Travel Plans

[steviejay]

Hey all,

At some point in the summer I'm planning on visiting Paris with my girlfriend and was wondering where would be a good place to look for a hotel or B&B or whatever? where's a good place to stay? Ideally we're looking for someplace close to all the places you'd expect to see in Paris (touristy things) I have no idea about Paris as I've never been so was wondering if anyone could help me out. thanks

Steviejay

 

[ComradeDavo]

The good thing about Paris I found is that it is easy to walk everywhere. So even if you can't get a hotel in the middle, it shouldn't take tooo long to get somewhere. I have to go out right now but i'll look up the hotel I stayed at later.

 

[steviejay]

bump

thanks Comrade, I'm sure where ever we do end up'll be fine, I was just wondering if anyone had any preferences "oh we went here once and it was great etc"

 

[Grisu]

Last time I was in Paris, we had our Hotel near La Madeleine (forgot the name of the hotel, though). I thought it was a pretty good location. It had several attractions within walking distance and a close Metro station for the rest

 

[ComradeDavo]

Thinking about it, the hotel I stayed in was very much a 2 star backpacking place, so probably not the best of places to take your girlfriend for a romantic trip to Paris!

By the way, expect to eat out everynight, I had a terriable time trying to find a decent superkarket whilst in Paris! Gave up and had alot of Pizza!

 

[Grisu]

By the way, expect to eat out everynight, I had a terriable time trying to find a decent superkarket whilst in Paris! Gave up and had alot of Pizza!

my god, you were in Paris, of all places, and wanted to eat supermarket food? crazy brits

 

[ComradeDavo]

my god, you were in Paris, of all places, and wanted to eat supermarket food? crazy brits

My Euro's were limited!

And actually, in some of the more middle class British supermarkets (i.e. Waitrose or Marks And Spencers) the food is actually really good

 

[steviejay]

thanks guys, after looking at Expedia I've thought that maybe the Europe Hotel (£440 total) or the Timhotel Tour Eiffel (£429) are contenders atm. She's still a student so funds are somewhat tight heh, althought seeing as it's her birthday I'll probably just pay for everything anyway

Hotel Iliade Paris XVIII looks pretty good too, aparantly 86% of travellers who went there would recommend it

 

[MamboJoel]

Hotel Iliade Paris XVIII looks pretty good too, aparantly 86% of travellers who went there would recommend it

The quarter is not touristy at all. Paris is surrounded by the "périphérique", kind of a highway (the biggest traffic in Europe !!!) and the hotel you mention is near it. In fact, it's behind Montmartre in a not very sympathic quarter.
I highly recommand you go for the Eiffel hotel.

Cheap image :

 

[Masquerouge]

StevieJay, the good thing about Paris is that the subway system is very dense, there are stations EVERYWHERE. Make sure to check the weekly passes on http://www.ratp.fr/ (there's a button "international passengers" at the top of the page that will direct you to the English version), you'll save a lot of money.

For the hotel, the more central the better. If you have a choice between two hotels, take the most central one. Avoid places around railroad stations (gare du Nord, Gare de Lyon, Gare de l'Est, Gare Montparnasse), and avoid the XIX and XX "arrondissements", there's not that great for people not familiar with Paris

 

[steviejay]

yeah, out of everything I was thinking about needing to plan for going, transport is the thing I wasn't giving much thought too, just like Berlin I had an idea that the transport system in Paris is first rate. so getting about isn't a problem. it's just where to stay. we'll be out pretty much all day doing stuff anyway (neither of us has been before) but we'd still like someplace nice to comeback to at night

 

[steviejay]

Thanks for all the input guys. I've been looking about and at present, the forerunner is the "Hotel Vendome Saint Germain" a 2* in the "Latin Quarter" which is only 450m from Notre Dame Cathedral. Anyone ever stayed here? or know the general area?

 

[Grisu]

Quartier Latin is pretty fun, the next time I visit Paris I'll have my hotel in that area, I think. You sure won't have trouble finding something tasty to eat there

 

[ComradeDavo]

Thanks for all the input guys. I've been looking about and at present, the forerunner is the "Hotel Vendome Saint Germain" a 2* in the "Latin Quarter" which is only 450m from Notre Dame Cathedral. Anyone ever stayed here? or know the general area?

From what I remember, that was a nice part of the city Only spent half a day or so in the area though.

450m from Nore Dame Cathedral though = tourists everywhere!

 

[steviejay]

heh I AM a tourist

 

[Masquerouge]

Thanks for all the input guys. I've been looking about and at present, the forerunner is the "Hotel Vendome Saint Germain" a 2* in the "Latin Quarter" which is only 450m from Notre Dame Cathedral. Anyone ever stayed here? or know the general area?

Do not expect anything exceptional with 2 stars. It will be functional, but that's it.
I tried to look it up on the web but did not find it: could you provide the address? Because there are some places in the Quartier Latin that are better than others

 

[steviejay]

I'm not really looking for anything fancy. a bad will do us because we'll be out pretty much all the time anyway taking in the sights or just eating and whatnot

Here's the link to the hotel if thats any help