Last updated 2026-02-27

Hotels in Paris

This is a personal reference post I keep updated to share with friends visiting me in Paris. No guarantees on accuracy or completeness, just my own observations and experiences.

One universal Paris warning: hotel rooms are small. Whatever you’re imagining, they are smaller. Barely-open-the-door-without-hitting-the-bed small. They are also generally old.

Places I’ve heard good things about

Hôtel Sophie Germain Paris (12 Rue Sophie Germain) apparently good rooms and feels upscale. Weird to me: you have to leave your key at the front desk. On the expensive side.

Best Western Nouvel Orléans Montparnasse (25 Av. du Général Leclerc) small and a little old rooms, but okay.

ibis Paris Maine Montparnasse 14ème (160 Rue du Château) had people stay here during COVID so the info is quite old, but heard no complaints.

On my list to try

Hôtel Graphik Montparnasse (131 Av. du Maine) recently renovated, looks great from the outside. Haven’t been inside, but it’s where I’d try next.

Hotel Montparnasse Alésia (147ter Rue d’Alésia) on my radar, not sure why anymore, but it looked good from outside.

Avoid

ibis budget Paris Porte d’Orléans (15-21 Bd Romain Rolland).

Hôtel Aviatic (10 Rue Brézin).

Further out: Motel One

I really like Motel Ones and there are two Motel One locations in Paris. They’re quite far from me and seem expensive, no personal experience with either.

A note on staying further out

It’s worth considering hotels outside the inner circle. Paris public transit is genuinely excellent, metro lines run every 2–3 minutes, the RER every ~10 minutes, and you’ll be buying a transit pass anyway for sightseeing. You can open Google maps to the public transport overlay and look for hotels close to metros that go through the inner city/where you want to go anyway (e.g. line 4 goes through both train stations, RER-B).