Places to stay in Paris next April

Budget is an issue if it is $800 for 5 nights. Have you looked at anything on booking sites?

We stayed here https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/32705269?source_impression_id=p3_1654648348_sUB1eU5hhym61DMG a few years ago and liked it. Good metro access to the rest of Paris but not exactly central.

If you look close to you’ll see a backslash which means per night

One of my favorite places I’ve stayed is the Hotel de Caron Beaumarchais, in the Marais (4th arr.). It’s a quick five minute walk to Notre Dame and very close to metro stops and restaurants, bakeries, cafes, coffee shops.

But you may want to narrow it down by area in Paris. The 7th (St Germain) has amazing streets for walking and restaurants galore, but may not have as many views of the Eiffel Tower if that’s what you’re after. Lots of boutique hotels over there!

You won’t have any problem finding an amazing hotel for $800 per night. It’s way above my budget so i can’t recommend any but i would recommend staying in the Marais (the 3rd and 4th arrondissement). In the hotel address the last two digits of the postal code tells you the arrondissement. Ile St Louis in the 4th, or St Germain-des-Prés in the 6th arrondissement. These areas are the most central. The 7th is not. Notre Dame is the very center of Paris so you can use that landmark as a guide. All three of these areas are very charming, especially the Marais and Ile St Louis… my favorite areas to stay. Ile St Louis is the little island next to Notre Dame, surrounded by the Seine and amazing views.

If i had your budget i’d go to Booking.com, put in filters, and see what’s available (paying attention to the arrondissement).

Only the fanciest, famous 5-star hotels will exceed $800/night in Paris (they're closer to $1,000 and up); you'll even find "regular" 5-stars in your budget.
With basically every option open to you, you might find the search to be overwhelming. It would help to narrow down an area where you would like to stay.
Without further info my "basic" recommendations are the northern part of the 6th arrondissement (St Germain des Prés) and the 4th arrondissement + southern part of the 3rd (Marais), but depending on what you want to do in Paris, other neighborhoods may be more suitable.
I would just stay away from the Champs Elysées area and the broad triangle between them, the river and Trocadéro if you want to experience "French lifestyle". Many fancy hotels are located there but it is largely devoid of local street life.

My mother & I stayed here this past Nov/Dec. Apartments du Louvre, So-Chic. A/C & Heat, Balcony, Elevator, 2 bedroom & 1 bath. Laundry, medium size refrigerator, full kitchen.

https://www.apartmentsdulouvre.com/lemarais-sochic

Hope you find what you are looking for.

have you looked at the suggestions in Rick's guidebooks, not only for hotel but for location? Hint, hint.

Spoiler alert - he loves Rue Cler.

I have the book and he did recommend Rue and Marais. His choices of hotels were slim. He tends to recommend hotels he is friendly with.
Based on the above and Steve's book, Rue, Marais and St Germain. We would like to have recommendations on hotels. No Air BB. We are over 60 and as our first trip, we want an excellent experience. Some of the places we found are:
Hotel Elysia
Hotel Grand Powers
Le Bristol

If Le Bristol is within your budget, it is not in the same league as the other two, definitely the best of the three.
However, there is not a lot of street life in that area outside of office hours. Same for Elysia and Grand Powers. Personally, even without going all the way to the Marais, I would stay a bit further east. In your price range, have a look at the Burgundy hotel, for example (rue Duphot), or the Grand Hôtel du Palais Royal.

Le Bristol is lovely, as is Relais Christine https://www.relais-christine.com/ . Both Balso and Kim recently mentioned a hotel that can't think of the name of but was beautiful. Balso, your parents won a weekend there - Kim your husband once worked there). Hopefully they will chime in. Was it the Raphael?

We love the George V but sadly, have never seen anything under $1000 per night. Our stay there was a real treat. Did you look at Plaza Athenee? The Peninsula is beautiful as well. Lots of fantastic choices in that price range. A lot depends on what area you want to stay. Also check out Grand Hôtel du Palais Royal. If you are interested in a Bed and Breakfast, check out https://relais12bis.com/en/. It is near the Eiffel Tower, exceptional, and very lovely. You have the quaint neighborhood feel as well. We love the area. Rates fluctuate with all the above depending on time of year you are visiting.

JR thank you for the advice. We are dropping the Bristol from your advice and $$$

Basso love the grand hotel du palais royal.
Compatible to what we like. Is it in a good location for enjoying local flare?

Grand Hotel du Palais Royal is in the 1st, and very centrally located with many restaurants close by. It is a stone’s throw from the Palais Royal and next door to the Louvre and the Tuileries Gardens. It's always helpful to go to sites like Trip Advisor and look at actual room pictures that are taken by travelers and posted on the hotel website. It's a good thing to do with any hotel, as you will get a better depiction of what the rooms actually look like vs hotel submitted pics. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187147-d617625-Reviews-Grand_Hotel_du_Palais_Royal-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

The hotel is highly rated as well.

Thank you JR
We are using Trip Advisor for the reviews. Is ant 1 as nice as Marias? What is ant 1 area named?

Hotels in Marias?

The areas are next to one another, and either would be an excellent choice. Did you also look at Le Burgundy that Balso recommended? In the Marais check out Cour des Vos ges or Le Pavillon de la Reine & Spa. Others may be able to make better recommendations for the Marais, as we do not stay in this district when in Paris.

JR We looked at Relais Christine it is very nice. Do you like the St Germais (6) better than the others? We are looking for authentic flavor of cafes, markets, etc. Rick Steves doesn't mention this area, he likes Rue and Marias 3 and 4. we are in our 60's so crazy night life is not a requirement.

Sent you a PM

Yes, the hotel my parents stayed at was the Raphaël, right by the Arc de Triomphe. It is a great hotel BUT staying right by the Arc de Triomphe does not tick the "experience the French lifestyle" box.

The 1st arrondissement was not mentioned because there aren't that many hotels there, but it is a very good area to stay in, in my opinion. Super central, not very residential but still many casual and fancier places to eat in the vicinity...did I say central?
To be fully thorough: the immediate vicinity of the Châtelet and Les Halles metro stations are a bit less nice, but much improved in recent years - and the Grand Hôtel du Palais Royal is not there at all anyway.

I do not trust reviews on TripAdvisor, anyone can leave a review whether they stayed there or not. Competitors can leave bad reviews. I trust reviews on Booking.com because only people that actually stayed there can leave a review.

Susan, I agree on the reviews. I suggested looking at the traveler pics that are more realistic than the submitted ones by the hotel. Photos on booking.com and Trip Advisor of rooms are not always an accurate depiction of what you may get.

JR, i agree with you about photos. I was responding to cpo who said “we are using Trip Advisor for the reviews.”
Not a good idea imo.

I think I see the issue here, you do not have the typical RS budget. YOu should look at Fodors and Frommers for more higher priced options.

Left Bank. St. Germain.

Thanks pared
After 40 years of marriage we thought it was time to go to France and splurge a bit. This form has been very helpful to say the least. We’re a little bit anxious I’m not going on a tour bus but we really don’t like structured tours. Any advice you could give us would be really helpful.

I highly recommend Hotel L'Aubusson on the Left Bank https://www.hoteldaubusson.com/ and Hotel La Pavillon de la Reine in Le Marais https://www.pavillon-de-la-reine.com/. I also really like Hotel da Vinci https://www.hoteldavinciparis.com/en/. It is nowhere near your budget limit but it is so lovely and the staff is wonderful and I think the location is extremely good.

cpo, JHK is our resident Paris hotel expert, i’d happily stay in any hotel she recommends.

I think it’s wonderful that you’re going to Paris for the first time and you want it to be special. I highly recommend you get the Rick Steves Paris guidebook. It has invaluable info and will be very helpful to you.

JHK and Susan, thank you

Very welcome cpo, i want you to have a good time in Paris, my hometown. I highly recommend taking some time to visit the Luxembourg Gardens in the 6th arrondissement. It’s beautiful and very enjoyable.

So here we are. we decided to stay on the left bank in St Germain de Pres. we also wanted balcony with a view. We are selecting between.

Hotel Pont Royal
https://www.hotel-pont-royal.com/en/

Esprit Saint Germain

https://www.hotel-esprit-saint-germain.com/en/home-us/?gclid=1b3d3e01bef7121a85f75ca222d0b151&gclsrc=3p.ds&msclkid=1b3d3e01bef7121a85f75ca222d0b151