Lady_Jag

We're a family of 4 and will only be in Paris for 3 nights. We want to do a City tour and a Seine River cruise, but other than that, we plan to just sit & soak up the ambiance (and recover from jetlag!). We like clean, modern hotels.

In what area should we try to get a hotel?

Travelnut

Do you want two rooms (thus two bathrooms) or a quad, and what's the maximum you'd prefer to spend per room per night?
Most first-timers find it easier to stay in 1st-7th arrondissements, and the majority of recommendations from folks here will be for arrs. 3,4,5,6 and some 7.

Robert2533

What's your budget? There are still a number of good options but it all depends on how much you want to spend. I hate to say it, but after checking our records, hotel prices in Paris have gone up even more than we imagined over the last three years. The Hotel Madison, long a favorite, is not longer within a reasonable persons price range, summer, or winter, so be advised.

Lady_Jag

What I'm planning to do is get 2 rooms (1 for us, 1 for our teenage sons) through Priceline, but I need to know what areas to bid on first. I know that I'll pay a reasonable amt. with Priceline - maybe $85-$125 a night per room.

So, basically, I'm looking for your top 3 picks of arrondisements to stay in I guess. Thanks so much for the help!

WillTravel

If you are using Priceline you don't get a choice of arrondisements.

The only Priceline bid I would consider would be a 4* bid either in the St. Germain - Latin Quarter - Montparnasse zone or the Opera Quarter East zone. Any other zone risks getting you a hotel that is very remote.

I did do a Priceline bid for July 2004 and won the Le Meridien Montparnasse which was a very nice hotel. It was definitely more spacious than the stereotypical Parisian hotel room and it was recently renovated. It was also very conveniently located. My winning bid was $110 + taxes and fees. At the time the total amount converted to a rate of about 95 Euros per night.

Lady_Jag

Excellent information, WillTravel! Thanks so much! I know I can't bid on Priceline according to arrondisements, but figured if people that aren't familiar with Priceline could tell me what area would be good, then I could figure out which arrondisement they were talking about. Thanks for taking the legwork out of that for me!

It's also good to know what you bid for July, 2004, as we're going in July, 2005. How far in advance did you bid? I wonder if bidding in January would be too late?

Thanks again!

WillTravel

I bid in February for the July 2004 stay although I'm sure I could have bid at a later date also. But I had a week-long stay.

Note that at the time I bid, $110 USD was equal to 87.5 Euros (taxes and fees brought the equivalent to 95 Euros). I had failed with slightly lower bids. Prior to my successful bid, I had found a 2* hotel (Mercure Raspail) for 85 Euros per night. So it seemed worthwhile to bid just a little more than that. I had been quite concerned about inadequate air conditioning, and the Le Meridien Montparnasse has wonderful A/C. Note that the Novotel Les Halles, which comes up as a 4* in Opera Quarter East, apparently turns off its A/C from midnight to 6 AM. That fact might discourage me from bidding in that zone.

Be sure to watch if Priceline keeps the zones the same or changes them, since they do monkey with the maps now and then.

Is your stay before or after Bastille Day? Mine straddled it. I think if your stay is after Bastille Day, you might succeed with a somewhat lower bid.

In the St. Germain et al. zone you also have a fair chance of getting the Sofitel Forum Rive Gauche. I would not have liked that hotel as much, I'm sure, because it wouldn't have been convenient to visit it during the day, as I did a couple times with Le Meridien Montparnasse.

Lady_Jag

Now I'm wondering if I shouldn't "chance it" with Priceline, but book directly with a hotel instead. I've found a lot of quaint hotels with reasonable prices in the Marais area and Champs Elysee area. Would those be good? I'd really like to be in the city center and I'm not really sure where that is!

WillTravel

One main reason I went with a Priceline 4* in this case was that I wanted dependable air conditioning. The A/C options I found directly were either a lot more expensive or they were definitely inferior. You are also going in July, so it could be terribly hot weather, or you could have rainy weather or you could have pleasant weather. We got a spacious, newly renovated, room with excellent air conditioning in a well-located hotel - none of which were very likely for the same price booking conventionally.

If choosing between the Marais and the Champs Elysees, I would have a very strong preference for the Marais.

Lady_Jag

I'm with you on that point, Will. Good, strong A/C is a must for us also. We keep it on 24/7 here in So. Cal. and DH gets cranky if it's hotter than 73 in the house.

From what I could tell, the Marais looks like it's centrally located. I did find some quaint, small hotels in that area for around $115 per night with A/C. The rooms look large, but I'm not sure if they turn the A/C off at midnight. I've heard a lot of hotels do that.

I think I'll just go with Priceline then and give it a try with a 4* in the Marais area as my first choice. Thanks once again for all the help!!!

WillTravel

Lady_Jag, there's no Marais zone on Priceline. The Bastille-Bercy zone might include a bit of the Marais, but bidding in that zone will almost certainly give you a hotel in Bercy - rather far from the Marais. I've never heard of anyone getting a 4* hotel in the Marais on Priceline.

strass

I would definitely choose the Marais, Latin Quarter, or St. Germaine area over the Champs. Much more centrally located.

suze

As for what is most central you might check a Paris map showing the layout of the arrondisements:

The numbers go in a spiral from the center... so of those you mentioned: the Marais (4th), the Latin Quarter (5th), St. Germaine (6th), etc. These numbers also match up with zip codes.

I think the trickier part from your original post is finding a "modern" hotel as many in these districts are more of the old & quaint school.

Lady_Jag

Yes, I did notice today on Priceline that they've broken up the Marais area between 2 different Priceline sections. I think it'd be very risky to try for the Bercy section in hopes of getting the Marais area.

I don't mind too much if the hotel isn't skyscraper-like modern. As long as it has good A/C, a great location and lots of sites to see close to it, then I'll be happy. I don't ask for much, do I? )

WillTravel

Just figure out your best choice considering location, price, and quality if you don't use Priceline. Then you can figure out if it's worth it to use Priceline.

travelbunny

..a quick note. Les Marais is a great place to stay but you mentioned you want a "modern hotel"..there just arent any there. There are only 2 4* and they are very expensive. The rest are mostly 2* or old 2* that have been tarted up and are now 3*..You cant go too wrong in the 1-8 arr. I like the 6th and the 7near the 6th..check venere.com or tripadv for some recommendations as well as the forum.