lauramsgarden

ok, thanks to everyone on this forum I've narrowed Paris hotel choices down from 6 to 12 and am now thoroughly overwhelmed. If what we are looking for is a combination of relatively quiet/peaceful but easy access to musuems, gardens, historical sites - don't really care about shopping and night life - which arrondisements are the best to focus on? thanks.

BowenLinda

Laura, I am assuming this is your first visit to Paris? Paris has a wonderful public transit system but to give you a sense of ease, I think arr. 1 - 8 are great for a first visit. I've stayed in arr. 5, 6 and 7 and enjoyed all three, and visited a friend in 14, but will probably opt for arr. 3 or 4 next visit - I like trying out new neighbourhoods. I'd just address the other criteria to make your choice.

annhig

well, laura, as linda has already said, the more central arr. are the most obvious - they are convenient for everything else, and if this is your first visit, that's where you will want to be.

if you have a look at one of the booking sites, like venere, or at google maps, you can put in [the address of the] hotel you are interested in and see what there is around it. i like to look for the ease of getting to and from the hotel from the airport or main station, and then its proximity to the things I think we will want to do. For example, in January we are getting the eurostar to Paris, and going to the monet exhibition at the grand palais. that means that we want a hotel that is near a stop on the RER B for getting from and to the gare du nord, and a metro stop on the no 1 line to get us to the grand palais. that narrows down my choices quite a lot!

you could do the same thing with your itinerary. if most of the things you are interested in are on the left bank, it makes sense to stay in the 5th or 6th. if you were interested in shopping, [I see that you aren't] the 8th might be better. if you were on a very tight budget, you might want the 19th [though any savings might be outweighed by the time and cost of all the travelling you would be doing!].

why not post the hotels you are looking at, and teh places you want to go to, so we can help [to confuse] you even more?

lauramsgarden

Thanks so much. you are right, my husbands first, and my first visit since I was 14. I think we will focus on the obvious probably, the Louvre, Ile de la Cite, maybe Fontainbleau, the conciergerie, musee de l'armee, musee d'orsay and some of the smaller museums. Jardin du Luxembourg, etc.

The small list of hotels I've narrowed it down to (ok, I'm becoming obsessive - my husband thinks we should put the names in a hat and just pick one): Hotel des deus continent (6th), Hotel de la Bretonnerie (4th) Hotel Chopin (9th), hotel champs du mars (7th) Hotel Langlois (9th), Hotel des grandes Ecoles (5th), Hotel Galilio (8th) hotel Muguet (7th) hotel D'angleterre (6th) hotel des marroniers, familia hotel 95th) hotel st. Beuve (6th) millisime (6th) hotel parc st. severin (5th) hotel Clement (6th) , hotel du palais bourbon (7th). so there you have it - any wisdom is much appreciated.

yestravel

We generally stay in apts, but on our first visits to Paris we did stay at a couple hotels and Hotel de la Bretonnerie was one. We loved it -- Great location. u might want to look at all the rooms and pick the one u like since they r all so different. We happen to enjoy the 4th and have stayed there more than anywhere else. Planning a trip now and thinking about staying in the 6th.

KTtravel

What time of year are you visiting? One consideration we had last time, because we were visiting in the middle of the summer, was air conditioning. We had made the mistake of picking a hotel without A/C the summer of a terrible heat wave and will never do that again. I would also make sure the hotel is fairly close to a metro stop if you plan on using that system frequently.

Gretchen

The transportation system in Paris makes it easy to get to the central sites you most want to see. More fun is to be in an area you can enjoy walking around and visiting cafes, shops, etc. These are not necessarily "night life", but just "life". Paris is a LOT more than the "biggies" that makes folks want to visit again and again.
The sixth is busy and maybe "young". But I hear most about the Hotel des Ecoles as a wonderful place. We have stayed most often in the 7th at the Muguet. It is "quiet", but with shops and interesting places to see--and the Eiffel Tower almost always visible--a nice little touch.

lauramsgarden

thanks all, we will be there in mid may so hopefully ac won't be a big consideration. here's another question. If you spring for a "superior" room does that usually mean a bigger (ie queen) bed or not necessarily?

Travelnut

I think you should clarify with the hotel what is their difference for a superior room versus the standard.. sometimes there is more floor space, sometimes it has nicer furnishings, maybe the bedsize is bigger... If you're mostly trying to get a certain bed size, just ask them for the dimensions for the bed (sometimes the website even provides this). A Queen should be somewhere close to 160cm, a 'king' (often two twins made up as one bed) around 180cm.

annhig

personally, i would pick somewhere in the 5th or 6th - it will give you plenty to look at on your way to other places and is very central to your interests.

standard rooms do tend to be small, which is one of the reasons for having an apartment - even a studio will give you more space than a standard room and shouldn't cost any more and a good guide book and the internet will give you everything a concierge might.

Christina

All of your hotels are in pretty good areas, I think. Superior rooms are usually larger than standard, that's the main difference. It may have better locations/views, also. No, I would say it does not usually mean a queen bed, not in my experience. You have to speficially look for that and clarify it with the hotel. Many mention it on their websites if they have it. In fact, if a room has a queen bed, they probably would mention it or they aren't very good with marketing.

I often book superior rooms but in more budget hotels (all of yours are about the level I book, though), and I don't think I've ever had a queen bed in one of them.

BeniciaChris

We also stayed at Mugeut at the end of a months holiday-only 2 nights. I had reserved a lunch at Jules Verne for a special meal. We had the triple room on top floor-since its a 2 star no bell persons. But the view of Eifel Tower was incredable. It was a nice way to end a vacation. We stayed 3 nights at Hotel Brighton across from Tuileries Gardens and it was wonderful at the beginning of our tip. Enjoy.