Hotel under $150/night in Paris

If anyone has opinions about our itinerary I'd love suggestions for that as well. We arrive in London from the East Coast early on the 31st, fly to CDG the 3rd. We are considering renting a car at CDG on the 3rd and going to the Loire Valley for 1 night and then heading to Paris for the remainder of our trip, flying out of CDG on the 9th. The 8th is Easter so we thought it'd be better to be in Paris (big city, most things should be open) rather than a small town where things might be closed on Easter. But we may stay in Paris the whole time and just take a day trip 1 day. Thank you so much.

The Montmartre ETAP is a five minute walk from the metro. No problem with the area, my wife goes out at night to pick up stuff while I'm watching the lates news and neither of us worry about it. It's not stereotypical Paris, however.

I stayed at the Hotel du Loiret in October. It's about 10 steps from Rue du Rivoli in the Marais. VERY safe neighborhood. Lots of cafes nearby. I was alone and felt fine. I paid 70 euros for a single. The room was small, the bathroom tiny, but both were cleaned well daily. The website says they have wifi. If it didn't work well I'm sure you could find it elsewhere. It was a short walk to the river and the islands. Metro and plenty of buses were right there as well. I don't know if there's AC, but that wouldn't be a problem in April. The street noise might be a problem with the windows open. The staff spoke limited English. I would stay there again. http://www.hotel-du-loiret.fr/en

Thank you Ed & Karen. Ed- On TripAdvisor a few people said it was more in the neighborhood of a 20 min walk. I didn't google map it to see exactly how far it was though. Not exactly sure how important neighborhood is. We are typically the people who leave relatively early in the morning and return late at night. So I might prefer less expensive accommodations in order to have more cash for activities/food/souvenirs. Karen- Thanks I will check that one out and see if it's available. I like the idea of being in a nice area near cafes, etc.

The trip advisor people must be nuts. Or else they're using a different metro stop (I'll give fifteen minutes to Porte de Clignanport) but I've made the hike to Porte de Saint-Ouen fifty zillion times and it ain't ten minutes - - shoot, in ten minutes I can duck out of the ETAP, snag a cup of coffee at the bakery on the corner and still be heading down the steps to the metro. And, if you think the area is dicey, don't go to the Saint-Ouen flea market since that same corner is where it starts. EDIT: I just looked at google maps. It shows the hotel at the corner of Babinski and Schmidt. The front door is actually a few hundred feet to the west. That makes it six hundred yards to the metro. That's a third of a mile. I walk a mile in twelve minutes, easy. I'm sticking to my five stinking minutes.

Jennifer, You might try searching for hotels on a site like venere.com or booking.com. These sites will let you filter on price and area of Paris. Easter week can be tough and this will at least narrow things down to some of the hotels that have availability. Once you do that, you can check reviews or ask for opinions here. I know on one trip that I booked at the last minute, we found a room in Paris this way (Timhotel Jardin des Plantes in the 5th). The hotel was nothing special but it was clean, in our price range, and about a block from the metro. This was seven or eight years ago, so I can't really speak to the hotel's condition or price now but just wanted to give you an example. Laura

We stayed at Hotel de L'Avre for 6 wks and highly recommend it. It's a short block from the metro, and the bonus is that it's a metro stop that intersects with 3 lines which makes getting places quicker and easier than some other metro stops. There is a wonderful market there twice a week, a Monoprix with grocery store, cafe's... and walkable to the Eiffel Tower and that area. I prefer staying closer to the heart of Paris and the river, but for a budget hotel and a good area, Hotel de L'Avre is great. They have a very nice garden, large bathrooms, very clean, very quiet and the owner and staff are very nice.

I know you stated that you were looking for a hotel, but I would suggest also taking a look at some apartments for rent. I was in Paris in December and stayed in a great studio apartment in the Marais for $90 per night. It had excellent Wifi (we skyped with family while there) and the location was fabulous as well. Here is a link to the place: http://www.vacationinparis.com/apts/id_261.htm Enjoy your trip!

You should take a look at Hotel Nevers. Have not stayed there but it sounds like a bargain. It is located in a former convent-no elevator. I think it is located on Rue de Bac. Check it out on Trip Advisor.

Have you checked out Champ de Mars? The price should be right. Renting an apartment sounds nice. But for your first trip to Paris you might enjoy having a helpful staff around to answer any questions you might have.

I stayed at Hotel College du France and it was a great location in the Latin Quater, nearl lots of stuff.... Can't recommend Champ du Mars. Gave it two tries and... off the list! (P.S. I noticed RS 2012 Paris hit Kindle in the last few days so hopefully France is on the way :) )

Jennifer, I second the Hotel du College de France. We stayed 5 nights in 2008. Great location, nice rooms, internet, good breakfast (extra), and VERY helpful staff. Stayed at the Hotel Jeanne de Arc in the Marais last spring, but you need to reserve well in advance. Perhaps on your next trip to Paris!!

You might look into these as well, no personal experience but they are very central and in your price range (you can find plenty of reviews on them): http://www.hoteldenesleparis.com/ http://www.hovicha.com/

Have a look at timhotel's, there are several in the city. On our first trip to Paris we stayed at the Timhotel Tour Eiffel and found it small but very clean with very helpful staff as well as breakfast for 8€. A two minute walk to the metro, close to the Eiffel Tower and a safe area. It does get mixed reviews on Trip Advisor, but we found it a good place to stay. The rates are very reasonable and is worth you exploring further. Since no one goes to Paris to stay in their room we found this a good small hotel which offered all we needed. This also a hotel Traffalgar Tours use. Hope this helps.

Thank you very, very much for all the advice and PMs with even more advice. I see I had not even begun to scratch the surface! Many of the suggestions you all have given have rooms available. I'm mapping them out on my Paris map and comparing the features in a little spreadsheet so I can hopefully make a good choice (quickly before they fill up!). And I decided I couldn't wait for the kindle edition of the France 2012 book so I have it in hand now. I will surely return with more questions. Thanks so much!