We are planning on a trip to Paris over the week of Thanksgiving next year. This will be our third trip. We decided to plan for this trip almost two months ago and we have several months before we need to start making decisions. This has given me way too much time to do the planning and research. I have been studying the forum topics as well as the hotel reviews. I have visited numerous hotel web sites and travel sites. I have found at least two dozen hotels that I wish I could try out. I have studied the bus and metro lines to look at connections from the various areas. I have looked at the various locations for proximity to restaurants and shopping. It’s a process I really enjoy, and I thought I would pass along a few tips and observations that might be helpful to others.
Travel Advisor Hotel Reviews
This is really a valuable resource, not only for the reviews but also for the candid pictures taken at the hotels. It would be a mistake however to completely rely on just the numerical rankings. These seem to change from time to time and can be slanted toward the hotels that have been popular in the past. I have found that a popular hotel has sometimes raised its rates enough to diminish the value in comparison to other hotels. The rating may also be lower because the hotel has received fewer comments. The important thing is to see what people are saying and most important if there is a trend to what they are saying. I have also found it useful to see if the reviewer has reviewed other properties. Some reviewers never can be satisfied and some (I probably fall into this category) are enjoying Paris so much that nothing bothers them. I have found some trends in the comments however.
1. The rooms are small. This is the most common complaint and seems to be typical of Paris hotel rooms.
2. The elevators are tiny.
3. The tub/showers do not have curtains and the water gets all over the floor.
4. The hotel staff is wonderful or rude (usually the same hotel). So what attitude did the guest bring?
5. The breakfast is very good or poor (usually the same hotel). Do you like a French breakfast?
Picking a hotel is quite subjective. In the end you need to pick a hotel that appeals to you, for your level of activity, and spirit of adventure and romance or lack thereof.
Pages Jaunes
A wonderful resource for pictures of the buildings in the area. Just remember that most of the pictures are taken early in the morning when everything is shuttered and may not give an indication of the actual activity. There is also an interactive restaurant guide showing street and restaurant locations.
RATP Site
This also has an interactive map which shows metro and bus stops at larger scale as well as taxi stand locations. The overall bus maps are not to be relied upon. You can however download maps showing the actual stops and routes for individual lines.
Locations
There are no bad locations in central Paris. Almost everything is within walking distance. You are either in the center of a lot of activity or you are in a quieter neighborhood where you can experience everyday Parisian life.
Ideally I would like to spend about three months in Paris changing hotels once a week and moving to an entirely new area. Since that will not be possible we will have to come to a decision at some point. the great thing is that it is all good. The only bad thing is that it ends too soon.
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Everything you say echoes my exact thoughts at the moment ! - I am about to book tomorrow for a short trip in May after some intense research and will be thrilled to have the travel/accomodation aspects %26#39;put to bed%26#39;(so to speak) so that I can think what we shall actually do there (we know the city, but this is for teenager to practice speaking for exam, so more interaction, less staring!.) A phrase you used: %26#39;way too much time%26#39; is true - I have been flipping between two guidebooks, my longlist, reduced now to a shortlist and this site and a few other forays via the search engines. In contrast, my husband took 1/2 hour to arrange a suprise weekend visit to another city. I think I probably overdo the research, but you do pick up some wonderful nuggets along the way (although I think I shall scream if I see another review mentioning small hotel rooms ............) Happy researching and have a great trip
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The thing about %26quot;having too much time to plan%26quot; though is that, when you get to Paris, I think you enjoy it so much more, especially if you are a first-time visitor. You arrive feeling like you already %26quot;know%26quot; the city. It%26#39;s less foreign. And, at least for me, planning is SO much a fun part of the trip. Where to stay this time, where to eat (AArrrgh that list is loooong) what to visit that I may not have seen before. Oh what fun...
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Living in Paris I have noticed that different cultures have very different tastes. For example, many of the French restaurants in all the Japanese guidebooks are not even mentioned in the Anglo ones and vice versa.
As a result I have taken up the habit of searching for my hotels in the language of orgin. In Italy I search the Italian sites and guides, etc and so one. Gets to be a bit complicated in countries where I can not recognize the alphabet, but I always seem to manage.
Because I use local info I usually find myself a bit off the beaten anglo-tourist path, staying among local visitors and sometimes even paying less for a lot more charm.
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Phread....your %26quot;paying less for a lot more charm%26quot; really appeals to me!! I%26#39;m not a very fancy person (well, I could be.....if I had the fancy checking account to go with it!), so I find a lot of pleasure in searching out the %26quot;charming%26quot; places, which usually don%26#39;t tend to be so much on the fancy side. The fact that they are cheaper or at least, comparatively, a good value is also a bonus.
Do you have some of those %26quot;picks%26quot; for Paris? I%26#39;d love to hear what a local considers charming. One day I hope to be a local, too! :)
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