Visiting Paris — Lodging

This page concerns our Paris hotels.

Many of our trips start, finish, or both in Paris, our home city.  Even if you are on a trip that doesn’t, or even if you are not on one of our trips, you should stop by and visit, since watching the locals drive is terrific fun, and there are both is a McDonald’s and a Burger King here now.  (Burger King closed its French outlets in 1998.  Bummer.)

We can help you set up your Paris stay in any number of ways. Domains where we may be of more than usual use include the following:

Lodging

These links will take you to another page:
Airport Train Tickets to or from Paris Center
Paris Luggage Storage



Lodging

We make fee-free bookings at our “usual” hotels (the one described as “economical” and the one described as “more comfortable”).  And, of course, there is no fee applied for booking our guest apartments. 
At other hotels, or at our “more comfortable” hotel when a cheaper, non-commissionable, internet discount rate is available, our usual hotel booking fees apply.


Our Guest Apartments
We own two studios, both with kitchen areas, detached bathrooms, and WiFi.  They are located in the 15th century building which houses our office, in Paris’s most enjoyable pedestrian neighborhood, the 2nd arrondissement’s Quartier Montorgueil.

Our building is within walking distance (15 minutes or less) of the Louvre, Pompidou Center, Palais Royal, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Marais.... and a block from an old market street with no fewer than 8 patisseries and 20 cafés, plus lots of edible animals hanging in store windows with their fur or plumage still on.

We are also within a 5-minute walk of 4 different métro stations, served by 9 of Paris’ 18 lines, including direct lines to both airports, and to 6 of Paris’ 7 main rail stations.

A 3-night minimum stay is normally required, but 2 night stays are possible at the last minute.  Details.


Usual Hotel – Economical (2*)
A centrally located 2-star, walking distance from the Pompidou Center, Notre Dame, the Marais, and our office. Excellent métro access: the ease of moving about town is key on a short visit.  But it is a simple place, reflecting prices low for central Paris.  For current exchange rates to the €uro, see here.

Prices include breakfast and taxes.
Room Type
Single
Double*
Twin*
Solo traveller in
Twin / Triple #
Cost per Night, 2010
72 €uros
88 €
90€
52 €

* Price for 2 people, sharing a room w/ a double bed, or with two twin beds.
# Price for one person in twin room.
3 requesting a 3-bed triple pay 123 €, if it is available (there is only one in the hotel).  There is also a room with a double and a single bed:  107€.
If no suitable triple is available for a party of three, it is necessary to take a twin and a single, or to take the “solo traveller” rate for the third person, if available.



Usual Hotel – More Luxurious Option (3*)
We also offer a comfortable 3-star, better kept and appointed, air conditioned, three blocks from the Louvre and two from the Seine.  Prices are for “superior” rooms (normal, really:  the not-superior rooms are very small, which is the norm in the medieval city center).

Prices include breakfast and taxes.
Room Type
Single
Double or
Twin
Triple
Cost per night, 2010*
189 €
229 €
289 €

* July 14 - Aug. 31:  15% discount.  Higher prices may apply on the dates of certain salons, especially in the last half of June, and in September / October.  We will warn you prior to booking if a higher price applies.


Left Bank Hotels
We have a stable of boutique hotels in and around the Latin Quarter....  Prices for any given quality of room are typically 20 - 30 € higher per room than our usual, for equivalent quality, and (personally) we don’t think the neighborhood is more interesting, or prettier.  But it has that certain je ne sais quoi.  Our usual hotel booking fees apply (these people are hard to work with).


Economical Options for Longer Stays
If you wish to economize, you can request a room in one of our selected one-star hotels, in the neighborhood of our office.

In general, one-star hotels are a mixed bag.  That is a charitable way of putting it.  They always offer summary comfort (maybe the mattress is saggy, the bed spread has a cigarette burn, there may not be a phone in the room...).  Some have worse problems, the nature of which we will leave to your imagination.

The ones we use are “OK.”  That means that they are responsibly operated, and cater to a clientele of economy-minded tourists and business travellers on per diem stipends.  They are clean and not too dowdy, even when the decoration smacks of the 1970’s (orange is the new black, right?).  And they our centrally located, within a few blocks of our office.  So if you don't like them, you can come to the office and sleep on the floor.  Which gives us a healthy incentive to be careful with our choices.

They make the most sense for single travellers, where a room can be had for circa 40€ with hall shower, or 55€ with an in-room shower (compared to our usual “economical” single at 72€, which, however, includes breakfast).  In exchange for our “vetting” job, our usual hotel booking fees apply (none of these places commission, or otherwise give discounts).  This would wipe out the cost advantage over our ususal place for the first night+, so making this choice really only makes sense for stays of three or more nights.

In making your booking, tell us just how important economy is to you, and what you are willing to put up with to get it.   “Grim but safe” is an instruction we are willing to work with.