I wouldn't consider staying anywhere else in Paris. I go twice a year to Paris for business (I'm a painter) and think people who rent apartments there are crazy. Here is a sweet affordable little hotel, in a perfect location (the Marais, two blocks from Place des Vosges), with a wonderful helpful staff. Why plan to cook in an apartment when Stephan can make restaurant suggestions and reservations for you? The rooms have television and free wifi and private baths--there's an elevator and a nice breakfast room that they encourage guests to picnic in for the rest of the day. You are in the charming Marais, steps from the Seine and the odd little antique shops of Village St Paul. There are world class cheeses (fromager Pascal Trotte on rue St. Antoine) and a Monoprix for the facecloth I often forget (well, the French use little terry mitts) and the hotel doesn't provide. You can get lost in the grocery store downstairs in Monoprix, and they have wonderful wines. The 69 bus near the hotel goes to the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay, through the Latin Quarter and ends at Montparnasse.
Now to American comfort standards. The hotel is not air-conditioned, but they will provide fans. I go in the spring and the winter, and avoid the issue; but if you need AC, this is not the hotel for you. The same is true of all (most?) 3-star Paris hotels.
I travel with friends, and we make the hotel reservations before anything else because Hotel Jeanne d'Arc is quite small, about 35 rooms, and we all have favorites. On the rare occasion they have to put someone on a waiting list, a room has always materialized, but maybe we have been just lucky.
I hope nothing ever changes at this hotel. read more