Hostels in Paris Montmartre area

The area is quite hilly. If you are both comfortable with stairs and hill-climbing you may love Montmartre. I've grown to like it a lot. Bus transportation around the mountain is good; Metro services the edges mostly. If this is your first time in Paris, you may appreciate being more centrally located. I stay at Hotel de Turenne in the rue Cler area at a reasonable rate. And the hotel is nice, too. Hotel du Commerce in the Latin Quarter is another reasonable choice. Both hotels are within walking distance of a lot. The Marais has the MIJE hostels mentioned in Rick's books. They are in handy locations in an interesting old part of the city.

Gina: Check out Oops hostel in the 13th. I have never stayed there but it sure looks like a great hostel.

OK, gentle people ... I stand corrected about Oops! Good to know the facts. Thanks.

It's not a bad neighborhood in fact parts of it are very lovely, and while there are a few shops that sell sex toys at the bottom of the hill along with some strip clubs, neither the patrons of those places nor the workers are hanging about outside harassing female tourists walking by. The bigger downside to the area is that it is not as central to other attractions in Paris. At one point when it first opened Oops! Hostel got a great review in the NY Times Travel section; lately, it's been getting some very mixed reviews by hostelers with some complaints of mold, mice, dirty rooms & unresponsive management. With any hostel, read over the reviews from people who have stayed to make sure you are getting what you expect in terms of cleanliness, safety and quiet. Someone is always going to have a complaint, but if there are many commenting on same issues over & over in the reviews, take that advice into account. You might want to try looking for specials online at a budget hotel like Ibis. I stayed at 1 in the 10th Arron. & it was not expensive, clean, had elevator & A/C and easy walk to several metro stops as well as 2 major train stations & the RER stop to get back to CDG. The 10th is another area many on this board think is a "bad" area because it has a few sex shops right next to Gare du Nord, yet if you asked any of them if they actually had any experience staying in that part of the city they would likely tell you no. Much of the 10th is occupied by working Parisian families, white collar and blue collar, and there are lots of affordable restaurants, cafes & shops nearby. I stayed in the area for 2 weeks travelling solo and never felt unsafe, even walking back from trains late at night.

I've get my yapper shut since Norma generally nails stuff. And, I agree with Bets, that my druthers would either be up on the hill in Montmartre or on the back side in the village. HOWEVER, the Oops (south side of town) doesn't even meet my low standards. It's one of the few places I've ever walked away from at the desk - - and I spend a lot of time poking around the backwaters of asia. Plus, I really like being able to walk down to the Mouff. Montmartre, on the other hand is neat and I've stayed all over that area. I hadn't walked Pigalle/Clichy in years, but was traveling with a buddy in the fall who'd never seen it so we hiked it one night. The sex shops have the glass painted over, so you can't tell what they peddle, but the place was full of parents with kids walking around. If you look at the upper stories of the buidlings, you'll see that there's nothing there but apartments just like the ones in the rest of the city. I never saw anything that looked like a short-time hotel, nor did anybody try to sell me their wares. I read something a while back that said it's becoming the most expensive real estate in town since all up-and-coming younger people are moving in by the zillion.

Gina, If you are thinking of staying at a hostel near the Montmartre area, I can recommend one that's located located right on the 10th and 9th Arrond. line...Vintage Hostel at 73, Rue de Dunkerque, turn right as you exit Gare du Nord. I've checked this place out myself last summer since it's about 10 mins or so from Gare du Nord, where I always stay, regardless of the comments I've read about the area. I agreed with the above poster's observations of the 10th Arron. True, you hardly do see any Americans relative to the numbers of other tourists. If I get tired at staying at the 2 star hotel at Gare du Nord, switching over to Vintage Hostel would be a good cheaper option. Staying at the Gare du Nord has definitely a good number of advantages, one of which Montmartre is about a 25 mins walk up Rue de Dunkerque, and the closeness to Gare de l'Est.

I took another look at the area, using google maps. The hostel itself is in an ok area across the large boulevard from a fabulous, interesting fabric district. The small streets on both sides of the large boulevard are fine. The boulevard gets colorful in both directions. Ed could describe Barbes better than I can. There is a lot of night life in the area for both locals and tourists. We stayed on the hill last summer and found it fine. We also lived in the 10th, for quite a while--in a funky area, but we didn't mind. If the price is right and the hostel meets your needs, I'd go for it. If you want to be more central, I'd still follow Swan's advice for a First visit.