cathy

Hotel des Jardins du Luxembourg. 3 stars. Small, quiet on a cul de sac, not far from the Boulevarde Saint Michel. An extremely comfortable queen size bed, breakfast downstairs, Paris rooftops out the french door window. Mucho romanticism (too bad I was sharing the bed with my 16 yr old daughter....)Very helpful front desk.