Which Paris hotel for the middle of May?
 

My husband and I have narrowed down our choices for our May visit to Paris to 3 hotels (after our original choice was booked). I'm wondering if I can get some feedback on these places (noise level, number or restaurants close by, etc.) and if there is one that might stand out above the rest.
Our choices are:

Pas des Calais
Hotel Verneuil
Hotel Danube

Thanks for helping!

Hi a,

Have you checked the hotels at www.tripadvisor.com?

Can you give us addresses and rates?

((I))

If the weather turns hot, be aware that the Danube does not have a/c.

I stayed at both Le Verneuil and Danube. The Verneuil's deluxe rooms are a comfortable size whereas the standard rooms are large enough to fit the bed mostly. I hated every aspect of my stay at the Danube (staff and two room 'apartment'), but many others had favorable experiences.

francophile3,

What did you hate about the hotel?

Hello Underhill, you mean you did not get to do a search here for my comments? I'll help you out then. You can check out my comments regarding the hotel here:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2

And here at Trip Advisor under "Okay Hotel":

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...de_France.html

Also you can check out my photos (the last 2 out of 10 on the first page of photos) As you can tell that 2 room 'apartment' did not resemble much the photo posted on the Danube's website. It was one of those times when the website photos look better than in person:

http://www.hoteldanube.fr/htgb/frameset.htm

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...de_France.html

In case you're wondering why I favored the Verneuil better than the Danube and didn't do a search for my comments here again, here you go:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2

I've looked at rooms at both the Verneuil and the Pas de Calais. The room at the Verneuil was much prettier but smaller and the street more appealing as well.

As for location, they are all well-located, the Pas de Calais south of Blvd. St-Germain while the others are between the boulevard and the Seine. Lots of restaurants and shopping near all of them, and none are on noisy streets (although rue Jacob, where the Danube is, is more heavily traveled than the others).

Hi,

I stayed at Hotel Verneuil a couple of years ago. It was fairly nice with a moderate sized room, nicely decorated. We were on the second story facing Rue Verneuil, which is not very heavily trafficked, relatively speaking, and so we didn't have a problem with noise (maybe in the morning with garbage/delivery trucks - still it wasn't a major deal). The breakfast was decent - great chocolate croissants IIRC). The sitting area off the lobby was quite relaxing. Oh, and the staff was very friendly.

The location itself is great, just a couple of blocks from the Musee D'Orsay and Quai Voltaire, just over 5 minutes walk to the Ile de la Cite and the heart of Saint Germain des Pres and the Luxembourg Gardens and lot of shops and restaraunts also near by. One of the best Chinese restaraunts in the city, the name of which escapes me, is right around the corner on Rue des St Peres. Otherwise, we found the higher concentrations of restaraunts by heading south-southwest into St Germain des Pres and just exploring from there. If you're up for picnicing, there is a decent open air markets closeby at Place Monge and then more touristy food shops along Rue Moufetard.

The closest Metro station, St Germain des Pres, is ~ a quarter mile away. Otherwise it was no big deal walking across to the Marais, Louvre, Tuileries etc on the other side. I think it was about a mile or so in the other direction to the Eiffel tower.

So basically, the hotel was comfortable, fairly quiet, and a great base for us. Hope this helps

Thanks everyone for your help so far. Your comments are making our decision a little easier with some positive things about Pas des Calais and Verneuil. We might have to look into deluxe rooms at Verneuil and see what the extra cost might be there to have a slightly larger room. Thanks again and keep any feedback coming.

If you do reserve a deluxe double room (dlx. double room numbers end in '02') at the Verneuil the staff favorite according to the night manager, Joseph, is #502 which is on the top floor. The room has two large windows. Deluxe double rooms overlook quiet rue Verneuil.

The Pas de Calais has a very nice, helpful staff. I was going to book there for an upcoming visit but changed my mind to stay elsewhere. The rooms don't appear to be as nicely decorated as those at the Verneuil, but the superior double rooms are between 20 and 25 sq. m. which is a generous room sizes for a Paris 3* hotel. Location is closeby to the Verneuil on rue des Sts. Peres but crossing Blvd. St. Germain. Whichever you choose I'm sure you'll be pleased and I wish you a nice visit to Paris.

francophile,

The search engine here and I are not on good terms. Thanks for the links.

The first link doesn't pull anything up--??

Hi again Underhill. I'm surprised that the search function hasn't been cooperating with you here as for sure I thought you would be adept at searching for Fodors info. by now. Unfortunately the link didn't bring up my comments when I tried it myself just now-so sorry! :( I suggest you try doing a search again-just keep trying. Did you enter 'francophile and danube'? Btw, I'm just curious if you are planning a future stay at the Danube or are you just interested in my comments in particular?

Hi Underhill,I was wrong and you're not planning to stay at the Danube this year. You'll be staying at the Villa d' Estrees. But I do hope you were able to retrieve my comments about the Danube anyway either for future reference or just for curiosity's sake.

franchophile and I disagree about the Danube ( and that might be a First!! :) )
I did like staying there, although the rooms are smaller than our favorite hotel, and the bathroom was tiny..but it did what it was expected to do :)
We did have a large room with chandeliers and 2 big windows looking over the courtyard.
My only advice is ask for a room on the courtyard, wherever you stay..Paris streets are just noisy!

The Lutece on the Ille St-Louis has a/c and is comparable in price to the Danube (I think)..just to add to any confusion you might already be experiencing :D

The Lutece (I've stayed there too) is a simple hotel but it's everything the Danube wasn't-my personal opinon again. My room on the 5th floor was in the rear of the hotel. I got a huge room that was set up for a triple as there was one large bed on one side of the room. and a single bed in its own corner on the other side. The staff were not only warm but helpful as well. The breakfast is a simple Continental type but they provide you with enough baguette and croissants, a freshly squeezed glass of orange juice, and the best coffee I've drank in Paris so far. The breakfast lady is really sweet. And location cannot be faulted at all for convenience and scenery...