Where to stay in Paris
 

Hi everyone, I'd like to know which areas are good to stay in Paris, we will be there beginning of December for atleast 7 nights, we have a three year old so we would prefer to be in a location with plenty for her to do. Also, we have never done Airbnb, do you guys recommend we stay in hotel or a house? Thanks for your help!

Hi
I am not a fan of sirbnb and there are legal issues with 90pc of the apartments being rented.
Basically French authorities changed the law and made short term rental illegal.

First timers usually like to stay central which means arrondissements 1-7. Arr is a subdivision of Paris and you know the hotel is in an art when its zip code ends with this arr.
75005 means paris (75) arr 5.

Kid : three great things in paris :
- jardin des plantes with its zo
- cite des sciences for that age is great
- Disneyland Paris

Of course metro bateau mouche (cruise ships on the Seine) are fantastic for kids.

A 4th thing in December are the windows of Galeries Lafayette supermarket. Go early if not you won't see much.

I can recommend several hotels which have apartment sized rooms or apart-hotels.

Have a great planning !

Either stay in a hotel or in an ApartHotel such as Citadines. The VAST majority of holiday apartments in Paris are illegal.

And you don't want your reservation canceled at the last minute because the apartment's illegal.

In fact, when you rent an apartment from an owner, there's always the chance that something will go wrong, like the plumbing break down. Odds are better from a hotel that they can just move you to another room. Agencies may also be able to do this also but it's not clear if an individual agency apartment is legal.

Something to think about when you're traveling with a small child.

Okay, then we will just go with a hotel, I've been reading people are recommending arrondissements (hope I spelled that right) 6th or the 11th, i want to be in the center and make good use of the metro, also we would have a compact stroller so we don't mind walking either.

A "house"? Paris is a huge city without a lot of excess land, most people who live there don't have houses.

The center would be any arrondisement from 1-11, more or less. I'm not sure where you want to walk to as a tourist, but the odds are you will want to go to other places than where you can walk to. You will be able to walk to very few tourist sites from the 11th, in my opinion, basically none. If you really want to do that, probably the 4th and 5th would be best, but depends where you want to go.

On our first trip, we stayed at Hotel Ceramic:

http://ceramic-paris-hotel.com/

It's location is just off the Champs Elysees. An easy stroll (go underground) to the Etoile metro.

It is an easy walk to Parc Monceau and about 15 to the big department stores.

Sorry, no specific help with 3 yo

Virtually everything in Paris is easily accessible via the Metro, so make sure you are close to a Metro stop.

The beginning of Dec will be dark (short daylight hours) and cold and maybe wet, so you may be doing less walking than you plan for.

Hi
Being a nice guy I posted several threads on my best (subjective) hotels.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...s-in-paris.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-per-arrd.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...s-per-arrd.cfm

Speciallly for you, 3 hotels where I went or could ahve gone with the family.

Elysees union Amiral Hamelin, 44
Haut Marais Vertus
Villa Montmartre Clignancourt, 44

We just went to Paris with a 15 month old. I can tell you that her favorite things were merry-go-rounds (there are 50 of them in Paris), parks (she made many little French friends) and pigeons.

I love the 11th but for a first time visitor, I'd not recommend it.

which arrondissement do you recommend?

The 1st to try and get a view of Eiffel Tower; "maybe" closer to your price range.

The 7th if you could afford it, again for views.

The 6th is good for those with kids. or so I have read; known of mine have ever come with me.

If you can get over not seeing ET from room; I like the 4th as it is close to all tourist sites.

http://ciaobambino.com/paris-with-ki...sements-guide/

http://youngadventuress.com/2013/02/...nts-guide.html

http://europeupclose.com/article/par...where-to-stay/

https://hotelsdave.com/best-places-paris

lot to consider here and upon researching and going back to the advice listed above on this post, the best thing to do would be to stay between the 4th - 6th arr. and I will go off of that suggestion, I guess you win some and lose some :)

5/6th would be nice. Being near Jardin des Plantes (and Seine) or Jardin de Luxembourg would be a nice area for some quiet/play.

The Citadines Richard Lenoir is close to the Bastille open-air food market. The transportation options are great - Metro and buses are very close by.
There is also a playground at the end of the open-air market - toboggans (slides), things to climb on, etc.
Citadines is a legal apart'hotel, with a kitchenette and laundry facilities in the building.
You will have 24/7 front desk staff to help you with anything you need - including a crib - and you will have weekly maid service.

Hi, we went to Paris last summer. I added on a few days with just my son and daughter. We stayed in a place recommended frequently on Fodor's, Hotel Clement in the 6th arr.

They have what is called a junior suite, with a main room with double bed, a bath and a small second room with a single bed--all in the same suite. I think it would be perfect so your child would sleep but you could watch TV and read later in the evening. It was a nice little hotel.

http://hotelclementparis.com/en/rooms.html

I can "second" 5alive's Clement recco. My room was a single though.

There is an Ibis hotel right near Montparnasse station with a great view of the Eiffel Tower.
You should check the balcony rooms to see if they are available.
This is a convenient neighborhood for transportation options.
There is also the Edgar Quinet open-air food market nearby, lots of restaurants, etc.

If you are convenient to Montparnasse, this was my fave resto--I returned 2 times:

La Cerisae
http://restaurantlacerisaie.pagesperso-orange.fr/

It is also on Edgar Quinet Blvd. but near the end of the street going toward the train station. You need reservations!

On St. Germain de Pres, I loved Café Louise--ate there twice also:

http://www.cafe-louise.fr/

I traveled solo so don't know how the above would be with a child. La C is quite small; Louise has outside tables. Hope you will report back about your trip.