Hi All!
First trip to Paris with the wife (2 year old and 8 month old will be staying with Grandma!) and we work in the restaurant industry, I'm a somm, she's a manager and we want a hotel with pool and I am looking at the Saint James Albany but I'm worried about being on a busy street overlooking the Tuileries. Is the view worth he noise? We plan on drinking and eating our way around town and need the oool/gym to normalize and exercise in the mornings:)
Thank you and Cheers!
Sean and Caitlin
The Saint James Albany is quite nice although some may find it old-fashioned -- I went there once during a "Marquis de LaFayette" trip to Paris. For some people like my husband the rooms on the street are not noisy but for others like me sleep is difficult -- Rue de Rivoli is just too noisy a street for me. I don't think the view is worth the noise but he does. Part of the problem is that I have a hard time falling asleep at night and any noise will keep me awake and then I usually want to wake up between 7:30 and 8 which does not work on Rue de Rivoli because its quiet period ends at around 6:30 AM and starts at around 2 AM. In a totally different part of town, the Hotel Boutet Bastille has a pool and small functional gym with one multifunction machine and 2 or 3 cardio machines. There was no one in the pool when we there this fall and also no one in the gym. Generally speaking unless you get a large palace hotel in Paris, the gym is going be less than what I described at the Boutet Bastille. My husband works out everyday on vacation and I do every other day and we usually pick a hotel near a CMG location so we can get a weekly pass at a "real" gym.
Amazing advice and that hotel looks great! Love to get a bit further away from touristy stuff and hearing you say that 11 is loca heavy, and cafes everywhere I think we might book it!
If you want to get a bit away from the touristy stuff, the 11th arrondissement is a great choice. There are loads of great restaurants near the hotel give or take a 10-15 minute walk. Literally in a jet lagged state, we wandered out of the hotel and after about three blocks came upon a great little pizza place (Louie Louie) that we had never noticed before with fantastic cocktails. You are also near Bistrot Paul Bert, Septime, Il Modilgliani, and East Mamma. And not to mention Marche Aligre, Ble Sucre bakery, La Patisserie Cyril Lignac and Le Baron Rouge wine bar. I own an apartment in the 4th near Bastille Metro station and love that general area.
Fantastic! Thank you JHK! Between Reddit and this community I have gotten so much good advice and maybe a friend or two over there:) anything that's hard to get or expensive in Paris/Europe that I could/should bring over as a gift?
