Paris Hotel or Apartment?

Fred,
Apartment for sure! Especaially for 9 days! Hotels in Europe are so small. With an apartment you will feel much like a local. You can shop at their outside markets and prepare meals, whether simple
or more complex in an apartment. You can have morning
coffee and pastry in your apartment! I can see it now! I am going to get my Paris fix in Septmeber, can't wait. I would never stay at a hotel again.
I think this will be my 20th visit to my favorite place in the world. There is always something new to see or do. You could try vrbo.com, my fav. Lots of other suggestions on this board.

Happy Travels!

Hi Fred,
We've done both apartment and hotel and there are advantages to each. For apartment we had good luck renting from VRBO (Vacation Rental by Owner.) For a hotel in your price range I'd consider staying on Ile St. Louis in one of the following hotels:

Hotel du Jeu de Paume

Hotel de Lutece

or Hotel des Deux Iles

Your airfare non-stop airfare for $610 sounds great!

Hi Fred--Renting an apartment is a great way to go. Shopping at the markets is fun, and you save so much money by not eating out, plus you get to feel like a temporary local. We used vacationinparis when we rented an apartment last year and were very happy with their service. Most of their one bedroom apartments are under $200 a night. We were nervous about not having a front desk clerk and the secure feeling of staying at a hotel, but staying in an apartment was such a positive experience we'll do it whenever possible from now on. We stayed in the 7th on our Paris visit; many say they feel it's too touristy, but our stay was short and we were happy to be able to walk or quickly ride to all the sites we wanted to see. I'd go with the apartment. As for airfare, $610 doesn't sound bad.

We love staying in the 6th arrondissement close to the St. Michel fountain -- close to the Latin Quarter for good night life and just across the river from St. Chappelle, Notre Dame, Ile St. Louis -- and still easy to walk to the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay, etc.

We used Iloveparisapartments.com for our apt on Rue St. Andre des Arts -- fantastic location! They have 2 apts on that street now. We were there in April and really loved it.
From what I've seen on Trip Advisor and one previous posting here, Hotel de Lutece on Ile St. Louis sounds very nice also.
Another good website for apts is vacationinparis.com
Good luck!

Given the length of time that you will be staying in Paris, an apt is definitely the way to go. We were in Paris for a week in May 2008, a bit later than your week and we booked our apt in January through vacationinparis. You can see pics of the apts with each room shown but the best part about this company is it is based in NJ and you pay in USD. Another plus is you can talk with them and they are just great about answering questions, making suggestions, etc. We had no problem getting the key and our deposit was promptly returned. Not sure about all of vip properties, but our apt was well stocked with basic food supplies: coffee, sugar, tea, jam, butter, jam, etc. Having a washer was a real plus!

I will add my vote for the apartment. We have rented apartments in Paris, Provence and two places in Switzerland in the last couple of years and would never go back to hotels. Shopping for groceries even if you just eat breakfast in the apartment is such fun. It is also great to be able to spread out instead of being cramped in a small hotel room.
The Slow Travel website has a lot of information about staying in apartments. We used RentParis and were pleased.

Kathryn

http://www.apartment-in-france.com/

Isabelle is a dream, her apartments are wonderful, we stayed in the Beauborg in the Marais. I would never rent from anyone else!!!!

I also recommend an apartment. I just returned from my 2nd trip to Paris. The first time I stayed in a hotel. This last time we rented an apartment for our 10 night stay. I would never do it any other way if I am staying somewhere long enough. We rented our apartment through VRBO. I paid U.S. dollars and it was under well $200 per night. That cost included everything. We were met at the apartment, the person walked us through how to work everything and gave us her number in case we had any questions or problems. It was so nice to be able to not eat out all the time and have some room to move around. Hotel rooms in Paris are very small. Considering how long you will be there you might want to find a place with a washer, and hopefully a dryer as well. We were able to pack lightly and just wash our clothes as needed. As for what area, I have stayed in the Rue Cler area (hotel) and the Latin Quarter (apartment) and I found that the Latin Quarter was more central to walking places. Have a great trip!

Hi Fred

I am going to be in Paris next month and I have rented an apartment for 6 nights at $140 a night. Its in the 6th arron. within 5-8 min walking distance from the Notre Dame. So you might want to consider www.vacationinparis.com . So far they have been great to deal with!!!

Hazel

Hi Fred,

Have you checked Airfrance for air fare? I don't know if they're cheaper, but I would check.