Paris_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Lonely Planet [237]
Residences FranceLoc ( 04 92 28 38 48; www.franceloc.fr; ) Formally known as France Location (France Rental), this chain has serviced apartments throughout France, including two in Paris. Daily prices quoted here are for up to seven nights’ stay; there is a discount of 10% from eight to 27 nights and 20% after that. Résidence Le St-Germain (Map; 01 46 34 22 33; reservation@france-location.fr; 16 rue Boutebrie, 5e; 2-person studio €93-119, 4-person apt €143-158; St-Michel) has 11 fully equipped studios and apartments for between two and six people measuring from 17 to 55 sq metres. Résidence Passage Dubail (Map; 01 44 89 66 70; residence-dubail@franceloc.fr; 5-7 Passage Dubail, 10e; 2-person studio €89, 4-person apt €139; Gare de l’Est) has studios and apartments measuring 16 to 30 sq metres, accommodating up to four people.
Adagio City Aparthotel ( 0 825 040 608; www.adagio-city.com; Filles du Calvaire; ) Called Résidences Pierre & Vacances until recently, Adagio counts some 10 properties in greater Paris, including the Adagio Montmartre City Aparthotel (Map; 10 place Charles Dullin, 18e; pam@adagio-city.com; 2/3/4 person studios €131/144/169, 1/2 bed apt €205/259; Abbesses), an attractive résidence at the end of a leafy street in the heart of Montmartre with 76 studios and apartments for between two and six people. There’s a 10% discount on stays of eight nights or more, and 20% on stays of 28 days or more.
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Hotels
Hotels in Paris are inspected by authorities at département (administrative division of France) level and classified into six categories – from no star to four-star ‘L’ (for luxe), the French equivalent of five stars. All hotels must display their rates, including TVA (VAT; valued-added tax) both outside the hotel and in guests’ rooms.
Paris may not be able to boast the number of budget hotels it did a decade or so ago, but the choice is still more than ample, especially in the Marais, around the Bastille, near the major train stations and off the Grands Boulevards. Places with one star and those with the designations ‘HT’ (Hôtel de Tourisme) or ‘NN’ (Nouvelle Norme), which signifies that a hotel is awaiting its rating but remains of a certain standard of comfort, are much of a muchness. Remember: the overall consideration at these places is cost, never quality. Be advised that some budget hotels in Paris do not accept credit cards.
Breakfast – usually a simple continental affair of bread, croissants, butter, jam and coffee or tea, though American-style breakfast buffets are becoming more popular – is served at most hotels with two or more stars and usually costs around €8.
Some hotels in Paris have different rates according to the season and are noted as such throughout the chapter. The high season is (roughly) from April to September while the low season is from October to March. There are usually bargains to be had during the late autumn (say, November) and winter months (January and February).
Hostels
Paris is awash with hostels, but such budget accommodation isn’t as cheap as it used to be here. Beds under €25 are increasingly rare – especially in summer – so two people who don’t mind sleeping in the same bed may find basic rooms in budget hotels a less-expensive proposition. Groups of three or four will save even more if they share two or three beds in a budget hotel.
Showers are always free at hostels in Paris, and rates include a simple breakfast. Internet access (from about €1 for 15 minutes) is available at almost all the hostels listed here. If you don’t have your own sheet bag, sheets can be rented at most hostels for a one-off charge of around €3 (plus deposit).
Some of the more institutional hostels only allow guests to stay a maximum of three nights, particularly in summer. Places that have upper age limits (for example, 30 years old) tend not to enforce them except at the busiest of times. Only the official auberges de jeunesse (youth