Paris Hotel Close to Sights or Further Out?

I would definitely stay central. You'll waste a lot of time staying outside the center as everything you'll want to see is in the center. Even if you stayed half way to the airport, in a boring suburb (with probably very limited accommodations) you'd only save 20 minutes or so on the trip to the airport. Totally not worth it. Did you look on booking.com for accommodations, you can probably find something for less than 200/night. I stayed in both Hotel St Andres des Arts (6th) and Hotel Marignan ( http://www.hotel-marignan.com) (Latin Quarter) and they both have family rooms. Both of them are very close to the RER B station that you would use if you are taking the train to the airport.

Thanks for the recommendations Isabel. Both those hotels are booked for the nights I need. I'll keep searching.

Staying closer to the airport is not a great idea for a two-night stop. Unless you stay at the airport itself, I do not see it as being significantly easier for getting there on a Sunday morning.

jkelman, did you rule out staying on in the tour hotel for those extra nights?

I dont know where you're from, but staying in the 'burbs when what you want to see is in the center, is false economy. Kind of like staying on Staten Island when you want to see Manhattan.

And looking at booking.com there isn't much available either that isn't a big box hotel further out than I'd like. Virtually nothing for my dates. Yikes! Any other recommendations I am all ears!

Stan, our tour ends in Nice. We are taking the Loire to the South of France and taking the train up to Paris after breakfast the day the tour ends.

Our go-to Paris hotel has always been the Hotel Excelsior Latin. It’s central, clean, close metro and RER stop and has some large family rooms.

A little down the hill from there is the Hotel College de France also the same great location. They don’t have family rooms but they’re very affordable.

Dates? Is it soon, or too far out?

AirBnB apartment or similar short let?
Also, keep in mind that Booking or similar only list the hotel rooms that they are allowed to sell. It doesn't mean the entire hotel is full. Double check whether the hotel website is showing availability.

Hotels dot com supposedly has the largest number of options, so can also check there.
If your dates are really popular, I would be tempted to book 'something' that can be cancelled and refundable with no cost to you - so that you aren't out of luck. I suspect the challenge is wanting 3 to the room.

Thanks for the additional information! Will look this up.

There is zero advantage being 'closer to the airport' as CDG is well outside Paris and being near would be less convenient for getting to your flight than taking a cab from the Marais. The Marais is beautiful and central -- definitely a better location.

We took the RS Loire Valley/South of France tour in 2018 and stayed in Paris before and after the tour. We really enjoyed our stay at the Hotel des Grandes Ecoles in the Latin Quarter (5th). Our flight from CDG didn't leave until the afternoon, so we took the RER B train from Luxembourg station to the airport. The hotel was within walking distance to the RER B stop.

In 2019 we had a flight home from Paris that left at 10 AM, so we stayed near the airport on the night before at the Ibis Styles Paris Roissy CDG hotel in the village of Roissy. Picture a 16th century French village surrounded by modern hotels with airplanes flying overhead.

My wife and I have usually stayed in the Rue Cler area (7th). It is an easy metro ride to anywhere worth seeing. The trip to the airport can either be by metro, bus or taxi. Your time is limited and saving a few bucks on the hotel is probably not worth losing an hour or two of you time in Paris.

I'd not stay as inconveniently as the 7th though --- the 4th (Marais) or 5th (Latin Quarter) is both convenient to the RER to the airport but walkable to most central sights -- when you are there just a couple of days, you don't want to be commuting.

JL,
When are your dates in Paris? We may be able to help more specifically if we had a bit more information.

Also, booking.com often has only a portion of a hotel’s available inventory,particularly if you are booking far in advance. If you see a place you like, you may want to reach out to the hotel itself.

You could check out hostels. Hear me out - some, such as the Generator and the HI Yves Robert, have private family rooms, typically with a bunk bed and a double/queen or twin. Sometimes breakfast is also included. You might be able to have walkability and excellent prices. Now, this isn't going to be a luxurious room, but I think many people hear hostel and assume it's going to be some kind of nightmare experience!

Another option would be to pick a well-connected neighborhood that may not be walkable to all the top sites, but can get you there quickly (and typically will still be walkable, just focused more on locals). I keep thinking that on my next time in Paris I might try staying in the Bercy neighborhood, for example.

How early is your flight ? Our usual plan is to spend the last night AT the airport (Ibis CDG in terminal 3) so we can walk to the CDGVAL shutle train without the stress of rushing and/or wondering if we will make it on time. You can have a nice dinner in Paris and then take the RER to the airport.

Stay in Paris.....you are missing the charm of being there if you stay outside the city......you can take a taxi from your hotel that will put you at CDG in plenty of time......check out the Rue Cler area or Ile St. Louis or the Marais......all are great areas in Paris to see the city.

Thanks all for your responses. I will be checking out your suggested options. While I don't mind hostels I don't think my MIL would want to do that, but thanks for the suggestion. Our dates are May 1-3, we fly out at 11:15 am on the 3rd. Rue Cler isn't as near as what we would like to see as the Latin Quarter or Marais. I think we will focus on those areas. Thanks!!

11.15 am is not early enough to warrant a stay at the airport in my opinion. A cab at 7.15 or so will get you at the airport in time; sleeping close to to the airport would barely get you 45 minutes of extra sleep...

Definitely spend the money and stay closer in. We stayed in one of the “suburb” arrondissements of Paris and ended up regretting it. Even though there was a subway stop right down the street, it felt like all we ever did was ride the subway to get to somewhere else, only emerging like moles to see specific parts of the city before we went back down in the subway. The airport is a rather soulless area and takes longer to get there via train then it would appear geographically so if you must stay there I would only do it the night before a very early flight.

My wife and I just booked two nights, for the same reasons as you, at: Hôtel du Quai Voltaire, Paris3-star
19 Quai Voltaire, Paris, Paris, 75007, France

https://www.hotels.com/ho349323/?display=description

I hope it's as good as the reviews seem :-)
Great location.
Good price.

This isn’t relevant to your hotel choice, but just wanted you to know that May 1 is one of the biggest annual holidays in France, with many sites and shops and restaurants closed, and public transportation on a holiday (less frequent) schedule.

You will still have a great day on that day, but it just will help to be aware in advance of the restrictions so you can plan accordingly— walks in the park, stops at brasseries that are open, researching ahead of time if any of the attractions you are interested in are open on that day.

Regarding May 1: excellent point. I assume this is the day you leave Nice for Paris: there is NO PUBLIC TRANSPORT in Nice on May 1. No trams, no buses. You will need a cab to the airport, or the train station if you're far.

The same goes in most French cities and towns outside Paris.

Just want to reiterate May1 as the biggest holiday in Europe. We arrived in Venice on May 1 totally unaware of this 35 years ago and had to walk about two miles from the train station carrying our bags (no wheelies then) over bridges and canals etc to our hotel -- we were new travelers and of course also overpacked. Paris transport will be fine, but pretty much everything shuts down on this day even transport in smaller cities. You might have your hotel arrange a dinner reservation ahead.

There is one museum open May 1st, and that is the Jacquemart-Andre, so at least one thing to do, and I am pretty sure the Seine cruises will be operating. Also the Pere Lachaise Cemetery could be on your agenda, or the Montparnasse.

Think of it this way. If you spend 1 hour extra per pester per way for 2 days and have 4 people in your group you have seen 1x2x2x4= 16 hours of time on something you don’t WANT to do. So you have basically taken away 1 to 2 person days of time from your stay in Paris.

So ask yourself this would you give up 1 day in Paris for whatever savings you get on the room?

On average according to RS it cost $160 per person per day plus 2000 for flights. So add in another 100. So a basic day in Europe cost you $250 or so. Is it worth it to spend a days time in a train to save $300 when it cost you $250 for that day? You are not saving $300 you are saving $50 and I would not give up a days worth of time in Paris for $500 much less $50 but obviously that is up to you,

Douglas said

Think of it this way. If you spend 1 hour extra per pester per way for
2 days and have 4 people in your group you have seen 1x2x2x4= 16 hours
of time on something you don’t WANT to do. So you have basically taken
away 1 to 2 person days of time from your stay in Paris.

So ask yourself this would you give up 1 day in Paris for whatever
savings you get on the room?

Umm - those 'hours' are spread over various days. They are not "saved up" so you gain a full day.
I do agree w/ the sentiment that "you're in Paris to see Paris, etc., so don't waste your time in the trains or metro."

Also, regading the "cost per day per person" - That's way over the top.
A husband and wife SHARE the cost of a room. That gets rid of 1/2 the cost for one person for their day's cost

Make a list of the sights you want to see. You may be able to see 2 per day.
Add to those costs the cost of transportation. Look at the Carnet tickets (10 pack for E1.49 each) for the Metro.
Food the the great unknown. It can be $60+ per person

I would NOT assume the hotels you are looking at are actually already booked !!!

Most hotels will not list rooms available this far in advance !

I suggest you email hotels directly for accurate responses
.

Seriously .

The price of a carnet of 10 paper tickets goes up to €16.90 on November 1.

The carnet on one of the new electronic cards will still only cost €14.90 for 10 tickets, but do keep in mind:

1) you need to pay I think 2€ for each card itself.
2) you can’t share cards as you can a paper carnet, so each person intending to take the metro (or bus) needs their own card.

Just an FYI, not that it makes that big of a difference.

160 per person. 320 per day is not unreasonable to expect. (And is actually listed in one of RS books, but I forget which) That includes a hotel room which in Paris can easily be 200-300. (Or 500-600 for that matter hotels are expensive in Paris). Activities. Of say 40 (20 each). Transport of say 10, but could be a Lot higher. Breakfast 10 Lunch 20 and dinner 30 10 for snacks or drinks, and we are now sitting at 320-420 PER DAY. Airfair Of 1500 per person is probably not to far off average, as most of us don’t live in an area where we can pay $500 to Paris. So you have to add in another 200 per person per day for a 7 day trip. And POOF you are looking at 320 x 7 = 2240 plus 3000 (air) = 5240. And that is not counting things like parking at the airport, cell phone costs, travel insurance and a bunch of other stuff.
And yes if you spend 60 days you can do it differently long term rental and cooking for yourself and such) but that is an Apples to Oranges argument, f you take a typical trip to Europe and extend it yo be 60 days then you will spend a similar kind of cost. It is only cheeper if you are doing something different. Basicly playing “local” vs “tourist”.

As for the hours be divided over a few days and multiple people that is a false savings. It does not matter. If you have 4 people paying 10480./4 people = 2630 per person. 2630/7 days is 375 per day per person. They are spending 3 days each. If the sleep 8 hours. Spend an hour in thier room doing whatever, spend an hour washing up and getting dressed and undressed. An hour for breakfast, a half hour for lunch. An hour for for dinner. And a half hour doing miscellaneous stuff and waiting around. This takes up 12 hours per day. Giving the, 12 hours a day to do tourist stuff (you know the reason most of us on this forum go to Europe). $375 per day /12 hours is $31.25 per tourist hour. So in effect we are spending $31 per hour to be able to spend time in Europe. Now if we stay 1/2 hour farther out. That is 1 hour per day per person. Times 4 people. Or 125 per day.. so to break even using these numbers you have to save more then 125 per night and that. Is to break even. To justify this you probably need to save twice that.
This number gets WORSE if you are more limited in time spent doing tourist stuff. My last trip my dad was only good for about 8 hours (plus eating time) so my number would be $46 per hour or $175 per night for 4.

I don’t understand why people pretend that time is money. We all spend a LOT of money to be in Europe. If you take total cost of trip. Then figure out how many hours a day you spend doing “fun” tourist stuff times the number of days. Divide the total cost by the total hours and you have the cost per hour you are spending on your trip, anything that saves money but cost time has to be compared to this number. To see if the cost in time is worth the cost saved.

We had one person a while back that was spending so much time traveling into London in order to save. Obey that they would have been better off cutting out a day and paying for a more expensive hotel closer in. They would have saved a bit of money and had more time in London.
This is what we need to try and avoid.

Obviously the numbers above will vary for everyone. But the concept doesn’t