glk11b

PARIS-PORTE DE SAINT OUEN Holiday Inn, Rue de la Fontaine 9, Saint Ouen 93400 is available 20 Sep 05 for 110 Euro? Any comments, criticisms, suggestions would be appreciated. Jerry

BeachBoi

Actually there is a 98E, 14 day advance non reundable rate.I am also showing via my TA's GDS system that the "normal" corporate rate is 117E.I am not familiar with his property or this area.But I have seen some Holiday Inns around Paris that are very inexpensively priced. I hope this helps....Stephen

cocofromdijon

it is not unusual for a "garden court" holiday inn
http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/...breakfast.html
it is even from 88€ here! and you can compare with the other ones.

Jocelyn_P

Why is it so cheap? Because it's out in the boonies It's north of Montmarte, by the Peripherique (ring road around Paris).

Tripadvisor.com has a few reviews you may want to check out. One comment that could be a concern is that it's a 10-15 minute walk to the nearest metro station.

If this is your first time to Paris, I'd suggest a more centrally located hotel. There are numerous budget hotels in the Latin Quarter; you can do a search here to find endless possibilities. Good luck and enjoy Paris.

Jocelyn_P

Here's a recent post about Paris budget hotels to get you started:

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34663523

susanna

This is a long answer if it is the same Holiday Inn, the one by the peripheric (sp) road, across from the science museun/fair grounds...I do belive that we were in the 00 arrondisment.

I was traveling with a SIL who was living at the time in England, she had made last minute reservations in Paris and the hotel was appauling, under construction, a fire hazard, next door to a porn shop, just completely unexceptable, especially since we had 4 teenagers with us. She went to the HOliday Inn across the street, no rooms, it was the weekend and we didn't have any luck finding a few rooms for all of us, we probably called 20-30 hotels. Finially, that HI said they had rooms at one of their properties, but a little removed from the city, we didn't care at this point, we took it and took a taxi to the hotel.

It was actually a beautiful hotel, we had two huge rooms, the biggest rooms by far that I have ever stayed at in Paris,and also about 100 a night, cheep, we even had a wonderful dinner in the hotel. What we didn't really like was the neighborhood, by the freeway, it wasn't a very nice area with kids, we didn't feel comfortable coming home late at night, it was a fairly long metro ride from the main sights.

I hope this helps, I also hope this is the same HI you are speaking of.

111op

The postal code is Saint Ouen 93400.

Locations in Paris would have postal codes like 75xxx: 75001, ... , 75020

(There're 20 arrondissements in Paris.)

Most will stick with 75001-75009.

But double digits ones are probably fine too (75011, for example).

susanna

I just read Jocely's comments and I do believe it is the same. Actually, the metro was only two blocks away, I know, because I didn't want the kids to know we were worried about the area and I made it a race for the 6 of us from the metro to the hotel one evening when we returned around midnight.

dwzemens

I have a double room reserved at the Hotel Monge for September 2005. It is highly spoken of on this forum and at tripadvisor.com. It is located in the 5th and is 98 euros per night. So, by my math, the Holiday Inn, as others before me have said, is not a good value.

PalQ

Yes it's a rather downtrodden area of immigrants - not dangerous i think but not pretty - close to the famous Marche aux Puces - St Ouen flea markets. Price doesn't seem out of ordinary for this area.

hanl

Not a great area, I know it quite well as I used to pass through there most days on my way to work.
There are certainly worse neighbourhoods in the Paris region, but this wouldn't be my ideal choice for a hotel location. I wouldn't feel particularly comfortable returning there at night via public transport.

Susanna's experience there should help you decide - I suppose it depends on your priorities.

Christina

well, aside from it being way out, and not that good an area even then -- I'm surprised more people haven't commented that 110 euro isn't that cheap a hotel rate for that to be remarkable. You can find lots of hotels in central Paris for that rate (although you just have reservation problems now because September is peak hotel season and very busy, so hotels get booked up way ahead).

Now, I don't know that hotel, so if it is a 4* Holiday Inn, then I would agree 110 euro might be considered cheap for that. A lot of the Holiday Inns on the edges of Paris are pretty basic ones.

cocofromdijon

Holiday inn "garden court" appellation is a 3 star hotel. I worked in the one in Dijon and if I remember well the Holiday inn "Crowne Plaza" are 4 or even 5*. (in 1990...)

Flyboy

Jerry, I agree with the others. This is NOT the place to go to experience what most people would be thinking of as a trip to Paris and you can include me in that characterization, too. I agree with those who point out that the rate isn't all that great either. If you're looking specifically at Holiday Inn properties, any of these would be far better:

Holiday Inn Paris Republique (very nice property in a circa 1865 building)

Holiday Inn Paris Opera (nice boutique-style hotel on a quiet street, but in an interesting neighborhood with a lot of diversity.)

Holiday Paris St. Germain (could just as easily be called Montparnasse, but the location is excellent -- though the first two mentioned are better facilities.)

Holiday Inn Paris Bastille (Gare de Lyon/Marais/Bastille area; classic building).

Brazilnut

I agree with Christina. I don't think that 110 euros per night for a place way out is a bargain. I stayed with a friend at the Hotel Carofftel Gobelins in a huge room with balcony, bathtub, lift, etc, for 89 euros (this was back in May of this year). This hotel is located on the 5th arrondisement, near Rue Mongue and Mouffetard, metro stations, bus stops, and other niceties (right in front of a Monoprix).

Sue4

I stayed at the Holiday Inn Bastille for one night in May - for a rate of 98 euros, which included a wonderful buffet breakfast. This was a rate I got on their internet site, and paid for in advance - non-refundable. The room was quite comfortable, with a nice bath and all the amenities.. I was in Paris for the night, and it was conveniently near the Gare de Lyon and the Air France Bus to CDG. It was actually a real bargain, altho I wouldn't want to stay in that area for a longer stay.

lisa

Because it is in a really bad location.

glk11b

Thanks for all the very useful comments. Unfortunately there must be a convention or something going on around 20 Sep - 24 Sep 2005. Holiday Inn Republic and Bastille are booked. So are Hotels Monge, St. Jacques, Regina, Mayfair, Mercedes and others often recommended on Fodors. Anyone know what is going on? Maybe we will move on directly to Normandy and do Paris at the end of our trip. Regards, Jerry

Patrick

Holiday Inns in Europe are extremely popular with tour groups. So often they are sold out (or at least reserved) for those groups.

And frankly most good Paris hotels are booked at least a month or two in advance most of the year.

Jocelyn_P

Hi again,

There are still lots of good ones to try, like L'Esperance, Port Royal, Sorbonne, and Carroftel Gobelins (mentioned here by Brazilnut).

You can also go to a site like venere.com, punch in your dates, and see what they have available.