It was really tough to find a hotel in Paris. There are like 2000 hotels and B&Bs, not including apartment rentals, so there are certainly options. But trying to find a hotel that is nice and has a good location and isn't outrageously expensive is very tough. And if you are like me and wait until a few days before arriving in Paris, then there is also the issue of vacancy. Paris, I have discovered, is very, very busy with tourism.
Salt Lake City has a direct flight to Paris. Imagine that. We were to start our honeymoon in Paris, but because we had trouble with hotels, we pushed it to the end of our trip - which ended up being the best thing to do. Even then though we waited until just a few days before arriving in Paris to try to book rooms. Which is why we ended up staying in 3 different hotels. We couldn't get a booking for the full 5 nights.
I have used Trip Advisor a lot lately and I find it really helpful. I used it to find hotels in Paris. The first hotel we stayed at was Hotel de l'Abbaye Saint Germain - #13 of hotels in Paris according to Trip Advisor. A lot of positive reviews overall. I did just see the latest review posted a few days ago was very negative and talked about mice. I did not see any mice and I am surprised by that. It was a very clean hotel. Great location. Quiet. Cute. Too expensive. Super, super nice staff and management. Great downstairs rooms for hanging out, including with a wood burning fire place and a tiny outdoor garden. I realize all hotel rooms in Paris hotels are small, but this one was a little too small for me, although they did a good job of working with such a small space. It was decorated like you are staying in your old great Aunt's guest bedroom (see photo). I referred to it as "the hotel where you would send your grandmother." It was full of sweet little old ladies and old couples. Very old clientele. Paul's response was "I don't need to be sitting across from hipsters at breakfast." Point taken.
Did I think it was nice? Yes in some ways. The location is really great. Would I recommend it to others? Maybe, it depends. Would I stay there again? Probably not. Mainly because of the price (250 Euros/night). Our second hotel, also in Saint Germaine, had larger rooms, nicer rooms and was less expensive - although the location was not as good. It is all a trade off.
A lot of people recommended staying in the Marais area. We stayed there our last night, at a hotel that was right next to the Pompidou (Museum of Modern Art), that I really did not like. While it was fun to run around the Marais a little, we preferred the less hectic energy of Saint Germaine.
Hotel de l'Abbaye
10 rue Cassette
6th Arrondissement (Saint Germaine)
75006 Paris
http://www.hotelabbayeparis.com/
Bonus. There is a great cafe at the end of the street called Cafe Cassette that has really good coffee, good croissants and serves hot breakfast. There are a number of decent restaurants close by. The hotel is near Parc du Luxembourg.
This photo of Paul sleeping in the grandma room just makes me laugh...
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