When I go to Paris, which has typically been once a year for many years now, I usually stay in different areas and have never wanted to return to one place, largely because I haven’t found any hotel that hits the mark for price and location. If the location is great, the price is usually through the roof or the rooms are so small, you can’t lay your suitcase flat out. While I usually spend some time in the Latin Quarter every time I go, I’ve never stayed there, that is, until this past December.
Below are three great picks in the four star category, all a short walk from the St. Metro metro stop.
I also included a fourth two star option (although someone tells me they’re now ranked a 3 star), because I thought it was good value for the money.
I started my stay at Hotel Villa Destrees, which is a charming four star boutique hotel but on my last night, everything in the area for miles was booked up for some odd reason, so my only choice was the two star around the corner – Hotel Eugenie.
Note that all of the hotels listed below are within a couple blocks of each other.
Hotel Villa Destrees: 17 rue Gît le Coeur, 75006, Paris
Located on a little corner street off the Seine River and a two minute walk from the St. Michel metro is this adorable and authentic French boutique hotel. There’s free internet and breakfast served (with some of the rates) every morning. (lobby to the left)
While each room is different in color and design, the sizes and ‘overall style’ are largely the same: there’s a desk, couch, coffee table, side soft plush chair, fun, colorful pillows and a queen sized bed.
The rooms themselves have ample space (rare for the center of Paris, especially for a boutique hotel) as do the bathrooms.
I found the rooms to be quiet despite the fact that the neighborhood is a frequented location and many tourists walk its streets both day and night.
My favorite room? (I saw them all btw) The lavendar one on the fourth floor although all the rooms are quaint, finely designed and spacious. They serve a continental breakfast until 10 am but remember that continental breakfast French style is very small and consists of bread, a croissant or roll and tea or coffee. As always in Paris, there’s plenty of jam and butter on the table. Breakfast is served in the lobby area (pictured above).
Hotel Residence Des Arts: 14 rue Gît le Coeur, 75006, Paris
The Résidence Des Arts is across the street from Hotel Villa Destrees and part of the same management company.
The hotel is also a four star and while it isn’t quite as quaint as the Villa Destrees (lobby included), the rooms are also a decent size although a bit more ‘basic’ in design. That said, they’re also less expensive and you still have the same stellar location, only steps away from St. Michel metro. It is also not that far from Odeon and near Saint-Germain-des-Près close to numerous luxury stores, making it an ideal choice for business or play.
The hotel combines the comfort and quiet refinement of a typical Parisian apartment, with the services of a modern luxury hotel. The decor and furnishings are very much in the French tradition, with lots of antiques and charming old pieces introducing guests to the delights of French culture just like the Villa Destrees.
Below is Residences Des Arts.
Li
Like the others, the Relais Hotel du Vieux is also located in the center of the Latin Quarter. It is known that American, Australian, Japanese as well as European writers, artists, musicians, visitors come to this hotel to find inspiration and a warm welcome.
The Relais-Hôtel du Vieux Paris was built in 1480, and at the time belonged to the Duc de Luynes and the Duc d’O. It was also once the dwelling place of Pierre Seguier, the true Marquis d’O. In the 1950s and 60s, American poets adopted the site and in the same movement created the “Beat Generation”. Among them were Burroughs, Kerouac, Ginsberg and Corso.
They offer rooms with half-timbered beams plus seven Suites including three mezzanine overlooking Paris rooftops. They tout marble finished bathrooms with hair-dryer, whirlpool bath in suites. It’s near a lot of the interest spots in central Paris: the Seine, the Place Saint-Michel, the Flower Market, Notre Dame, the Louvre and Orsay Museums.
Now for the 2-3 star hotel around the corner: the Eugénie Hotel. Situated in a shopping street right in the very heart of Old Paris and in the centre of the Latin Quarter near the banks of the River Seine, the Eugénie Hotel benefits from a truly privileged site being located beside the famous fountain St Michel and also to the grand cathedral of Notre-Dame and the world-wide known Louvre Museum. It is located at 31 rue Saint-André-Des-Arts, 75006 Paris and like the other three, the closest metro is St. Michel.
Although much more basic than its neighboring 4 star hotels, it is also about half the price.
This is the street that the hotel is on, which leads to the Metro stop. There’s a great creperie a few doors down from the hotel, which is almost adjacent to the street which houses the other three four star hotels as noted above.
If traveling to Paris, check out some of the Paris hotels we’ve covered in the past as well as this section on WBTW and for food/wine in Paris. Photos by Renee Blodgett. See my reflective post on Paris before I jumped on a plane earlier this December. Check out my write-up on the Jewish bakery Sacha Finkelsztayn in the Marais.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
