Accommodation in Paris with Children - any recommendations?

[pointydog]

The nights are drawing in and I'm thinking of hols.

I'm not good at cities. Been doing a little bit of Paris searching. Citadines sound quite good from a semi-self caterin gpoint of view but reviews seem a bit patchy. Cleanliness? Pricey or average for Paris?

Can't really find hotels that have family rooms for four people. I'd rather have the children in the same room as us. Do you get them?

If anyone has ideas to start me off on the right track, would be much appreciated.

o please help me to dream

WEbsite called Trip advisor gives really good 'candid' photos and reviews of all hotels and accommodation etc. I've always popped 'reviews of hotels in blah blah blah' in the search engine and the website has come up! Was dead accurate for our hols last year! Enjoy.

thank you, sally!

Ive always wondered whether you can get self catering accommodation for a weekend in Paris. I think that would be good because you could then sit and relax with a glass of wine when the kids are in bed.

shelley, what sort of room do you hvae in that hotel? Is it for you and children?

ah, ok, thanks

we stayed here but it was ages ago and I can't remember if vwe had a 4-bed room or interconnecting ones

Thanks mrsB. They don't seem to have room for 4 but another of their hotels does. 600E for 4 nights - same sort of price as the citadines.

interconnecting is worth considering though - means you and dh can stay up a bit longer...

dramaqueen - we're renting an apt (for half-term) through this outfit, "RentParis" and they certainly seem to quote rates per night - so suggesting weekend-rental-only would be fine. Once you added up the Citadines (etc.) prices it seemed to compare reasonably.

Thanks for the websites. We are also looking into accommodation, probably a self-catering apartment, over New Year. We've already bought the train tickets.

I've been searching and getting confused. Too much choice.

dc are 11 and nearly 9, shelley, so would have to be bed each or connecting.

anyone been to a citadine?

Was just going to say Citadines!
We stayed there in May after a recommendation on here. Perfect for what we wanted, but a little characterless I would say. We had a twin bedroom and a pull-out bed in the living room. Teeny kitchen (microwave and 2 ring hob)& bathroom.
Clean, efficient, ideal if you want to put kids to bed but not sit in dark/quiet for the rest of the evening.

Did you actually use the kitchenette, posey, or is it not worth having? Could you eat a take-away meal of sorts in a Paris hotel room or are they all teeny?

As the dc are older we will prob be going to bed at the same time so I'm not too concerned about getting adult time away from children.

Thanks Bink, that site looks exactly what I was looking for.

Poinydog - yes we did use the kitchen but just for doing a bit of pasta and breakfast stuff. Good if you have a pernickety eater!

oh thanks posey. I suppose we wouldn't use it much. Just good to have.

ANother question, might sound daft, but is it cheaper to book accom and flights independently or can a package city break work out the same price?

Anyone know?

another question, posey

which citadine in Paris did you stay in? I see they range from 2 to 4 stars but I'd like to be pretty central so have been thinking about Maine-montparnasse

Well we booked the Marais one (having had the area recommended). But on arrival we had been double booked . They organised us a taxi, which they paid for of course, and trasferred us to the Eiffel Tower one at no extra cost to us despite it being more expensive.

yes, I was thinking of marais originally. Then I thought it might be nice to be really close to the luxembourg parc with the dds.

Thanks!

Just reporting back in (for dramaqueen and if pointydog decides to really self-cater instead of aparthotel) ... RentParis's little 2-bedroom attic in the Marais (rue Rambuteau) was sweet and neat and though on the 6th floor there was a mini-mini-lift to the 5th - could take suitcases & two children (or one adult & two children).

Up that high it doesn't matter how very bustling the Marais is (like Covent Garden & Soho rolled into one) - lovely & quiet at night - and then in the daytime there were, hmm, five? ten? fifteen? patisseries between us & the Pompidou Centre, plus supermarkets & greengrocers & traiteurs & a bookshop & flowers, & a shop selling giant perspex jewels. We walked to the Beaubourg, and to the Musée Picasso, and the fabulous Arts et Métiers - and the Louvre, and the wonderful Red Wheelbarrow English-language bookshop, and could have rolled out of bed into Musée Carnevalet, which we'll do next time.

TIP: Just beyond Pompidou at Les Halles (in mall terms, grisly - don't bother - use your free hour (see below) for flaneuring) there is a Jardin des Enfants (mazelike wooded adventure playground) for 7-11 yos where parents are not allowed in. You drop off your children, on the hour, with proper playleaders like nice schoolteachers (who speak English) & come back to collect an hour later - and it's free. My two cannot decide between "Private Childland" & the Eiffel Tower as the highlight of the trip.

And everyone, but everyone, was completely lovely about the children's earnest efforts to speak French.

Sounds like you had a lovely time. Did you go to Les jardin d'Acclimatation? That's a good one for children too. We are going to Paris over New Year, can't wait. DS (8) is doing some French after school, I hope he'll enjoy using some of it.