Is this location in Paris good with kids?

That neighborhood is fine. Included in the triangle is one of the few Roman Ruins in Pais, the Arènes de Lutèce or the Roman arena. It's also near the Jardin des Plantes which is the Paris botanical garden and includes a small zoo and some other kid-friendly sights. It's also just down the hill from the Pantheon and the church of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont which if you are a fan of the film Midnight in Paris is where Gil got picked up by the time traveling taxi!

Ohh good to know, thanks Pam!

Make sure your lodging has air conditioning!
Have a great trip!

So the rental does NOT have AC and it's on the 3rd floor...I asked the owner and he said if it gets too hot, he'd supply a mobile AC. But this place have 130 5* reviews on AirBnB...if it was that stuffy and hot, wouldn't someone complain? It was definitely something I've thought of. I even looked at reviews in July/Aug and they are all positive. The host has been wonderfully helpful and is a Superhost. So I'm not really sure what to do there.

Our London rental has AC and we are heading to Bruges after Paris. Do you find AC necessary in Bruges as well?

I would find A/C necessary in July just about every place except maybe the north.

I was in Paris this year in early April with two of my grandchildren. The weather was on the warm side (but nothing like July would be) and I turned the A/C unit on a couple of times because it was pretty humid. Many older hotels without central air now have units that are mounted up on the wall and can be controlled by the guest, which makes it nice.

Perhaps that's what the owner was talking about? You may want to clarify exactly what the mobile unit is.

Great location with lots of cafes, restaurants and patisseries in the area. When I stay on the Ile Saint Louis I frequently catch a bus in this neighborhood.

However, I would not book anywhere in Paris in July without AC. If summers continue to follow the recent patterns, you will be miserable. If a mobile AC is provided, plan on everyone sleeping in the same room. Good luck!

Bah, see that's what I was worried about in Paris too. The owner mentioned that previous summers had been mild and AC wasn't necessary, but that he would provide it if needed if it got too warm. It's a 2-room snug apartment anyway. I booked it for the great reviews and location. Places with AC that fit a family of 5 were harder to come by! Any recommendations?

The 5th around Cardinal Lemoine is a terrific area. I stayed in that area a month ago.
The area is a bit hilly, especially the rue Cardinal Lemoine, but is well-served by bus and Metro. You'll be within walking distance of the Luxembourg Gardens, which is a great place for the kids especially. Also near the Jardin des Plantes, in the other direction. Being an older district, I would wonder about the availability of air conditioning there. Summers can be very hot in Paris. My family was there this past June also, and the heat was something to consider. The place du Pantheon, which will be nearby you, had sidewalk sprinklers going, as did the area around the Les Halles shopping center. These were fun for my 7 year-old, and a relief for us. There were a lot of kids playing in the basins of the fountains in the place des Vosges. I got the feeling that the Paris police didn't quite like this, but due to the heat they merely stood by and warned people to be careful.
The street vendors around the Eiffel Tower will likely be selling those cheap handheld fans, which help a little. We bought a handful of Spanish-style fans, which worked better and lasted longer. Otherwise we ducked into shopping centers and cafes when the sun got too intense.

Family,
You might try an aparthotel for lodging with A/C and enough room for five. Citadines is one company with good comments on this forum. Nestay is another, but I haven't seen any reviews. You could look at Booking.com. We regularly book through them (worldwide) and have had excellent service and quick response when needing to change or cancel our stays. Use their filters to find your lodging and book directly if you want to.
I don't recommend no A/C in Paris in July. If it's hot and you don't sleep well, your days will be affected.

good area but 'mobile units' are pretty worthless -- and every one we have had in both Italy and France was so musty that we ended up not using them because mold was worse for us than the heat. This is a good area though especially with kids who will love the Luxembourg Gardens.

Great location - especially place de la Contrescarpe up the hill from Cardinal Lemoine. The sweet little place is surrounded by kid/friendly eating options — pizza, gelato, crepes.

I agree with everyone else about AC - I would not recommend Paris in July without it. We were there during a heat wave one July - temps in the 90s. It was miserable when we were out and about and such a relief to return to our air conditioned room at the end of the day.

I wouldn't worry too much about privacy. Apartments in Paris do not have numbers, only names and as you post using an alias, your privacy is not terribly at risk.

I do not find AC an overriding requirement. I would not attempt to stay in a converted chambre de bonne, attic accommodations under zinc roofs with little to no insulation. Otherwise, stone buildings take several days to heat up, and by then temps typically return to seasonal norms. Fans do make a difference and portable cooling units are sufficiently effective. If you are someone who tries to duplicate a contrasting season, cold temps in summer for example, you will unlikely be satisfied with the French sensitivity to excessive energy consumption.

If one of your children is a girl, I would book Galerie Dior as soon as tickets become available: https://www.galeriedior.com/en

Another activity that girls particularly appreciate is ceramic projects at one of the Atelier Genevieve.

https://latelier-genevieve.myshopify.com/pages/la-carte-du-ceramicafe-genevieve

Boys are often fascinated with the Paleontology exhibit at the nearby Jardin des Plantes: https://www.jardindesplantesdeparis.fr/en/galerie-de-paleontologie-et-d-anatomie-comparee

All children will enjoy the Mangerie: https://www.jardindesplantesdeparis.fr/en/zoo

You also might have time to visit the Jardin d'Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne:
https://www.jardindacclimatation.fr/en

For public transportation, you can walk to many of the most interesting venus but métro/train/RER tickets are 2.50€ each, or 1.25€ for those 4-9. Each rider needs his own Navigo card or configured app.

Ohh, I am pretty sensitive to the heat and no way would I have lodging in Paris in July that did not have AC.

Honestly you just can't depend on what the weather was "last year" as to what it might be this year. I've been in a heat wave in August in Paris and yes, my hotel had AC. I was out early and back to my room with a big gelato for a couple of hours when the afternoon temps reached 97F.

However, it depends on what your family's tolerance is to heat. We don't know what area of the country you live in so if you are from FL or AZ you might do fine with no AC. If you are from WA or ME (or ID, hahaha!) you might not!

Hi Rebecca,

in addition to the a/c concerns, Paris can get HOT - I live just across the Channel and have been quite warm in Paris in the summer - I see that you said that the flat is on the third floor. How is that measured? Third floor in Europe - we start with Ground, then 1, 2, 3 etc., is equivalent to 4th in Canada or USA.

Older buildings in Paris often either have no elevator/lift or teeny tiny ones (I don't see many of the cage type anymore) so if they haven't spoken about the lift will you be happy with a 4 floor walk up?

Higher up in the building is hotter too - heat rises and there is often nowhere for the hot air to go.

We also have 3 nights in Paris in July. There are 11 of us…5 kids in your age ranges. My first criteria was good AC! Booked a 3 star hotel in Latin Quarter Rue Monge area from Booking.com. Has family rooms. Made sure reviews spoke of good cooling and sleep at night. I remember the Paris summer Olympics and thought how hot it was! I am surprised your host downplayed the heat in July. Our kiddos really complain when they are hot and uncomfortable! Then they dont want to be out the next day. Hope all goes well for your plans! We also all head to London! Recently got our Eurostar tickets!

Oh gosh now I'm second guessing our rental. I do wonder how it could have so many good reviews of it was that miserable all summer?

Do you mind sharing the hotel with family rooms? We love the space of an Airbnb over a hotel. My kids talk in their sleep so we don't usually share rooms with them :)

I found Hotel Des Nations Saint Germain on booking.com. There were several hotels that fit similar criteria as we wanted the Latin Quarter to walk to sites. I havent seen anyone recommend this particular hotel on Rick Steves site. But it was reasonably priced and had decent reviews. We use booking.com often with good results. Having A/C was highly recommended on many Rick Steve’s threads. Sorry this becomes complicated for you.

I found another rental. Perhaps I should create a new topic, but if anyone can advise if this is still a good area?

Owner says nearest Metro is Censier Daubenton.
It looks like it's on the block with Chez Neung (Thai restaurant) but I wouldn't get the exact address until I book. It still says 5th arrondissement but a bit further from the park where I imagine we'd be often. This rental shows AC in every room at a similar price to the one I had booked. This forum won't let me link a photo or I'd share a screenshot of the map. Thoughts?

Daubenton is a little further away from what I consider to be the attractions of the 5th: the Pantheon, the Jardin des Plantes, proximity to St.-Germain; and less appealing than the area you first queried about. It is near where rue Monge terminates at rue Claude Bernard and rue du Fer a Moulin. The restaurant you mentioned (I haven't tried it) looks to be off the Blvd St.-Marcel, which is a wider street with considerably more traffic. But of course the Paris Metro is fantastic and can get you anywhere you want to go in not much time.

Ok thanks for the feedback! I'm having a hard time deciding, hmm. I find the hotels are more expensive for less space than a rental, but most rentals lack AC