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Part of the fun of traveling to Paris is waking up in a new place with unlimited opportunities for exploring! If this is your first trip to Paris, your expectations about what a hotel room should look like may be based on what you have seen in your own country. For those visiting from North America, one important thing to know is that rooms in Paris tend to be smaller than they are in hotels in North America, even in expensive places (unless you opt for a modern chain hotel, which can lack charm). Parisian doubles are almost never big enough to hold two queen-sized beds, and the space around the bed usually isn't big enough for more than a desk and perhaps a chest of drawers. The story is the same in London, Rome, and most other continental capitals where buildings date back two, three, four, or more centuries, when everything was smaller.
What else is different?
Parisian hotels also vary widely in their plumbing arrangements. Some units come equipped with only a sink; others may also have a toilet and either a shower or tub. Private bathrooms with tubs often have handheld shower devices, and some shower stalls don't have curtains — so pay attention that water isn't flooding the floor. The trend is toward renovating small hotels by installing a small shower, toilet, and sink in each room, but don't count on having all these amenities in your room unless you're in a pricier hotel.
Acoustics tend to be unpredictable in old Parisian hotels. Your quarreling neighbors may compete with street noise for the prize of most annoying, so bring earplugs for the neighbors or ask for a room in the rear of the hotel to avoid the street noise. Another point to remember: Most budget hotels in Paris don't have air-conditioning, but fortunately, their solid stone walls tend to keep out the summer heat.
The best accommodations
With more than 2,200 chain hotels, deluxe palatial accommodations, hotels that cater to business travelers, budget hotels, and mom-and-pop establishments, it's difficult to narrow things down to just a few. But the hotels listed here are the hotels that you'll want to return to on your next visit (because no one can see Paris just once!). This list only includes hotels in the first eight arrondissements, the most central locations in Paris.
- You'll love the Hôtel Minerve (5e), a welcoming, budget, kid-friendly hotel in the Latin Quarter. With wood-beamed ceilings, exposed stone walls, carved mahogany wood furnishings and decent sizes, rooms are a great value and the location is terrific! (Ask for one of the ten balconied rooms complete with a table and chairs overlooking rue des Ecoles.) Just around the corner from the Cluny Museum, this is a true Paris treasure.
- Located on a street full of art galleries, the pretty Hôtel de Seine (6e) in St-Germain-des-Près is a few blocks from the Seine and the pedestrian bridge Pont des Arts that leads to the Louvre. For just a few more euro, you can stay in this hotel where each room is distinctly decorated with French provincial furniture and flowered wallpaper or Provence-inspired jewel-toned paint and Louis XVI–era reproductions.
- Rooms are simply divine at the gorgeous deluxe Pavillon de la Reine (4e) right off Place des Vosges, and this is the place to celebrate anniversaries or honeymoons. The large standard rooms are decorated with gingham wallpaper and Louis XIII–style furniture, superior duplex rooms have modern beds located in a loft above a cozy sitting room with comfortable chairs and couches, and suites boast four-poster beds and beamed ceilings and open onto the courtyard. You'll find all the amenities here. For these prices, you can have the extravagant splendor of one of Paris's palace hotels, but Pavillon de la Reine's intimate surroundings are just as appealing.
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