WHEN the 24-year-old James Baldwin arrived in Paris on Armistice Day in 1948, he came with big dreams, a little more than $40 in his pockets and no knowledge whatsoever of the French language. He discovered what he called years later “a large, inconvenient, indifferent” city still suffering from the fuel shortages and food rationing of the war.
He soon settled into the Hôtel Verneuil in the Seventh Arrondissement, a 17th-century building where the rooms were small, cheap and stone cold and guests shared a squat toilet.
“Paris hotels had never heard of central heating or hot baths or clean towels and sheets or ham and eggs; their attitude toward electricity was demonic — once they had seen what they thought of as wiring one wondered why the city had not, long ago, vanished in flame,” he later wrote in Esquire magazine. The result, he added, was that, “One soon ceased expecting to be warm in one's hotel room, and read and worked in the cafes.”
More than a half-century later, many visitors to Paris might feel a certain affinity with Baldwin as they search — often fruitlessly — for comfortable, affordable hotel lodging in this increasingly expensive city.
As The New York Times' bureau chief in Paris, I am often called upon to answer a question I have come to dread: Can you find me a small, romantic, centrally located, quiet, inexpensive hotel? The task is tougher than it sounds. The watery dollar has lost more than 30 percent of its value against the euro since July 2002. That means that a hotel room that cost $150 a night back then costs almost $200 today.
But when my husband's cousin Wayne and his wife, Bernie, called to asked the “H question” recently, I decided to stop avoiding the issue and investigate.
Certainly, a rented apartment can be more efficient and even more affordable, especially if there are children in tow. But the apartment option is only for visitors who don't mind the possible hassle of a temperamental lock, an unreliable toilet, an absent concierge or a forgotten door code. And not everyone wants the option of making coffee or washing clothes on vacation.
That's where the hotel fantasy comes in — that somewhere in Paris is that fabulous find with a marble bathroom and pressed linen sheets on a tree-lined street just a few steps from a cozy café and an efficient Métro station.
Paris offers possibilities. There are nearly 1,500 hotels (and more than 75,000 hotel rooms) in the city, a large proportion of them small and privately owned. Travelers can rely, of course, on the universally used four-star rating system, which judges features such as room and lobby size. A passable (believe-it-or-not) single room at the one-star Hôtel Esmeralda with a shared shower and toilet runs 35 euros (about $47 at $1.36 to the euro) a night; the grand suite at the new four-star Fouquet's Barrière goes for 15,000 euros ($20,400).
But ratings can deceive, particularly when it comes to the charming, the offbeat and the mildew-free.
The Hôtel d'Orsay, for example, a 41-room hotel near the Musée d'Orsay in the Seventh Arrondissement, delivers a serviceable double room that's almost too tiny to turn around in for 142 euros. But you can get more for less if you head across town to the Ninth Arrondissement. At the Hôtel Langlois, just a few steps from the Trinité church, 130 euros will get you a room that is much larger and that comes with a marble fireplace, Art Deco sculptures and 19th-century furnishings and oil paintings.
So if you look hard enough, you can find hidden bargains in Paris — comfortable lodging as low as $140, but often closer to $200 a night including the hefty occupancy tax. Rates can vary wildly, depending on the season and the availability and sometimes can be negotiated.
My recommendations are personal rather than encyclopedic, a collection in various styles and neighborhoods. None of these places is fancy. Most, but not all, have air-conditioning, which is a factor only for about four summer weeks. All are reliable, welcoming and clean — some are spotless; others less so — and have at least one special something to offer. After all, a dark and tiny room suddenly can turn comfortable and cozy when you are greeted by a manager with a funny story and walk out onto a street lined with shops that seem to have been there forever.
For visitors who want the experience of what's left of the authentic, historic Paris — the Paris with few chain clothing stores and Starbucks — head to the Hôtel Langlois. Built as a bank in 1870, it opened as a hotel 26 years later and retains the feel of its history. The carved oak pillars and alcoves, the wood-paneled wrought-iron elevator, the spiral staircase, the smell of old charm as you enter give the place the feel of an elegant old home. The hotel was the setting for “The Truth About Charlie,” Jonathan Demme's 2002 remake of “Charade.”
Room 63, like most of the others, has a fireplace and a matching bed, armoire and table and chairs. It offers views of Paris rooftops, Montmartre and Trinité, the wedding cake of a church on the corner where the Métro and neighborhood cafes are located. Room 54 has a curved built-in leather and wood couch. The bathroom of Room 44, a two-room suite, is hidden behind a carved oak Art Deco bed frame.
Ahmet Abut, the Turkish-born manager, who makes weekly visits to the city's auction houses, has filled the landings with oil paintings and sculptures. “People who come here have to love the old,” Mr. Abut said. “They have to appreciate art, and understand that at this price, we can't afford a concierge to take your bags to your room.”
Doubles start at 114 euros. The one-bedroom suites are 170 euros.
Ten minutes away on foot is the Hôtel Chopin, another, but very different, step back into Paris history. The hotel, which opened in 1846, is not on a street; it is reachable through the Passage Jouffroy, a narrow, glass-roofed, 19th-century pedestrian arcade. Designated a historical monument of Paris, it is close to the antique, art and stamp shops that surround the Drouot auction house.
The entries to the passage are rather plain and easily overlooked. But once inside, there is a world of shops where you can find old movie posters, mechanical toys, swords and canes and discounted coffee-table books on subjects as far-ranging as Islamic glass and Viennese silver. At night the passage is locked, and you need to ring the doorbell at the entry gate to be allowed in.
The Chopin is not a place to come if you have a lot of luggage and expect doorman treatment. But to enter the hotel is to feel that you have been thrown into the past. A bell tinkles when you open the door. In the lobby, Viennese waltzes play. The varnish on the parquet floor is worn. A bust of Chopin sits on an old upright piano that doesn't work. Tiny hard candies wrapped in metallic paper in pedestal bowls and bouquets of tulips and hyacinths adorn the room.
The breakfast room is done in shades of green and rose. A five-tiered tray on a table in the corner is piled high with oranges for the electric juicer.
The 36 rooms are much smaller and more basic than the Langlois's. While the rooms on floors above the glass-covered passageway are light, the ones that face the inner courtyard (particularly the ones that end in “02”) are dark.
Joscelyne Miezger, a retired Swiss teacher visiting Paris with her niece, said she discovered the hotel by chance while walking through the passage on a previous trip. “It was love at first sight,” she said she looked out on the rooftops from their room, No. 305. “There's no noise, and look at the rooftops! All you need to finish the picture is a cat.”
A single room without a toilet or bath is only 61 euros, doubles with baths or showers start at 81 euros. Some rooms have mansard roofs. No. 411 is homey, with orange-colored Japanese straw wallpaper and two small, soft beds.
The same neighborhood also offers a far different hotel experience, a theme hotel opened last year called the Hôtel Amour. The 20-room hotel near the red-light district of Pigalle was once a serviceable, pay-by-the hour establishment. Now the rooms, many of them adorned with romance novels, erotic art and old photo magazines, have been painted lipstick red. There are no phones, televisions or Internet access in the rooms (said to be too distracting for lovers). But there are an iPod connection in every room and wireless Internet service in the public spaces. Doubles start at 120 euros.
The restaurant and courtyard have become hip places for young Parisians. At the corner of the one-block street is the Rue des Martyrs, a half-mile stretch of magic that includes a private gated courtyard, a steep staircase, homey restaurants, second-hand shops and two privately owned and very intellectual bookstores.
For Paris chic, cross the Seine into the Sixth and Seventh Arrondissements. There seem to be small boutique hotels on just about every street corner, many of them just on the edge of our budget limit of $200-a-night.
If you have 136 euros to spend and don't mind a tiny room, then ask for one of the five small doubles at the Hôtel Verneuil, James Baldwin's old hangout. (Larger rooms start at 163 euros.) The Verneuil oozes elegance and romance — a far different feel from Baldwin's post-war damp, heat-deprived winter there. Many of the rooms and baths have original wood beams, and all the baths are done in tawny marble.
SYLVIE DE LATTRE, the owner, has splashed the public spaces with color, adorning them with tasteful prints and eye-popping textiles. A sitting room with a black and while tiled floor and painted a soft red offers comfortable couches, an assortment of books in French and English and cocktails in the afternoon. The elevator is lined in a kilim-patterned tapestry. Breakfast is served in a vaulted stone cellar or in your room.
The rue de Verneuil is a street made for strolling, a calm architectural delight studded with small shops, art galleries and restaurants. (Try Caffé Minotti at No. 33, still good, even though it just lost its one star, or Maxoff, a reliable, if slightly overpriced Russian restaurant at No. 44.) The Seine is two short blocks away, with the Louvre on the other side of the river.
Farther west in the Seventh, on the far side of the Invalides, on your way to the Eiffel Tower is the recently-renovated Hôtel Muguet, a straightforward family-run establishment that is elegant, versatile and clean-lined — the sort of place that works as well for a single on business as for a couple on a romantic vacation.
The neighborhood may be less interesting than that of the Verneuil, but the rooms are bigger and the prices far better: 130 euros for a decent-sized double room, 100 euros for the same room for one person. Room 63 (150 euros) is flooded with light and has a glorious view of the dome of the Invalides. All rooms have flat-screen televisions, wireless Internet and small safes. A glass-roofed breakfast patio looks out onto a small garden. This is three-star ambiance at a two-star price.
For another hotel with a personal touch in the Seventh, try the Hôtel Lindbergh. Sophie Guyot has owned and run the hotel with her brother Patrice for almost 20 years. Even the hotel's lone housekeeper, Stanica Aksentijevic, has been there since then. At 98 euros, a very small double is good value, as is a room that squeezes in four for 190 euros. After all, it's around the corner from the Bon Marché department store and its enormous food hall, La Grande Épicerie.
Another neighborhood find is the Hôtel de Varenne on rue de Bourgogne. Refined, classic, quiet, this seems like the ideal place for older couples who want to spend their time visiting the Rodin Museum. Entered through a courtyard garden, it has the feel of a country house. Doubles start at 137 euros.
For cash-strapped couples who love the Marais, the Hôtel de Nice has the feel of what a Paris love nest should be. Some of the rooms have a view of the little-known Place Baudoyer with the bell tower of Saint Gervais Church in the background.
Here, middle-class bourgeois blends with out-of-fashion, slightly over-the-top decadence. Even the scent of the place evokes classic flowery perfume and French country house furniture. The hotel could use a thorough renovation and a spring cleaning, but I find the slight seediness charming. A double room is 105 euros.
On the other end of the price spectrum, in the very bourgeois, upscale 16th Arrondissement is the Hôtel Windsor Home, close to the lively commercial Passy neighborhood. The hotel's former owner was an art dealer who transformed what was once a private mansion (and the annex to Madame Claude's house of prostitution) into pure whimsy. A plant-filled courtyard opens to stairs that lead to a modern tiled reception area.
With only eight rooms, the Windsor Home is more a private home than a hotel. Every room is different. One is done in gilt paint, another entirely in red. Sculptured hands hang on the walls of another room. The bathrooms have stained-glass windows and basins with sculptured feet as bases. Doubles are 120 to 160 euros.
In the Fifth Arrondissement, not far from the Panthéon, is the reliable and wonderful Hôtel des Grandes Ecoles — if you can get into it. Featured in many guidebooks and Web sites, it is very popular and should be booked three to four months in advance. A high percentage of its clientele is American. Double room are 110 euros to 135 euros.
Truly intrepid bargain-hunters may want to head to the slightly out-of-the-way Batignolles neighborhood in the 17th Arrondissement, where you can find one of the best cheap hotels in Paris: the Hôtel Eldorado, on rue des Dames. There are no telephones or televisions in the rooms, no elevator, no air-conditioning, the bed spreads could use a washing, and 10 of the 33 rooms share toilets.
But with furnishing and art from the flea markets and the streets of India, Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa, the rooms and public spaces have a we-are-the-world feel. Half of the rooms overlook the hotel's small bamboo garden and wine bistro. Double rooms are 70 euros to 75 euros.
As for Wayne and Bernie, they stayed in the 30-room New Orient Hotel in the heart of the Eighth Arrondissement.
Close to the Parc Monceau, filled with both antique and well-worn second-hand furniture, the hotel is homey and very French. Each room is decorated differently. There is Internet service available in the rooms and in the lobby, where postcards are sold. Their room (No. 8) was small, but had a carved bed with a good mattress, an old armoire, a desk and a balcony overlooking the street.
O.K., it wasn't quite the balcony that Carrie Bradshaw in “Sex and the City” stepped out on from her suite at the Plaza Athénée — the one with the view of the Eiffel Tower that was so extraordinary that she jumped up and down in glee. But then, for 105 euros, it wasn't bad either.
THE LIST
Hôtel Langlois 63, rue Saint-Lazare; Ninth Arrondissement (33-1-4874-7824; www.hotel-langlois.com).
Hôtel Chopin, 46, passage Jouffroy; Ninth Arrondissement (33-1-4770-5810; www.hotelchopin.fr).
Hôtel Amour, 8, rue Navarin; Ninth Arrondissement (33-1-4878-3180; www.hotelamour.com).
Hôtel Verneuil, 8, rue de Verneuil; Seventh Arrondissement (33-1-4260-8214, www.hotelverneuil.com).
Hôtel Muguet, 11, rue Chevert; (33-1-4705-0593; Seventh Arrondissement www.hotelmuguet.com).
Hôtel Lindbergh, 5, rue Chomel, Seventh Arrondissement (33-1-4548-3553; www.hotellindbergh.com).
Hôtel de Varenne, 44, rue de Bourgogne; Seventh Arrondissement (33-1-4551-4555; www.varenne-hotel-paris.com).
Hôtel Eldorado, 18, rue des Dames; 17th Arrondissement (33-1-4522-3521; www.eldoradohotel.fr).
Hôtel de Nice, 42 bis, rue de Rivoli; Fourth Arrondissement (33-1-4278-5529; www.hoteldenice.com).
Hôtel Windsor Home, 3, rue Vital; 16th Arrondissement (33-1-4504-4949; www.windsorhomeparis.fr).
Hôtel des Grandes Ecoles, 75, rue Cardinal Lemoine; the Fifth Arrondissement (33-1-4326-7923; www.hotel-grandes-ecoles.com).
New Orient Hotel, 16, rue de Constantinople; Eighth Arrondissement (33-1-4522-2164; www.hotel-paris-orient.com).
