My wife and I are going to Paris for a week in September. This will be our first time to Europe and we are looking for some advice on where to stay. I've been looking at Du Louvre Hotel (or, Hotel du Louvre) in the 1st arondissement. Any thoughts on the hotel or which aronidssment to stay in? We want to have a good, central location that is close to many sights, restaurants, shops, etc.
A follow up question is what is the best way (and least complicated) to get from the airport to the hotel? Taxi?
Last one: What is riding the metro like, and how do you get your pass?
THanks in advance.

It's a very good area, the 1st district as it's close to the museums, the Seine, and shopping. But you may want to check comments about Hotel du Louvre on tripadvisor.com about this hotel.

I liked the area very much. Now that said, I stayed at the Hotel Relais du Louvre across from the St. Germain de Auxois church...and for the life of me cannot remember the street name. Isn't the Hotel du Louvre on the rue de Rivoli?
What a lovely little hotel! More importantly, what a great staff! 1 block from the Seine too! Sigh...
(this vicarious existence through others is gonna kill me....) <GRIN>

OK, I found the address...
19 rue des Pretres Saint Germaine
(Doubles are 145 to 180) (Suites 205 to 244) AND an apartment for $380...
(I found it on Reservethebest.com)

This is one of the most frequently asked questions on this board. If you tell us more about yourselves (age, likes,etc.) we might be able to help a bit better. Many on this board prefer the Left bank, esp. the 6th arr. as it's a bit more casual. The 1er is very convenient for typical sightseeing though. I'm not a big fan of the Rue de Rivoli, if that's where it is, but others love the convenience. There's a website I found jack-travel.com that I recall may have brief descriptons of each arr. For sure he has listings of affordable hotels & retsaurants by arr. & his hotel recos coincide with many popular Fodorite choices.

If you do a text search here in the box above you'll find lots of previous posts on all your questions.

We are in our late 20's.
The Hotel du Louvre is directly across from the Louvre. Expedia, Continentalvacations.com, and aavacations.com rate it a 4 star. Have looked at tripadvisor.com for comments, and they are mostly very good. Thanks.

Hi ch,

The least stressful way to get to your hotel is a taxi or a shuttle van.

The least expensive is by RER/Metro.

Riding the metro is like riding a bus, except that it is underground and on rails.

I have yet to buy a pass for the metro. I always get the 'carnet' of ten tickets for 10E and often bring some home. Paris is a great city for walking.

So I've read some other posts on the site about hotel/areas to stay in Paris, and the top two seem to be 1st/right bank and 6th/left bank. 6th has more casual restaurants, lively atmosphere, etc. while 1st may have "nicer" hotels, more expensive restaurants. any comments?

I like both the 1rst and the 6th ARR.

I stayed few times at the Hotel Ducs De Bourgogne, 19 Rue du Pont Neuf, on the first, the location is very good.

Also, after reading Ira good comments about the Hotel Bonaparte in the 6th, I tried it last July and was very pleased with both the location and the hotel..

The other option is to split the difference (between right &amp; left) &amp; stay <i>on</i> Ile St Louis. There are 3 or 4 hotels on the island, Hotel Lutece, Hotel des deux Iles, Hotel St. Louis are 3. It's a lovely romantic area. I've also read good things about the Hotel de Notre Dame, facing ND.

People say Hotel Britanique is in a great location.

Hotel Henri IV new (10/03) on Rue St Jacques 1 block from Notre Dame &amp; near RER from airport 140 euros/nite this place looks fantastic on this website
http://hotels.parishotels.com/hotel-...amp;hotel=2146 although location looks further from Seine than indicated. Sister hotel to Lutece &amp; Deux Iles on Ile st Louis but looks nicer.

To clarify the name of the new hotel is named Henri IV Rive Gauche not to be confused with another hotel of similar name, Henri IV. The latter is a budget hotel.

My daughter and I will be in Paris in late May. We both know the city well but are looking for a hotel in the 6th or 5th. Probably best to get two small rooms. Would like it quiet at night.

Who has experience with:

H&ocirc;tel Monge 55, Rue Monge 75005

H&ocirc;tel St Christophe 17, Rue Lac&eacute;p&egrave;de 75005

Hotel de Suez; 31, bl Saint Michel, 75005

Or does anyone know of some great apartments. We like doing that but previously rented for our family of 4 so those places are too big and expensive for juist two of us.
Thanks.
Gary

Hi Gary,

If you do a text search on &quot;Hotel Monge&quot; and on &quot;Hotel Bonaparte&quot; on this forum, you will find many reviews.

I stayed at Hotel St Christophe in 2002. It is just as the web site(s) propose, looks like the photos. It is fairly conveniently located, just south of the Arenes, and around the corner from Metro Monge, and maybe 2-3 blocks from another stop (Jussieu?).

You can visit the Arenes, stroll down rue Monge and up rue Mouffetard with no problem. We also walked toward Pantheon and up to the St Michel area with no problem (not quickly, but just a nice exploring stroll).

The only strange thing to me was the plumbing system - I mean the rooms and bath were nice/sparkling clean, but we could hear the water whooshing all down the pipes thru the walls (not really the toilet flushing, but the water in the system). It wasn't really disturbing just odd - hadn't noticed that even in 2-star before. The hotel's location was quiet, though, no street noise.

Breakfast was the usual coffee, croissant, juice (I think), jam. The desk/reception was courteous and arranged a taxi for early am pickup for us. Your room key goes into a cubbyhole on shelves up on the wall, sort of behind &amp; to the side of the desk - you put it up and retrieve it yourself (if that openness bothers you).

Hotel Monge is around the corner on rue Monge, so also about 1/2 block from metro (or not much more). Square Monge has a market a couple days a week, by the way, not large but colorful.

Gary there's plenty of info here on apts. parisperfect.com has all sizes (mostly in the 7th I think) but people rave. You have to decide if you'd prefer privacy or space.

I have stayed at the Hotel Residence Monge two times and I thought it was a fine hotel. Yes, like most hotels in Paris, the rooms were small, but they were clean. The staff at the hotel were helpful.

I&quot;ll be in paris in June and after much research I have picked Hotel Verneuil in the 5th. I heard only good things about this hotel. For a standard room in June-145E
For a deluxe room 190E.

We've stayed at Hotel Monge and liked it. Our room was 84euros (two years ago). Spacious, clean, and with a view of the arenes.

We also have stayed at Hotel Monge,liked it very much. The room we had was spacious, very clean, and the staff welcoming, would go back again. I think we paid 78 euros for a double room facing the street during August last year

I love the 7th arr. it is nice and clean. I would recommend staying at Derby Alma Hotel, about 2 blocks from the Eiffel Towel and 1 block away from the train station, if you were interested in taking a one day trip to Versaille.
The hotel is nice, clean, friendly staff, and not expensive.