Cheap hotel/hostel and things to do recommendations for Paris!

[bambiandthumper]

My neighbours 18yr old DD, and a few of her friends are going to Paris for a few nights in July, as an end of exams trip. My neighbour says they are struggling to find cheap accommodation, as they don't really know where to start looking, and there is a lot. They have all been to Paris she says, but with their families, so will be having a completely different experience :o, and all of us are proving useless.

Just realised the above is all rambling . But yes, if any of you have any recommendations for (youth)hostels or cheap hotels, in a good, central location (I thought maybe by the Grands Boulevards or the Marais, but that could be completely wrong!), close to nightlife that would be great. And equally, places to avoid with a barge pole would probably prove quite useful.

Actually, if I can be really rude now that i've grabbed your attention, if you have any recommendations for not too expensive things to do/ areas to visit to potter about in, that would be great! Ditto restaurants and bars...? They have done the majority of the museums and tourist attractions, but might go back and do a few.

TIA

They could do a lot worse than stay a bit further out, near the Chateau de Vincennes, as there are lots of little hotels around there, a short metro ride from the centre. A double room with breakfast in a small hotel there can cost as little as £40 per person per night for something really quite good. The area itself is nice with local shops so they can buy snacks, water, fruit, etc, and of course there's the Chateau itself, which would be nice to spend a little time exploring.

Hotel Saint-Louis is lovely, by the way, feels very luxurious and very friendly staff, great breakfast, surprisingly good value for a twin room if you ask nicely. Can also book it as part of a Eurostar package.

Public transport is cheap so they should get tickets and check ou Bus routes as it's a great way to view the city.

I remember booking a really cheap hotel near La Bastille / Double for 54?. It wasn't the nicest but it had clean sheets and a decent bathroom.
here I would check it out on cheap hotel sites and such.

Free stuff to do -
Les Puces (Flea Market) Metro- Porte de Clignancourt
Cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise
Jardins du Luxembourg
Notre Dame de Paris/Ile Saint Louis
Montmartre & Sacre Coeur
Les Halles- Rue Montorgeuil
Any Cafe on any Grand Boulevard where coffee is cheap and you can watch the world go by.

HTH

Ooh that list is great ginandwater.

With regards to location, I have a feeling that central is the key for them, my neighbour has said that they have booked Eurostar tickets already, but are only there for two nights, so ideally want to be walking distance, especially for night life.

I would suggest, search Expedia for hotels/hostels in their price range, order results by price (ascending), then look each hotel up on Trip advisor to see if it's what they are looking for.

Bastille & Faubourg Saint Antoine have great Nightlife joints- Rue de Lappe is absolutely brilliant.