Family Oriented Area

The Latin Quarter (5th and 6th arr.) is a nice area. The metro is everywhere and the city of Paris is not a big city within the city limits (smaller than San Francisco in fact)

European hotel rooms don't generally come with 2 double beds (never seen any in my life). At most a quad room will have a Queen size with a couple of twin beds. Your budget however is likely not high enough for a quad room in central Paris, therefore you might be better off renting an apartment, especially if you stay 4 or more nights.

Hotel du Parc Montsouris has family rooms in your price range. It's a simple but clean two-star hotel at the southern edge of Paris next door to lovely Parc Montsouris, and between the Cite Universitaire RER B line stop and the Porte d'Orleans metro stop. The tram goes by there taking you around the southern ring road. It's very much a family area, as well as where international graduate students, who are studying in Paris, live in housing built by their home countries. The only caveat is the only restaurant area is at the Porte d'Orleans or further into the 14th. You'll starve if you look for a restaurant around the RER stop.

Thanks Bets, the hotel you have recommended looks like a decent option within the price range, and the connectivity to metro is also good.

Thanks Roberto for your suggestions as well.

Would you guys recommend staying in an around Gare de Nord as we would be arriving by eurostar and have to take the train again to amsterdam after visiting Paris ?

No.. why... the area around the train station is not interesting and you will not spend your time in that area sightseeing..so why stay there just because three days later you have to go to the station again?

Paris hotel rooms are far too small to ever have 2 double beds and still have room for people and luggage. You will need a quad room which as mentioned will be a double and 2 twins. (Sparse in Paris so look and book now.) If you are going in late June you should book a hotel with air con, which can be difficult to come by. Do not count on fridge or coffee/tea facilities in the room, especially in that price range.

The room will be small so try to cut each person's luggage to no more than a 22" inch carry-on. They kids should be able to get by with a 20" or even just their backpack.

As you search you may find you need to up your budget quite a bit. I would not bother with an apt. for a visit of only 3 nights.

The RER B is direct from Cite Universitaire to Gare du Nord for catching your train.
I have no idea if the Hotel du Parc Montsouris has any air conditioning; I've lived in Paris during heat waves and no air conditioning, so it never occurs to me. I just suffer along with friends and family--but it wouldn't be fun for a short visit. One of these days it'll bite me.

I used to walk by this hotel with my oldest in a stroller on the way to the Parc when we lived in Paris decades ago. At the time the hotel, tucked on a quiet side street, looked so romantic! Then we did stay there two times on visits but always in winter and with only one of our kids in tow. Once we were landing for a eight-month stay and had six pieces of luggage including work materials and a guitar in the hotel room, so the room wasn't too small.

Thanks maddietravel - Quad room is what I was after, sorry for the wording, where the kids can have their own little twin beds. Looks like I will have to bite the bullet and increase my budget as Paris seems to be expensive as far as accommodation is concerned.

Bets - thanks again for your valuable insights of this wonderful city.

So Gare du nord shouldn't be considered at all.

The only two reasons it appealed to me was not having to carry luggage twice in a crowded metro to a different area, or shell out taxi fares to and fro, and many eating options near the main train station.

Many thanks all for your valuable suggestions... Keep them coming....

I don't agree that the 10th Arron. should be completely ignored. While your budget for 4 people is on the lower side for a hotel room in the heart of the Latin Quarter, Marais or Saint Germain, you can find some perfectly good lodging options that would work for your family in the 10th. Look for something near the Louis Blanc Metro station or by Canal Saint Martin. Plenty of French families living nearby. No, there is not a bunch of major sightseeing opportunities right there, but there are lots of shops, cafes and restaurants you can go to with your family, and both those areas are well-serviced by public transit (Paris Metro station, RER, major train stations) so it's very easy and pretty quick to get to many different neighborhoods from there.

If you can't find a hotel with a quad room, you can look at some apartment rentals and probably get yourself a studio or 1BR at that rate.

Since you are still pretty early to book for a trip next June, you might want to take the opportunity to look right now at the various hostels and snag one of the limited "family rooms" (usually 1 double and 2 twins). Or book a quad dorm with ensuite bathroom (if you don't mind everyone having their own twin bed). Check the hostel website directly, but also do your homework and read through reviews at sites like hostelworld.com, booking.com or TripAdvisor to see what other guests have to say about the hostel to make sure it will work for your family. A hostel will give you and the kids additional room to spread out in the various lounges, access to WiFi, the ability to use the shared kitchen to cook a simple meal or store some snacks, breakfast and lunch-making materials, and often coin-op laundry facilities on-site. Plus you would have someone at the front desk to ask questions or get directions or recommendations on restaurants when you need some help.

There is someone who posts over on Trip Advisor who occasionally runs a list of hotels with quad rooms. I would suggest looking at the Paris TA forum and searching 'quad room' and it will surely surface this list. They aren't that easy to find. I think Hotel des Grandes Ecoles has at least one and the hotel has a lovely little garden where you can bring in your own take out food for lunch or dinner (or have their expensive breakfast in which you probably don't want to do -- breakfasts are very overpriced in Paris hotels for a little bread and coffee) It is well located in the Latin Quarter not far from Luxembourg Gardens which would be great for the kids (the gardens has a pay playground that has some things particularly fun for kids the age of yours as well as little boats to sail on the fountain pool, beautiful walks, lots of chairs for picnics and a puppet show) and it is an easy walk down to the Seine and Notre Dame from the hotel. Plenty of restaurants although lots of them are somewhat awful and touristy so you need to do a little homework there.

I needed similar (with AC) and found Hotel Excelsior Latin in the latin quarter. You will need to up your budget to about 200 euros, but this one seemed much nicer than any I found in the under 200 range. I also think you could walk to many things at lesat 1 day, which would save a bit on metro fare. I have not stayed there yet.

I don't think hostels have AC, and having been to Paris in June, I definitely would want AC.

I would strongly suggest looking into alternative lodging using VRBO or AirBNB. Lots of Paris rental have one week minimums, but it should be fairly easy to short/search only those who will consider a shorter term stay. You should have NO problem at all finding a very comfortable apartment (either a 2BR or a 1BR with a separate living + pull out sofa), in a nice part of the city, well within your budget. As a family of 4 you will be much more comfortable in even a small apartment than trying to cram into a Paris hotel room with various cots and all your belongings. You'll have the added advantage of a kitchen -- even if you only use it for breakfast and snacks, it's worth it -- and also give your kids the experience of what it would actually be like to live in Paris. Good family-oriented areas to check: 16th Arr, 11th Arr (near Bastille), 10th Arr (near Canal St Martin). All of these areas are very nice and comfortable, have lots of services to offer, restaurants and supermarkets will be less expensive than in the tourist core, and if you are careful about selecting a place with good metro proximity (easy to tell via google maps), will offer relatively easy access to tourist sites via metro, bus (or even Velib, if your kids are tall enough to manage an adult size bike).

Thanks Michelle, that's what I am looking now, and thanks for suggesting the areas. Feeling sad at the moment for the massacre and the loss of lives in Paris :(