Sandra Gustafson's Great Sleeps Paris (Cheap Eats and Sleeps) Review

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(More customer reviews)Paris is a challenging city when it comes to lodging. Hotels abound, but are they any good? And hotels are usually crowded, so if you don't like yours, you might be stuck. Fodor's is some help, but its reviews are short. This book spends the better part of a page on an average review, and some are longer. Prices are up to date and evaluations are accurate. The book is arranged by District, so once you know about where you'd like to be you can research in detail. I do wish, however, that she would mention hotels she didn't like that she saw, because there are many hotels one encounters while in Paris and it would be nice to know why she didn't pick the ones she didn't. A minor complaint, however. A good bonus is her inclusion of many more hotel web sites than Fodor's. And believe me, most of the decent hotels have sites with photos and info, as well as reservation capabilities. Be sure to follow her advice to use email or fax to confirm and get your confirmation in writing. She also addresses shopping and does a good job. We went to some places she like and were pleased.

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For more than 20 years, savvy travelers have trusted Sandra Gustafson for insider tips and great value abroad. Completely revised, updated and in a new portable size this beloved guide offer in-the-know advice on the best deals and most unique places to eat and stay in the City of Light. For this edition, Sandra revisited each of the recommended restaurants, and scoured the city for great new discoveries. With its lively, detailed, and personal reviews, Great Eats Paris is the antidote to the lowest-common-denominator travel advice, and the perfect companion for anyone in search of the authentic Paris.

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Cheap Sleeps in Paris: The Revised and Expanded Guide to More Than 100 Charming, Comfortable, and Inexpensive Hotels Review

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(More customer reviews)Cheap Sleeps in Paris is wonderful.
When I travel in the states, I usually go away for a long weekend, and I'm able to take advantage of weekend rates at hotel chains I know. It doesn't take much know how to get a good room in a Hilton, for example. We have lots of companies that try to keep up a consistent level of quality, and rooms tend to be pretty much the same in different cities.
But in Paris, that strategy doesn't work. My stays are longer, and I just can't afford to spend 8 nights in the same kind of place I'd choose here in the US. Most of the hotels in Paris are small and ideosyncratic. It's not just that there are differences from hotel to hotel -- there are even differences from room to room within the same place. The quality of your experience depends more upon the individuals running a specific hotel than it does here in the states, where there are companies that try to maintain a culture of quality that you can count on in different cities. In Paris you're often dealing with someone who owns and operates one hotel, and the quality of the place depends a lot on that person's attitude.
I found Gustafson's book to be very helpful. I went to Paris twice last year. The first time I didn't use her book, and I got an awful place in a marginal neighborhood and I wasn't able to dial out with my laptop (which I need to do for work), despite the fact that the hotel's web site said that I could. "Oh, you need an executive suite for that, they cost 3 times as much, and they're all full."
The second time I did use this book, and I got a place in a much nicer neighborhood, for 2/3 the cost, with a very comfortable bed and very nice bath with shower. And I could actually dial out with my laptop. That doesn't sound like much, but I had a very hard time finding a place that would let me do that. Although it's not a focus of Cheap Sleeps, she does mention a few places that are net friendly, and that was important to me. Most people will obviously have other priorities. But I believe this book will help them as well.
I've just requested another reservation at the same place for the fall. I've read some reviews here that complain about the places not being cheap enough. My room will be $68/night, in the 16th (ie., a yuppie neighborhood), on a quiet street, and it comes with a nice bath, shower, and television with cable. Not to mention the all important phone jack. I know the Franc is weak now, but when I compare that to what I pay in New York, San Francisco, London, LA, or what I'd have to pay here in Chicago, it seems pretty cheap to me.
The important thing, though, is that it's not so cheap that you wouldn't want to stay there.
Here's the bottom line: how much are you spending on your trip to Paris? This book is cheap. It will probably make a real difference in the quality of your trip; I know it did for me. If not, what are you out, compared to what you're spending already?

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Arranged by arrondissement, Cheap Sleeps in Paris provides listings for over 100 hotels, pensions, B&Bs and apartments. Entries include details such as facilities, nearby tourist attractions and whether or not English is spo ken. '--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Paris and Around (Charming Small Hotel Guides) Review

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(More customer reviews)We were in Paris in April 2000. From this book we picked a small hotel in the San Germain area, on the Left Bank. We loved the hotel, it was the perfect location for us, and great service. After reading this book, we choose five hotels that we were interested in. I am sure that any of the five hotels would have been to our liking. This book made it so easy to decided where we wanted to stay in Paris. It was recomended to us by a friend who had used it for her trip to Paris.

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A unique guide to the French capital. Charming Small Hotel Guides: Paris is the only in-depth guide to charming hotels in Paris that doesn't take money for an entry. It covers Ile de France and every arrondissement (district) of Paris with full-color photographs of each hotel along with a full-page description, maps and hotel name and location indexes. Plus it includes 100 restaurants as a back section. Each restaurant is chosen for the qualities that have made the Charming Small Hotel Guides so popular: character, charm, good but unflashy service-and of course, interesting food.

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