<p>It took me over a week to select a hotel in London, searching Yelp, Tripadvisor and CC boards. Ended up with Holiday Inn Mayfair. I can’t bring myself to start the process again for Paris. Any hotel favorites? We’ll be there 4 nights, 2 adults and a teen preferably in one room and private bathroom is highly desirable. Hoping for less than $300/night, but after the London booking I am not hopeful. This is a “spend the inheritance”/ good bye to teen trip.</p>
<p>Several years ago we stayed at the Hotel du Champ de Mars. Loved the location and the rooms were lovely. We had a party of four. We found the place through a Rick Steves guide book. It is not your average American hotel, more like a small inn. At the time, it was not very expensive.</p>
<p>We stayed at the Emeraude Hotel Louvre Montana in 2008. Loved it - in 1st district, walking distance to Louve and <1 block from Tullieres metro station. I looked up my email confirmation and it was Eu259 back then and worth it. It was my mom’s 80th birthday and we asked for one of the special balcony rooms and we could squeeze a few chairs out on it (think Paris rooftop) and see the Museum D’Orsay to our left and Sacre Courre to our right. (My challenge for that trip was finding 3 single beds, as it was my mom, D1 & myself - you might have more luck with a double & single in a room). </p>
<p>I second musica’s apartment suggestion. You can definitely find a great place for under 300.00 per night, and live like a local to boot. I’ve used Vacation in Paris, which is U.S. based and makes everything very easy. </p>
<p>Thank you for great suggestions! I needed direction, now I can begin. I like the idea of an apartment, but I don’t want to touch a cooking utensil while on vacation-especially in Paris. However a washing machine is very tempting, especially since I am enforcing a very strict luggage rule. </p>
<p>Do ‘old’ adults still travel through Europe with backpacks? I know it was great as a young adult, but don’t want to tarnish the American image further with excessive Faux pas’s.</p>
<p>I don’t cook while I’m in an apartment, but I do take advantage of all the lovely markets that have fantastic produce, cheese, sausages, quiche, pre cooked chicken etc! And it’s a pleasure shopping for freshly made baguettes and croissant for breakfast each AM.</p>
<p>It’s a real pleasure having the kitchen as an option. Especially when your traveling with more than one person. Making restaurant arrangements and reservations can really be trying, especially in my family since every decision between the three of us involves at least 5-6 opinions.:)</p>
<p>We like the extra space an apartment provides. Hotel rooms can be really tiny. We booked an apartment for four nights during the last week in May through Cobblestone: cobblestoneparis.com (recommended by Rick Steves). Also check these agencies: halldis.com, specialapartments.com, and vacationinparis.com. I had very nice communications with all three of them before choosing Cobblestone. Our apartment is across the street from Luxembourg Gardens, and I’ve decided I’m glad we’re on the Left Bank. (Cobblestone is run by a young American couple.)</p>
<p>I also scoured HomeAway, which I find has a better website than VRBO. But I agree–finding a place can be exhausting. We need to stay in Versailles for one night, and I can’t decide because nothing looks all that great.</p>
<p>I have stayed at Citadines. My favorite location is around the Place d’Italie although I have never stayed at that particular Citadines. I just checked a studio apartment with pull out sofa bed for 154 euros in June. They have fully equipped kitchens, and there are several around Paris. A larger 2 bedroom would be more expensive, but still well under your $300. They are apartment hotels with all the amenities you’re used to. </p>
<p>IMHO, it has all the advantages of staying in an apartment but it’s a business and works like a hotel.</p>
<p>Hotel St Jaques on the rue de Ecole has 2 or 3 rooms that would hold 3 persons. (about 2 1/2 blocks from the intersection of St Germain and St Michael in the Latin Q)</p>
<p>If I recall, many hotels refer to these as “family” rooms or quad rooms.</p>
<p>Citidines has a few Paris locations and also offers 3-4 person set ups.</p>
<p>If anyone is looking for a great bargain, check out the Paris apartment rentals on sabbaticalhomes.com which is much cheaper than even what you find on tripadvisor. We found our 5 week rental that way but there are also lots offering for very short term (that comes to less than $100-$150/night): </p>
<p>Looks like tomorrow will be devoted to searching apartments on the wonderful links provided, thank you!</p>
<p>All of the hotels suggested look lovely and well situated, but several are already booked out for late June. The only hotel so far that has a room for 3 is Emeraude Hotel Louvre Montana, and that is offered at a pre-paid (no refund/cancellation) price of $420/night before the VAT and extra person charge. I realize now we should have done this trip before DD became an “adult”. The elegant Prince de Galles is closed until August for renovation. I think I need to look at the rates in Euros and pretend they are in dollars- hey, it worked for the GPB rates!
Getting two rooms hadn’t occurred to me but I suspect we will have many more options if I consider two small rooms vs. one for all of us. After 3 weeks together we’ll probably each want our own room anyway.</p>
<p>These prices have me wondering about the economic crisis in Europe. I know the dollar has been stronger in the past, but clearly plenty of money is flowing through the leisure industry. C’est la vie…</p>
<p>My SIL stayed here a couple years ago and they had rooms with 2 double beds and also 2 room suites. I think it used to be a Holiday Inn. I have only seen it from the outside and it looks huge.</p>
<p>Waverly, as the penultimate spoiled American, the presence of a washing machine is the first thing I inquire about when searching for the perfect apartment! Traveling with nothing but a carry on is my idea of a fantastic trip! :)</p>