My Greatest Weakness in Paris

As someone who arrived in Paris completely broke, twice, I am not an expert in hotels. I am an expert in crashing on hardwood floors, and the deciding factors in how many times a wobbly bed from the 1960’s is allowed to fall apart on you before you give up and sleep on a mat on the floor instead. I have only vacationed in Paris once, and that was in 2008. With my parents. I have no idea what hotel we stayed in. I do remember it was incredibly cramped.

There are a lot of areas of life in Paris that I’ve had to learn about slowly over the years. When I first got here I didn’t know the difference between a fresh croissant and a frozen one. I wouldn’t have been able to tell you which tourist traps to avoid, which were actually worth it, or where to find free views of the city. A lot of this knowledge came naturally as I explored and simply tried everything on the ground. I love spending my free time wandering and trying out whatever it is I find along the way.

So when people ask me “What hotels do you recommend in Paris?” I have always shrugged. They aren’t exactly something you can just try. At least not for my budget.

I could tell you which ones are popular, or which ones look nice, but I try to only recommend things I have personally tried and loved. The closest I could come was an article I wrote in my guide on how to pick neighborhoods, as I have plenty of experience in that department. But individual hotels? I was at a loss.

Until now.

I’ve teamed up with my friend Lindsey Tramuta, famous travel journalist and author, to bolster this weak point in my offering. She’s gone so far as to write out a full article on how to understand Paris hotels and what to think through before picking one. She’s also given us a smattering of her favorite boutique hotels from which to choose (along with some nice midbudget gems). You’ll now find those on our interactive map.

There’s a lot of room left for growth. I’m working on my shopping insights for one (you can see how the things I’m weakest in cost the most money), but adding the insights offered by other perspectives can only strengthen the guidance I can offer through something like Paris in my Pocket. There are arenas you probably would never trust me on (hair care products come to mind), and others I’m sure I’ll master eventually, but I happen to know some experts. Why not ask them along the way?

I hope that this helps, if you’re looking for fun hotels to book in Paris. And thanks to Lindsey for jumping in to contribute!

Jay