Hotels in London and Paris

In general, you get more for your hotel dollar in Paris than in London.
Saying it another way, you'll pay more for the same hotel in London than you will in Paris.
Obviously these are general rules only.

In London for $200 in the summer you will get a smaller room than you're used to in the US, with a smaller and less modern bathroom. You probably need to go to the top of your budget of $250 in London, and you still will get a small room.

$200 in Paris will get you a bigger, nicer room than in London.

Again, these are general rules of thumb to help you get started in Europe hotel selection.

In general, you get what you pay for, or at least, you don't get what you don't pay for.
London is known as an expensive hotel city.

Thank you, Kent. In terms of the size of the room, we are okay with a small room (although a twin room is preferred to a double room).

I stayed at Hotel Saint Louis en L'Isle in September. It is right on Ile St Louis surrounded by restaurants, shops and is maybe a 5 minute walk to Notre Dame. Around $200-$225 per night. It is very nice.

http://www.saintlouisenlisle.com//index.php?langue_id=2

Especially when selecting a London hotel, try to focus on looking closely at the photos of the room type you are considering. In the photo, you want to look at the width of the room, whether one or more beds are jammed up against the wall, see if the photo gallery for your room type has a photo of the bathroom. The suspect most of the photos are taken with a wide angle view that makes the rooms look larger than they are.

Width of room, style of decor (if any), and enough room to move around in are the key things, for London hotels in that price range.

I will add an unsolicited comment!

In Paris, I would take a taxi to or from the Eurostar station/Gare du Nord to your hotel and likewise I would take a taxi to/from your hotel to CDG. It is certainly doable with public transport but as a mid-60s woman I have decided that with luggage (even my usual carry on only) it is just easier to get a taxi. I do encourage you to use public transport for your daily sightseeing.

Just the way you phrased your inquiry makes me assume you are headed to London first. If you are coming in to Heathrow, it will depend on where you stay, but I usually take the Heathrow Connect train in to town as there is not too much walking to get trackside at Heathrow, then I take a taxi to the hotel. Likewise I take a taxi to the Eurostar station there.

I do love to walk, and in fact usually do long walks up to 10 miles when I am getting ready for a European trip. I have just found that the hassle of taking public transport all the way with my bag is not worth the monetary savings.

You all are going to have a terrific time!

Yes, I travel London first and then move to Paris via eurostar train. Unsolicited comments are so welcome - Thank you, Pam! I am a frugal person but certainly would not want to have hard time with my elderly mother there to save some money - not worth it as you said.
Thank you Steve and Kent for the suggestion and tip as well!

Perhaps a better tactic would be to get some likely prospects from guidebooks and Tripadvisor and ask about them

Jeahn, I am so glad you were OK with my comment. I totally understand frugality but sometimes it is better just to budget some extra money. My friend and I took the RER train from our hotel to CDG to meet a friend who was coming in and was extremely anxious about getting herself into Paris. By the time we took the Metro to the RER station, walked seemingly 10 miles underground to change lines, rode out to CDG and then found our friend in the airport we looked at each other and said TAXI!! It was completely worth the 45€ to be delivered directly back to our friend's lodging.

I am guessing you are figuring your budget in dollars, so give yourselves $50-$100 for each taxi segment. It won't be that much so you can use the extra for beer, wine or gelato in Paris.

You will also want to save your energy for fun sightseeing as well.

Thank you everyone! Premier Inn Euston vs. London County Hall, any recommendation location-wise?

Taxis between city sightseeing are pretty affordable in both London and Paris and especially recommended when carrying your luggage. If you have a good taxi experience between the first train station and hotel, you might not bother to purchase a London transit pass.

While we've always taken public transport in European cities, may parents and I found stairs and waiting times to be hard on Dad the last couple of trips, both for buses and subways, despite always keeping eyes open for the elevators. If you'd like to take accessibility into account when planning public transport, see this London Tube link and a list of Paris Metro stations with elevators. Some larger Metro stations with several connecting lines have a lot of underground walking, such as at Chatelet.

We have stayed at the Premier Inn in London at Earls Court. I know you're considering one elsewhere, but just wanted to mention that the room was quite large - hotel had an elevator.

We stayed at Premier Inn County Hall last May. We got a good rate over the Internet and in general were quite pleased. It had gotten good reviews on TripAdvisor, so we gave it a try. We've tried 5-6 places in London, several more posh, but we felt we'd gotten good value for our money with this one. The location was very convenient. While they encourage using technology to keep costs low, there is always plenty of staff about to help, even when checking in at midnight. The decor isn't plush, and our room didn't have a closet, but everything else was wonderful. The beds were comfortable, the towels quite fluffy and the usual tea tray was so helpful when dealing with jet lag. There was a charge for the Internet, but it was quite reasonable and fast.

I hope this helps

I stayed at the Grande Hotel Jeanne d'Arc a few years ago and really liked it. Great location, old and quirky building. But since your mother has knee problems, you should be aware that it only has one very tiny elevator. So if the elevator went out, you'd be climbing steep stairs.

One suggestion – if possible, I suggest budgeting for some taxis as an alternative to public transportation. A number of metro stations require very long walks between platforms and to reach exits, with lots of up-and-down stairs. Your hotel could help you identify which stations would be the most difficult. In those instances, a taxi might be a good idea, since it would allow your mother to save the walking for touring.

Rather than spend lots of money on taxis, try using buses as well. All buses in central Paris are low-floor vehicles with no or little step height from the kerb to the bus, and from what other people have said here Parisians are usually pretty good about letting elderly or frail people sit down.

I have stayed at two hotels in London that I can recommend.. ( and one I wouldn't send my worst enemy to.. lol ). .

The Nadler( formly known as Base2Stay Kensington).. loved this hotel.. the staff are so nice, the room was so comfy ( but of course not large) .. big fluffy duvets.. modern nice washrooms.. I think it may be over your budget. but check rates.

Our new favorite however is the Celtic , it does have some rooms that share a bathroom but we got an amazing room.. with a fireplace, nice large ( for London ) private bathroom.. and the room itself was large for Europe !! Very comfortable.. and total bonus.. they include a lovely cook to order breakfast in a bright breakfast room.. a breakfast that comes in courses.. it seemed endless.. fruit, porridge, cereal, eggs( fried, boiled, scrambled ) toast , beans, tomatoe, mushrooms, bacon, ham.. served by very pleasant . There is however no elevator.. our room however was only one flight of stairs up as we requested a lower floor( my hubby has bad knees too)..

In Paris I can recommend the Hotel Eugenie.. it is in a busy area.. steps from many cafes, shops and only 2 minutes to Seine.. 5 minute to Notre Dame.. very central.,, good air conditioning.. nice staff and elevator! Rooms are small , but not too small . Mini fridge in room was great to stock with stuff from shops.

June is a hard month in Paris.. hotel vacancy is low.. price high.. so don't take too long to find something.. there are literally hundreds of hotels that will fit most of your requirements.. but no where will be perfect..and your budget is not great once you convert to euros.. ( be grateful you are not Canadian right now,, lol )

Thank you for all the suggestions! All of them are very helpful and I appreciate it a lot!

I strongly recommend the Premier Inn - Kings Cross in London -- particularly if you are going to take the Eurostar to Paris. The hotel is right across the street from the train station. The hotel is modern and friendly, and has a good breakfast buffet. Rooms are a good size. The station also has a huge mall of restaurants and shopping.

I also like the Premier Inn at County Hall, which is right next to the London Eye, and across the Thames from Parliament. A more dramatic location, you can walk to Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and there is a tube station close by. Though not many restaurants and shops close by.