Doing RS Paris tour end of May. I’ve been to Paris several times, and have stayed in several neighborhoods. My travel partner has never been to Europe before. Thoughts on packing up and moving to a different neighborhood vs ease of staying in Rue Cler at Hotel Londress. We will have to change rooms after tour as the only availability there is a more expensive room (€100. More) with a view of ET.
A different neighborhood has advantages as does staying put and just changing rooms.
Hi Jill, Hotel Londress is very nice. But, since you will already be in that neighborhood for a week, I would take advantage of staying in a different neighborhood. Personally, I would consider staying in a city that’s an hour away to give your travel partner some variety since the RS Paris tour (I’ve done this one - very nice!). will cover many highlights of Paris, plus give you lots of free time to explore. A few of the quickest cities by train are Chartres, Rouen, Tours to the west/southwest.
I’d move.
Show the traveling companion another Paris neighborhood besides the rather Americanized Rue Cler area.
Apologies but I’m not one who travels to Paris often so can’t offer a suggestion as to where. Pretty sure more knowledgeable Paris posters will provide intel.
Because you only have 3 additional days, I’m going to suggest staying where you are rather than wasting time changing hotel locations. There still is quite a bit to see in Paris that the tour does not cover and if I remember correctly, the hotel was centrally located and our tour guide did an excellent job of teaching us how to use public transport. You could use that time you would spend switching hotels to take a day trip to explore the Champagne region or Monet’s gardens. But just my opinion.
Well, I am one to stay put in the area of the Hotel Londres Eiffel. I like the Rue Cler neighborhood and will be spending nearly 3 weeks (divided by time out of Paris) in the Fall. There are still lots of things to do in Paris that you do not get to on the Best of Paris tour.
You can certainly try another neighborhood, though if that sounds like fun to you. Or a different hotel in the area - I like Hotel Relais Bosquet and Hotel Muguet if their rates are better than the Londres Eiffel.
BTW, I do not find the area Americanized at all, particularly after the pandemic. I do go every year and it's comfortable for me with lots of restaurants to choose from for an evening meal. I was last there in October 2024. As mentioned, I will be there this October as well.
editing to add: Cross-posting the same ideas as Margie!
Maybe stay close to the train station and do day trips to Rouen, Chartres, Giverny? Amazon has books about day trips from Paris.
I'd move. I stayed in the Rue Cler general area for a R.S. tour and found it a little further from some of the things I wanted to see. I like the Marais and Rue di Rivoli has a great bus that can take you quickly to the Louvre area. I also like the Left Bank area. Take a look at Hotel Diana which is very near the Sorbonne.
I am team move. It takes me about 30 minutes to pack and about another 30 minutes tops to get to the next place. Back when I used to stay in hotels in Paris, I would move every three or so days. We would move to a 'hood that we wanted to explore and drop our luggage off at the new place and start our exploration of that area. In 2017, for example, during 18 days in Paris, we stayed at Hotel Fabric, Hotel & Spa La Belle Juliette, Hotel Apollon Montparnasse, Hotel Monge, and Hotel Bachaumont. During 7 days in 2016, we stayed in Hotel Paris Bastille Boutet and Hotel d'Aubusson. There are so many hotels in Paris and I had a hard time deciding on one for most trips so I divided up my time. I like Hotel Londres a lot so staying there for the entire time would not be a hardship -- it's what i did for 8 days on another trip in 2017 when my travel companions (my sister and my BFF) wanted to see the Eiffel Tower every night of the trip.
I have a different take: since you have to pack your bags to switch rooms, and presumably be out of your room by noon, and you will likely not have access to the new room until 3 pm, I would take the opportunity to move to a hotel in another neighborhood.
And since you say you have stayed in different neighborhoods before (but not your companion), and you don't seem to be asking for any ideas, I will not offer one to you.
Circling back with a little more time now. I stayed at the Hotel Londress with the 1-week RS tour. Previously, I stayed in a few hotels in the Luxembourg Garden which I liked a lot. I’ve also stayed in hotels since the year of the RS tour in neighborhoods near the Opera and two more in the Saint-Germain-des-Pres neighborhood. My first experience was with a People-to-People program where we stayed in the Montmartre neighborhood. I wouldn’t pick that one since it’s farther away.
I see someone mentioned being near a train station for some day trips out of Paris. The train station areas aren’t usually as nice, but I do think it would be good to see something outside of Paris. And if you’re doing this while the evening outdoor Light Shows are running at Rouen or Chartres, then it’s another reason for a few nights there.
The nice answer is that whatever you choose will be nice! Enjoy!
I'm also as well too on team move -- see my Thanksgiving trip report for info on the Marais and on side trip to Rouen.
RS guidebook has very reliable recs for the Marais, and Metro and bus access is the best.
If you do decide to take a day trip, I highly recommend Chartres, especially if you can get a train back late enough you can see the lumiere. The buildings are amazing after dark.
Hi Jill.
I don't think that Rue Cler is Americanized. It is a beautiful neighborhood. I agree it isn't that central, but 10-15 minutes on the metro will get you to anywhere you want to go.
When I took the Paris city tour, I stayed another week after the tour. So, I moved neighborhoods and stayed in a less expensive room.
For 3 days, I would likely stay put.
After that trip, I returned and stayed 2 days before moving on to Normandy and I returned a 3rd time and spent 12 full days in Paris. I didn't feel the need to do a day trip either. I had plenty of things to do in Paris. I am sure to go back again and again and...
Enjoy your trip!
Thank you everyone. I thought I mentioned, I did the RS tour last year with my son. We stayed at a different hotel in Rue Cler. People ask, why go back or do the same tour? I will have the chance to visit the museums a see different things, if I want to skip something, I won’t have FOMO, and I feel you can never go to Paris too many times. I will see the same things again, with a different eye, different people, weather and all over experience. I’ve stayed at Henri iv rive gauch in the Latin quarter, it was lovely. We trained to Normandy and upon return to Paris stayed on Ile St Louis. I also have stayed in an apartment on Ile de la cite.
So I’m ok staying at Hotel Londress or exploring. The only room Hotel Londress has for us after the tour is an upgraded room with a view of the ET. I feel we are game for moving on and staying in a different area and finding a hotel without a view of the ET for an extra €100.
We are going to stay in Paris, want to visit some flea markets. The Dior museum, and lots of people and window shot. We may do one day trip if the mood strikes us. Usually we are trying to see so much on these trips, this one is going to include time to “breathe in Paris”.
Hotel Londress
Hate to be that guy, but it is Londres, one "s"...French for "London"...
Good luck, you really can't go wrong moving to another hotel, a different neighborhood. Having a view of the Eiffel Tower from your hotel room is not something I would pay much for, given that those views can be limited or obstructed...
Jill,
The theme of my last Paris trip was "beach vacation in Paris", meaning I "hung out" a lot. I also went to 6 different flea markets. I highly recommend the flea markets because it gets one into new neighborhoods.
