Eurostar question

[inulro]

Has anyone booked their hotel & train together on the Eurostar? The prices look better than I'm going to get if I book my hotel separately, but all of the lowest price ones specify double rooms & I'm afraid they'll get pissy because I'm on my own. Also, none of them look very central. Is it a better idea to book the hotel separately?

Comments

[aoakley.livejournal.com]

For Paris (I'm assuming Paris, is that right?), I've always found that buying Eurostar tickets seperately and then booking a hotel in the Clichy district works out cheaper. Every time.

The trick with Paris hotels is to get one near or just outside the Periphique which is still within a minute's walk of a Metro/RER. Once you get even just 5 metres outside the Periphique, the hotel prices halve. Clichy has several such hotels, mostly big name chains.

At Easter I stayed in Hotel Ibis Porte De Clichy (photo) which is literaly two hundred yards from both a Metro and an RER express underground station. 30 quid per night at the weekend, 40 quid per night weekdays, and that's for 1, 2 or 3 people (Ibis are friendly yet professional, they don't care about occupancy, all rooms are same size, same rate). The hotel is brand new, opened January, very tidy, good soundproofing, and an okay part of town. Ibis are part of the Accor chain which also includes Etap (Ibis are much posher than Etap, there is always a good on-site bar & restaurant).

From the Porte de Clichy RER you can get a direct train to Champ de Mars (Eiffel Tower) or Saint Michel (Notre Dame), plus a Metro direct to Champs Elyses (one stop from the Louvre). Plus, Porte de Clichy is only in Zone 2 so it is very cheap to get an all-day pass.

For eating out there isn't much in Clichy, so I recommend getting the RER to Saint Michel, then instead of heading over the river to Notre Dame, wander south into the Latin quarter pedestrian area which is teeming with excellently priced Turkish, Greek and Italian restaurants. Gigantic prawn skewers (Gambas) are a particular speciality.

If, however, you need a central hotel, you are looking at a LOT of money whatever way you book. Do remember, though, that Paris is about a sixth the size of London; you can get from the Periphique to the centre in about fifteen minutes on the Metro/RER.

[inulro.livejournal.com]

The cheapest hotel + train package I've been quoted on Eurostar is £187 which I think is pretty good for 5 nights. I have yet to check out the location of the hotel in question though.

I know it's cheaper to stay on the outskirts but I'm *very* tempted to spend the extra and stay somewhere central - I've been to Paris twice before and been stuck on the outskirts both times.

Thanks for the tip about the size of Paris - that was the impression I'd got from the maps & guidebook I have, but I was afraid I might be way off! I did find somewhere stupidly cheap whose only recommending feature was it's 5 minutes walk from Pere Lachaise & near a Metro - if it's not going to be an hour from downtown it might be worth investigating.