Paris hotel for family of 5..or flat in the Marais

I'd prefer an apartment with a family of 5. Have you tried one of the many reputable companies for a rental? http://www.vacationinparis.com and http://cobblestoneparis.com are two. It's kind of last minute for Paris, but it's also not prime season yet, so there may be availability. Most have 3 night minimums and some places will only rent for a week.

I agree that an apartment would be your best choice. However, the Hotel Latin Excelsior has a family suite that will hold 5 people.

To me it would depend on how long you were staying. The attractive thing about the 2 hotel rooms is 2 bathrooms!

How long is visit. I rent apartments and stay in hotel, it depends on particulars.

I wouldn not bother to rent an apartment for 4 nights or less. I am more comfortable using a reputable agency as opposed to vrbo or airb2b

Our Paris stay is 4 nights. Unfortunately it appears that Cobblestone apts do not accommodate more than 4 people. Will try VIP again.

VIP has some bigger units. I've also rented from this company: http://www.apartments-and-more-paris.com. One year we rented a beautiful 2 BD 2BA place from them on Rue St Honore in the 1st. Really really a nice place.

For 4 nights I would not go to the hassle of an apartment -- you have nowhere to put bags before check in or after, making the connection can be tricky, if anything goes wrong you waste time dealing. e.g. what if your airline loses your bags -- you have no hotel for them to deliver them to and so sit in the apartment or if something is wrong with the apartment you have to deal with that.

With kids this age, I'd definitely go with two hotel rooms -- gives you two baths and privacy for the parents.

Thank you everyone! We are leaning toward a hotel (am hoping with picnic lunches and some quick breakfasts we can get away without enormous restaurant bills). Got a great recommendation for Hotel du Printemps near Picpus but also still looking closer in (Marais/Place des Vosges or possibly near Luxembourg) for a place with a triple/double. Would appreciate any recommendations.

Thanks again!

Regarding your question about AirBnB payment vs other sites: I agree that AirBnB is secure. You are sending your money to AirBnB and the funds are not released to the owner until 24 hours after check-in, which is plenty of time to advise them if the property is not as stated or there are other issues. The downside is that you have to pay the entire amount up front (for stays of less than a month), there is a service fee (non-refundable) and depending on the owner, sometimes the flat cost is not fully refundable either (minus any cleaning fees) if you would need to cancel. With some other sights, you pay directly to the host, although in the case of HomeAway, for example, there is a protection guarantee as long as you use their system.

I have had positive experiences with AirBnB. Last summer there was a hiccup with the owner of a flat in Prague (the thread is still on this board somewhere) before I left and I was quite anxious. I had also booked a flat in Paris and that was around the time there was a big uproar in Paris regarding illegal rentals. Both experiences though ended quite well! I have reserved 3 AirBnB properties for this year's travels already. I think AirBnB has done a much better job of trying to maintain a good public image and making sure that all policies are well understood and enforced. Beyoncé rented an AIrBnB apartment for her stay at the Super Bowl... just sayin lol!

I agree with Tim - Our family of five stayed in the Hotel Excelsior Latin last summer. Our kids/young adults are similar in age to yours - we ended up with a two room suite with a wall but not a door between the two rooms. We thought the bathroom, deluxe shower and separate tub were especially great! This was for four nights, offered AC which was essential in the heat wave we endured in July, and had a great location. The street was quiet, but just a very short walk to the Boulevard Saint Michel, and the location was wonderful. We went to Maison Pradier every morning for their "breakfast formule" - which was excellent every time. We also discovered that this patisserie won the top eclair in Paris 2015 award, so of course we tried them, as well. (14 Boulevard Saint-Michel, 75006 ) There was a Marks and Spencer nearby, which made for easy picnic choices. (35 Boulevard Saint-Michel)

We were near Luxembourg Gardens, the Cluny Museum, the Pantheon, the Sorbonne, Notre Dame, and all sorts of great stores to browse and food choices to enjoy.

I did a lot of looking into apartments, and in the end, decided that the predictability of an established hotel was way less stressful than a potential apartment crackdown problem. Another time, and perhaps if it was just the parents, we might make a different choice, but this worked out well for us.

Hope this helps!

Laurie