Paris’ Best Under $150

There are 75,000 hotel rooms in Paris. Finding one is not the problem. Finding one that is well located, well appointed and affordable, that’s the problem.

In May I took the challenge and inspected more than 100 rooms in 30 Paris hotels. (I stayed overnight in six; only four of those made the list.) I avoided the big, impersonal business hotels and narrowed my search to small lodgings in neighborhoods that reflect Parisian life but also are convenient by foot to one or more of the major attractions. By using such a hotel as a base, you can absorb the street scene, window shop and stop for a cafe creme on your way to bigger things.

I further narrowed my search to hotels that would not simply facilitate a trip to Paris but enhance it. I required clean furnishings, private bathrooms, basic desk services and an English-speaking desk staff. I also expected a bit of charm, a little something extra in the way of service, convenience, comfort or decor that in its own right would make for a pleasant stay.

And, here’s the kicker. They had to fit a moderate budget: not more than $150 a night, double occupancy, tax included, high season.

In a week’s time, I certainly didn’t see all of Paris’ rooms. And some of the most renowned hotels--perhaps your favorites--were booked solid, leaving me no chance to take a peek. But what I did find was encouraging: cordial staff; spotless carpets; fresh-smelling bathrooms; clean linens; large windows that opened wide onto inner courtyards, street scenes or rooftop views; and decor that ranged from pleasant to highly original. With few exceptions, I was impressed with the hotels I reviewed. It was tough to narrow the list to the 15 (plus 10 alternates) detailed below.

St-Germain District

You needn’t pitch a tent in the Tuileries to be close to the Louvre. Just across the Seine lies the Left Bank neighborhood of St-Germain, which takes its name from one of Paris’ oldest churches, St-Germain-des-Pres. The 11th century church holds concerts in its chapel and attracts street performers to its sidewalks. Radiating from its square are some of the best-known eateries in the city: Les Deux Magots, Cafe de Flore, Brasserie Lipp.

Stay in a hotel in St-Germain and you also are near the Musee d’Orsay, the day-and-night hot spots of the Rue de Buci, restaurant Le Procope and boutique shopping. Luxembourg Gardens also is within walking distance.

Hotel d’Angleterre

Ben Franklin didn’t and Ernest Hemingway did, or so say the wags. The patriot wouldn’t tread on enemy soil, seeing as how this history-laden building was the British embassy in his day. So he refused to sleep here. Hemingway, on the other hand, was just glad for a cheap stay. No. 11, up a tipsy flight of stairs, is one that could still fill that bill. This is one of the old-fashioned rooms, so there’s a bidet in the dimly lighted bath. Like other rooms here, No. 11 has soaring ceilings, a large desk with two upholstered side chairs, a luggage stand, adequate closet space, soft towels and a nice basket of toiletries in the bath. It has two double beds and is small but not cramped, and it looks out over a plant-filled courtyard where breakfast is served in good weather. In unpleasant weather, guests take breakfast in a drawing room dominated by a grand piano.

Deluxe rooms, such as No. 21, are just out of price range for this story, but it would be a shame not to at least tempt you with the ones that have beamed ceilings, American-size floor space, updated marble baths and, if they face the street, double-paned windows.

D’Angleterre’s perch on the Rue Jacob puts it just around the corner from St-Germain-des-Pres Church in one direction and, in the opposite direction, a block from the Seine, with the Louvre just across the river.

Hotel d’Angleterre, 44 Rue Jacob (6th arrondissement), 011-33-1-4260-3472, fax 011-33-1-4260-1693, e-mail anglotel@ wanadoo.fr. Metro: St-Germain-des-Pres.

Stars: 3. Rooms: 27. Rates: standard double $125; deluxe double $175-$210; apartments $260. Breakfast: $9.15. Room features: satellite TV, phone, modem, safe, hair dryer.

Hotel de Saint-Germain

If rooms No. 24 and 25 are representative, then guests of this conveniently located hotel can expect clean, airy decor and services that many other hotels in this category lack, such as an elevator and a 24-hour front desk. Rooms include a full-length mirror and framed art prints. Yes, standard rooms are small, as are the bathrooms. Some doubles can be connected to create family quarters. Singles--the hotel has but four of them--are even smaller and relegated to the uppermost floor, reached by climbing a flight of stairs because the elevator doesn’t go to the top. I’d avoid a single room here, though, because the windows are too small to let in either the view or the breeze. However, many of Hotel de Saint-Germain’s 30 rooms have large double-paned windows that look beyond iron grillwork onto the intersection of busy Rue du Four and Rue de Rennes, just a block southwest of the landmark St-Germain-des-Pres Church.

The lobby, too, is just big enough to get the job done. There’s space enough for check-in and checkout, but not for meeting friends over a drink. Breakfast is served in a small, tidy room in the basement.

Hotel de Saint-Germain, 50 Rue du Four (6th arr.), 011-33-1-4548-9164, fax 011-33-1-4548-4622, www.hotel-de-saint-germain.fr. Metro: St-Sulpice or St-Germain-des-Pres.

Stars: 2. Rooms: 30. Rates: double $120; family room $180-$240. Breakfast: $8 Room features: satellite TV, phone, modem, minibar/fridge, safe, hair dryer.

Hotel du Danube

Just a few doors down from d’Angleterre, the Danube shares the same enviable block of Rue Jacob, poised between the cafes around St-Germain-des-Pres Church and the Seine. Though younger than the d’Angleterre--the Danube wasn’t built until the era of Napoleon III--it has some history of its own. For a few months during World War II, the head of the exiled Polish government lived here. I doubt he was surrounded by the finer points of decor that guests of this family-owned hotel experience today: the floral chintz fabrics and the oil painting above the bed in quiet courtside room No. 45 or the double-paned windows and the chandelier draped with garlands of cherries in the street-side No. 2. Not only do the “superior”-category rooms here accommodate our budget, but they also accommodate high ceilings, vast windows, ample closets with full-length mirrors, marble-topped dressers and large oval tea tables with two upholstered side chairs. Plenty of space, in other words, to take breakfast in your room, unless you’d rather eat it on the patio adorned with potted palms or, depending on the weather, in an alcove off the lobby. Even in an admittedly small standard courtyard room, such as No. 57, it’s possible to pull out the upholstered stools from the built-in desk/dresser and have a bite to eat. The lobby is an odd mix of old and new: mosaic tile floor, fresh flowers and Internet access.

Hotel du Danube, 58 Rue Jacob (6th arr.), 011-33-1-4260-3470, fax 011-33-1-4260-8118, www.hoteldanube.fr. Metro: St-Germain-des-Pres.

Stars: 3. Rooms: 40. Rates: standard double with shower $100; standard double with tub $110; superior double street-side $135; superior double courtyard $150; apartments $200. Breakfast: $9. Room features: satellite TV, phone, modem, hair dryer.

Hotel le Regent

OK, so it’s a squeeze to get past the bed to the bathroom. And the bathroom’s not all that big either. But No. 43, a standard double, is in our price range and has rooftop views, tastefully updated decor, brocade drapes, a mirrored tray of toiletries--just like the deluxe rooms in this 18th century building.

Deluxe rooms that overlook the Rue Dauphine and get the afternoon sun, such as Nos. 41 and 51, may have wall fabric that matches the bedspread, where standard rooms have color-stained paneling--a cozy forest green in the case of No. 43. But floor space, and embellishments such as gilt-framed mirrors in the bath, are what account for the price difference here. Otherwise, the hotel is egalitarian. From the lobby’s marble reception alcove, everyone must climb a curved stairway to reach the elevator, or descend the steps that spiral down to the vaulted breakfast cave.

A two-or three-block walk up Rue Dauphine will put you on Pont Neuf and Ile de la Cite. And if the bustle at Les Deux Magots has frustrated your attempts to buy the famed cafe’s logo items on premises, you can buy them here at Le Regent. The same people own both places.

Hotel le Regent, 61 Rue Dauphine (6th arr.), 011-33-1-46-34-59-80, fax 011-33-1-4051-0507, e-mail hotel.leregent@wanadoo.fr. Metro: Odeon or St-Germain-des-Pres.

Stars: 3 Rooms: 25. Rates: standard double $122; deluxe double $183. Breakfast: $11. Room features: satellite TV, phone, modem, radio, minibar/fridge, safe, hair dryer, heated towel rack, air-conditioning.

Other good bets:

* Au Manoir St-Germain-des-Pres, a four-star at three-star prices, sits next door to Brasserie Lipp, across the street from Les Deux Magots and Cafe de Flore. Rooms are Barbie-size, but whirlpool tubs in the bathrooms make up for it. A lavish continental breakfast is included in the room rate and served around a tropical atrium. 152 Boulevard St-Germain, 011-33-1-4222-2165, fax 011-33-1-4548-2225, www.paris-hotels-charm.com. Standard double: $145-$175, if booked through Best Western.

* Hotel des Marronniers, a ruffly lodging on the Rue Jacob (approached by a short cobbled drive), features air-conditioning and a garden where breakfast and afternoon tea are served. 21 Rue Jacob, 011-33-1-4325-3060, fax 011-33-1-4046-8356, www.hotel-marronniers.com. Standard double: $150-$165.

Latin Quarter

Notre Dame Cathedral and Ste-Chapelle are in the middle of the Seine River on Ile de la Cite. Just across the bridge to the Left Bank is the landmark Place St-Michel and the start of Boulevard St-Michel. Boul Mich, as it is affectionately known, is one of Paris’ great thoroughfares, choked with traffic, swarming with people, punctuated with crepe vendors and strewn with the sort of shoe stores and clothing shops that seem to be perpetually holding a sale. Night life thrives in the hodgepodge of small lanes between Boul Mich and Rue du Petit Pont. Stay in a hotel near Place St-Michel, especially along that subgroup of hodgepodge lanes, and you also are near the Cluny Museum and the Sorbonne.

Hotel Europe St Severin

This hotel, a few doors off Boul Mich down a comparatively quiet side street, puts you close to the action without being overly disturbed by it. Standard rooms such as No. 516 may sport window treatments and bedspreads reminiscent of Toulouse-Lautrec poster colors, or, in rooms such as No. 506, a tendency toward pastels. On some floors, street-side rooms open onto wrought-iron balconies.

Breakfast is served in a dining room just off the lobby. And the elevator is so large, by Parisian standards, as to be noteworthy; perhaps six people could fit in it, sans luggage, of course. The Seine is just a block away, where Pont St-Michel connects to Ile de la Cite.

L’Hotel Europe St Severin, 38-40 Rue St-Severin (5th arr.), 011-33-1-4634-0570, fax 011-33-1-4633-8447, www.hotel-paris-severin.com. Metro: Cluny/La Sorbonne.

Stars: 2. Rooms: 64. Rates: standard double $115-$130; superior double $180-$275; triple $145; suite $308. Breakfast: $7. Room features: satellite TV, phone, modem, minibar/fridge, safe, hair dryer, air-conditioning, some balconies.

Hotel Parc Saint Severin

Tucked away on a quiet intersection, one block equidistant from boulevards St-Germain and St-Michel, Hotel Parc Saint Severin is a little hard to find. And its rates are even harder to believe. No. 43, for example, holds an entry hall, double closets, a queen bed, marble-topped night stands, a desk and two side chairs, and a large corner bath that overlooks leafy Rue de la Parcheminerie below--all for $122, or so the staff swears. No. 61, with a large corner balcony, is only a few dollars out of our price range at $175, according to the staff. If these two rooms are representative, you can expect the decor to highlight the satin sheen of soft blues and off-whites. Breakfast is served in a reception area off the lobby. It is about two blocks from the Seine.

Hotel Parc Saint Severin, 22 Rue de la Parcheminerie (5th arr.), 011-33-1-4354-3217, fax 011-33-1-4354-7071, www.esprit-de-france.com. Metro: Cluny/La Sorbonne.

Stars: 3. Rooms: 27. Rates: standard double $107; superior double $260. Breakfast: $9. Room features: TV, phone, minibar/fridge, safe, hair dryer, air-conditioning.

Hotel des Grandes Ecoles

At the end of its private cobblestone lane, the Hotel des Grandes Ecoles wraps around a small park all its own. When you’re in a room like No. 1, on the ground floor of the main building, it’s hard to tell where the fresh floral wallpaper ends and the blooming shrubs outside begin. It’s a bit off the track, but this hotel really does capture the quiet, relaxed feel of a retreat in the countryside. Yet in less than five minutes you can be strolling the street market of Rue Mouffetard, standing at the front door of the Pantheon or descending the Place Monge Metro stop, which gives you a straight shot to the Louvre or the Opera. No wonder there’s no TV here.

Standard rooms have high ceilings, armoires and good-size bathrooms with shelf or counter space for personal belongings. To that, add queen-size beds, a sofa alcove and extra closet and floor space to deluxe rooms such as No. 147 and No. 251. Crocheted coverlets drape the beds and drip from the tabletops, both in the rooms and in the salon where breakfast is served when the weather prevents dining on the patio.

Hotel des Grandes Ecoles, 75 Rue du Cardinal Lemoine (5th arr.), 011-33-1-4326-7923, fax 011-33-1-4325-2815, www.hotel -grandes-ecoles.com. Metro: Cardinal Lemoine.

Stars: 3. Rooms: 51. Rates: double $95-$120. Breakfast: $7. Room features: phone, hair dryer.

Ile St-Louis

Ile de la Cite and Ile St-Louis are neighboring islands in the Seine River. Parisians have made tiny Ile St-Louis, four blocks long and two blocks wide, a world unto itself. Its cobbled lanes are mostly residential, except for Rue St-Louis-en-l’Ile and Rue des Deux Ponts, which are bestowed with candle-lighted restaurants so intimate that they can seat no more than 15 or 20 diners at a time, and boutiques of the “nothing but” variety: nothing but olive products in this one, nothing but fine cheeses in that one. It seems a third of the storefronts also sell Berthillon ice cream, no doubt to prevent the lines at any one place from growing too long. Clearly the point is to stay on the island, not quibble about which of its four hotels will have a vacancy. A room in our price range narrows the hotel choices to three.

Leave Ile St-Louis by way of Pont St-Louis, and you arrive on Ile de la Cite at the rear gardens of Notre Dame. Cross Pont Marie, and you’re headed to the heart of the Marais district.

Hotel de Lutece

Lutece is a recent acquisition of the owners of Les Deux-Iles, a three-star that makes all of the lists, including Gault Millau’s Top 10. Rates and decor at both hotels are similar. Standard doubles are small, with walls rough-stuccoed in white. Colors are confined to bold, primary florals on the bed, drapes and chairs. Closet space is adequate. If No. 115, on a featureless, shaft-like courtyard, is a representative specimen, Lutece will facilitate a stay of two or three nights--any longer and you’d start feeling cramped--if you can ignore the muted echoes of conversations and clinking dishes that find their way into the room. Lodgings higher up might be quieter; No. 115 is on the first landing, just off the 17th century lobby that seems perpetually awash in the comings, goings and meetings-up-with of various guests.

Hotel de Lutece, 65 Rue St-Louis-en-l’Ile (4th arr.), 011-33-1-4326-2352, fax 011-33-1-4329-6025, www.hotel-ile-saintlouis.com. Metro: Pont Marie.

Stars: 3. Rooms: 23. Rates: standard double $146. Breakfast: $10. Room features: satellite TV, phone, safe, air-conditioning.

Other good bets:

* Hotel Saint Louis, a three-star and the second hotel on Ile St-Louis in our price range. 75 Rue St-Louis-en-Ile, 011-33-1-4634-0480, fax 011-33-1-4634-0213, www.hotelsaintlouis.com. Standard double: $130-$145.

* Les Deux-Iles, a three-star just a few doors down from its sister hotel, Lutece. 75 Rue St-Louis-en-Ile, 011-33-1-4326-1335, fax 011-33-1-4329-6025, www.hotel-ile-saintlouis.com. Standard double: $146.

Marais District

Until the early 1600s, the Marais was no more than a marsh outside the city walls. But then the apartments that would come to be known as the Place des Vosges were built, quite the fashionable address for aristocrats until the court moved to Versailles. This open square of apartments on the Right Bank has survived scandal, abandonment, revolution and neglect. Now resurrected, it blocks out the noise of the city while guarding a grassy park.

Stay in a hotel near Place des Vosges and you are within a few blocks of the hubbub of the Rues de Rivoli and St-Antoine, the boutiques of the Rue des Francs Bourgeois, the antique dealers of Rue St-Paul, the Musee National Picasso and Place de la Bastille.

Hotel des Chevaliers

A baby grand piano and a bossy poodle may rule the reception parlor, but in the rooms, airy colors and a soft floral scent take charge. Other nice room touches include textured wallpaper in solid pastels, metal coat caddies, full-length mirrors and candy on the bedside table. No. 21 had a window in the bath. No. 24 had a bigger bathroom counter. And from No. 51 (a hike up one flight of a stairwell with dwindling headroom), a rooftop view with a surprise: At night the beacon atop the Eiffel Tower beamed through the open windows. So what if that also lets in the street noise? And if it was impossible to stand upright for a shower because No. 51’s tub was tucked under the eaves, another so what.

Coffee drinkers who have reached their limit with demitasse servings of dark roast will welcome the carafes of American-style brew placed on the tables in the 17th century vaulted breakfast cave. Orange juice, boiled eggs and cereal also are served, but skip the doughy croissants; the ones at the boulangerie across the street are flakier. Place des Vosges is a block away around one corner.

Hotel des Chevaliers, 30 Rue de Turenne (3rd arr.), 011-33-1-42-72-73-47, fax 011-33-1-4272-5410, e-mail info@hoteldeschevaliers.com. Metro: St-Paul or Chemin Vert.

Stars: 3. Rooms: 24. Rates: double $107-$130. Breakfast: $9. Room features: TV, phone, minibar/fridge, safe, hair dryer, fan.

Hotel Saint-Louis Marais

Homey Hotel Saint-Louis Marais has the advantage of seeming out of the way without actually being out of the way. It’s three blocks to the Place des Vosges, three to the Seine, two to the antique shops of Rue St-Paul and two to the Sully Morland Metro stop. Fans of the old “Angelique” series of historical romance novels will be thrilled to stay only half a block from Rue Beautrellis, which figured prominently.

Just off the hotel’s understated lobby, ground-floor No. 1 is a spacious gem of redecorating, from the quarry-tiled floor to the wood-beamed ceiling. Furnishings include a corner closet, five-drawer dresser, stuccoed walls of pale apricot, an Oriental carpet and, as is typical in many Paris hotel rooms, twin beds pushed together to make a king. Large double-paned windows open onto little-used Rue du Petit Musc. A full-length mirror hangs in the entry vestibule, off which opens a bath updated with decorative tile and, up two steps, a good-size shower. Also typical in many small hotels, other rooms are in various stages of refurbishment. Roomy No. 4 sports smart hunter-green walls, russet carpet and built-in storage on either side of a makeshift king--all freshly updated until you reach the cracks in the old bathroom tile. The plain-vanilla walls of small, double-bedded No. 3 are relieved by matching fabrics at the windows and on the bed. But its marble-walled bathroom awaits a replacement for the linoleum floor.

Hotel Saint-Louis Marais, 1 Rue Charles V (4th arr.), 011-33-1-4887-8704, fax 011-33-1-4887-3326, www.saint-louis-marais.com. Metro: Sully Morland or Bastille.

Stars: 2. Rooms: 16. Rates: standard double with shower $105; standard twin with tub $120. Breakfast: $7. Room features: satellite TV, phone, hair dryer.

Hotel Saint Paul le Marais

This hotel’s public areas are so welcoming that you may never want to go to your room. The lobby, dominated by red-and-gold brocade, is large enough for small groups to congregate around the cozy corner bar--if they can keep themselves from accessing the Internet or drifting out onto the adjacent brick-paved terrace set with flowerpots and patio furniture. In the basement, anyone who has the willpower to walk past the small beauty institute, where hydrotherapy, body and facial treatments are given, can eat breakfast in the modestly furnished barrel-vaulted cave.

The guest rooms’ lighting is brighter than that of many lodgings. Armoires and subdued colors lend charm, though some rooms seem ready for new carpet. Another rarity: This hotel supplies in-room coffee makers, welcome news for travelers who can’t wait for the cafes to open or the hotel to commence breakfast service. Ground-floor rooms, such as double-bedded No. 11, open directly onto the brick patio. On a higher floor, single-bedded No. 316 overlooks the patio from windows in bed and bath and, for families, can connect with the adjoining room.

The hotel’s front door opens onto the shops and cafes of Rue de Sevigne. One more block takes you to the point where Rue de Rivoli becomes Rue St-Antoine and the St-Paul Metro stop just beyond. You’re two blocks from Rue des Francs Bourgeois, 3 1/2 from the Place des Vosges.

Hotel Saint Paul le Marais, 8 Rue de Sevigne (4th arr.), 011-33-1-4804-9727, fax 011-33-1-4887-3704, www.hotel-paris-marais.com. Metro: St-Paul.

Stars: 3. Rooms: 27. Rates: standard double $115-$130; superior double with whirlpool tub $173-$205. Buffet breakfast: $10. Room features: satellite TV, phone, modem, safe, coffee maker.

Other good bets:

* Castex Hotel, a whistle-clean, no-nonsense two-star popular with budget-conscious Americans. It will close from October through March to become a three-star, adding an elevator and designer touches to the rooms. 5 Rue Castex, 011-33-1-4272-3152, fax 011-33-1-4272-5791, www.castexhotel.com. Double: $55-$61 as a two-star; perhaps $90-$100 when it reopens as a three-star.

* Hotel de la Place des Vosges, a perpetually booked-up two-star. 12 Rue Birague, 011-33-1-4272-6046, fax 011-33-1-4272-0264, e-mail hotel.place.des.vosges@gofornet.com. Double: $101-106.

Luxembourg Gardens Area

In a capital where so much real estate is given over to traffic snarls, treeless boulevards and whole cityscapes of chalk-colored housing, parks are a joyous relief. Luxembourg Gardens is one of the city’s largest, with gravel walkways, classical statues, puppet shows, a pond for toy boats and a fountain. Parisians flock here to sit in long rows of chairs, face the grass and kick back with a book or a newspaper.

Three of Paris’ most famed neighborhoods converge around the park: St-Germain, Montparnasse and the Latin Quarter. So do shops and sidewalk cafes. But choosing a hotel near Luxembourg Gardens in the Latin Quarter will also put you close to the Sorbonne, the Pantheon, the Cluny Museum, a slightly less hectic section of Boulevard St-Michel and, a little farther away, the market-by-day hot-spot-by-night Rue Mouffetard.

Grand Hotel St-Michel

The rooms are American-size and smell of roses. The furniture is new but “antique,” and architectural prints adorn the walls. The baths are marble with cultured granite counters, sheet-size towels and toiletries nestled in a silver dish. The writing desk conceals a minibar.

Iron grills and geraniums in the window boxes frame views of the Sorbonne from street-side rooms, such as No. 405, or of a residential courtyard from a vast L-shaped family room, such as No. 408. Down a circular stone stairwell, an ample breakfast, including cheese and cold cuts, is served in the large barrel-vaulted breakfast cave. Coffee, tea and spirits are served at the bar in the lobby, which is dressed to the hilt in crystal chandeliers, brocade fabrics and trompe l’oeil ceilings.

Grand Hotel St-Michel--and an inviting little tearoom, I might add--stands at one corner of Rue Cujas and Rue Victor Cousin; the Sorbonne commands the opposite corner. Luxembourg Gardens and the Luxembourg RER stop are two blocks away; the Cluny Museum and the Cluny/Sorbonne Metro stop are four blocks away.

Grand Hotel Saint-Michel, 19 Rue Cujas (5th arr.), 011-33-1-4633-3302, fax 011-33-1-4046-9633, www.grand-hotel-st-michel.com. Metro: Cluny-Sorbonne.

Stars: 3. Rooms: 46. Rates: standard double $120-$160. Breakfast: $10. Room features: satellite TV, phone, minibar/fridge, safe, hair dryer, air-conditioning.

Hotel de la Sorbonne

Open the windows of roomy No. 35, and you may hear a piano practice in session across the courtyard. Open them in smaller No. 43, and you’ll be facing the mansard roof of the Sorbonne. Some of the views inside this nicely done two-star aren’t bad either. In the breakfast parlor, just off the lobby, there’s a parquet floor and a fireplace.

Modest decor shines in certain rooms: tan and cream wallpaper, simple wainscoting, wall sconces and brown carpet in No. 35, whose all-tile bath with pedestal sink also has a courtyard window. Others may have slightly less fortunate combinations: green carpet, pink wallpaper and lavender drapes in No. 43.

Because the hotel’s entrance is through a courtyard a few feet off the street, there’s a sense of seclusion. But this hotel is only half a block from the aforementioned Grand Hotel St-Michel, so it enjoys proximity to the same landmarks.

Hotel de la Sorbonne, 6 Rue Victor Cousin (5th arr.), 011-33-1-43-54-58-08, fax 011-33-1-4051-0518, www.hotelsorbonne.com. Metro: Cluny-Sorbonne.

Stars: 2. Rooms: 37. Rates: double with shower $79; double with tub $89. Breakfast: $5. Room features: satellite TV, phone, hair dryer.

Another good bet:

* Hotel Saint-Paul, a Latin Quarter three-star under British management, with wood-beamed ceilings, patio and vaulted breakfast cave. 43 Rue Monsieur le Prince, 011-33-1-43-26-98-64, fax 011-33-1-4634-5860, e-mail hotel.saint.paul@wanadoo.fr. Double: $128-$158.

Eiffel Tower Area

By day, major streets in this part of town are furious with traffic and clogged with tourists. But early mornings and by night, the area between Parc du Champ de Mars and the park-like swath of the Invalides complex returns to the quiet, gentrified Left Bank neighborhood that it is. Some simply refer to this as the Rue Cler area because of the two-block-long Rue Cler street market, which, besides butcher and produce stands, has a fair share of cafes and modest gift shops. Some sidewalk restaurants in the neighborhood have Eiffel Tower views.

Stay in a hotel near Rue Cler, and you also are a 20-minute amble from the base of the Eiffel Tower, less than that to Napoleon’s tomb. The Rodin Museum, UNESCO world headquarters and the oddball tour of the Paris sewers, Les Egouts, are within strolling distance.

Grand Hotel Leveque

This refurbished hotel opens right onto the pedestrian-only section of Rue Cler. Its front door and, by extension, its tiny reception area seem almost a part of the street market. Moderate-size rooms offer uncomplicated decor but have built-in closets or armoires, and bathrooms with a few more inches of floor space than some other two-stars. Windows are tall. Rooms, such as No. 44, that face a quiet courtyard may allow their lodgers to be awakened by morning birdsong. Rooms facing Rue Cler from the lower floors, such as No. 41, may overlook the market and the window boxes of apartments across the street. Higher up, No. 52 gets a straight shot at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Travelers looking for a little extra space in their room might like No. 43, a street-facing double that becomes a triple when the lounge chair is unfolded to make a single bed.

Breakfast is served in a dining room off the lobby; though those who need coffee or snacks during other hours can get them from the hotel’s ice and vending machines--a rare thing in Paris’ small hotels and almost unheard of in a two-star. No wonder Grand Hotel Leveque has been recommended by everyone from Rick Steves to Michelin.

Grand Hotel Leveque, 29 Rue Cler (7th arr.), 011-33-1-4705-4915, fax 011-33-1-4550-4936, www.hotel-leveque.com. Metro: Ecole Militaire-La Tour Maubourg.

Stars: 2. Rooms: 50. Rates: doubles $76-$91. Breakfast: $7. Room features: satellite TV, phone, modem, safe, hair dryer, air-conditioning.

Relais Bosquet

The rooms at Relais Bosquet have air-conditioning, double-paned windows, electric shutters that block both sound and sunlight, irons and ironing boards, desks, upholstered luggage stands, large closets, full-length mirrors and coffee makers. If not for the moderate prices, you’d swear this three-star would be rated higher. Fudge our guidelines by $10, and superior-category No. 41 is within our budget: a generous king-bedded space done up in yellows, greens and aquas with a three-drawer chest, a built-in armoire and a double sink in the bath. Standard-level room No. 45, though smaller, is still roomy and follows a red-and-gold color scheme. And this is one hotel where the elevator goes all the way to the top; no trudging a flight of stairs to reach No. 61, where the ceiling slopes with the roofline and the view from the windows takes in the gilded dome that covers Napoleon’s tomb.

Breakfast is in one of two cozy first-floor dining rooms--one for smokers, one for non--served with patterned china set on crisply ironed tablecloths.

Step out the door, and you are two mini-blocks from Rue Cler.

Relais Bosquet, 19 Rue du Champ de Mars (7th arr.), 011-33-1-4705-2545, fax 011-33-1-4555-0824, www.hotelrelaisbosquet.com. Metro: Ecole Militaire.

Stars: 3. Rooms: 40. Rates: standard double $140; superior double $160. Breakfast: $10.50. Room features: satellite TV, phone, modem, minibar/fridge, coffee service, safe, hair dryer, iron and board, air-conditioning, electric window shutters.

Other good bets:

* Hotel de Londres Eiffel, a three-star that is constantly booked because of its reasonable rates and for some rooms that overlook the Eiffel Tower. 1 Rue Augereau, 011-33-1-45-51-63-02, fax 011-33-1-4705-2896, www.londres-eiffel.com. Standard double: $105-$108; with Eiffel Tower view: $112.

* Hotel La Bourdonnais, a three-star better known for the Michelin one-star restaurant in its lobby. 111-113 Avenue de la Bourdonnais, 011-33-1-4705-4542, fax 011-33-1-4555-7554, www.hotellabourdonnais.fr. Standard double: $135.

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Guidebook: Sleeping in Paris

Getting there: Air France and Air Tahiti Nui have nonstop flights from LAX to Paris; US Airways has direct flights (stops, but no plane changes); and connecting service is offered on American, British Airways, Continental, Delta, Northwest, Lufthansa and United airlines. On Sept. 10, the lowest restricted round-trip fares drop from the current $1,037 to $999.

Other hotel resources: “Great Sleeps Paris” (Chronicle Books, $14.95) is a gossipy guide to some great rooms. Author Sandra Gustafson has been snooping into Paris hotel rooms, flushing toilets and peering into closets for almost 20 years.

“Europe’s Wonderful Little Hotels and Inns 2002: Continental Europe” (Steerforth Press, $22.95) lists a selective score of entries for Paris, but editors Adam and Caroline Raphael also cover lodging in the rest of France and 18 other countries.

“Hello France!” (Wilson Publishing, $18.95) is, as the subtitle elaborates, “A Hotel Guide to Paris & 25 Other French Cities.” Author Margo Classe is keen on lodgings that are clean, safe and priced between $55 and $99 a night. She also gives suggestions for budget dining and launderettes by neighborhood.

“Going Like Lynn” (Diamond Publishers, $12.95) is a pocketbook-size cheerleading section for women considering a trip alone to Paris. Author Lynn Portnoy of Detroit has made many a solo visit to Paris as a buyer and retailer of upscale fashion. She shares tips on where to shop, eat and sleep.

The Paris Office of Tourism, 127 Ave. des Champs-Elysees (near the Arc de Triomphe), www.paris-touristoffice.com, has contact numbers and Web links to countless hotels. If you find yourself in Paris with no place to stay, go in person to the tourism office and they can make same-day hotel reservations for you.

I like to go “window shopping” at www.france.com/travel/hotels, a listing and reservation service that includes descriptions by hotel critics from the prestigious travel guides (Gault Millau and Guide des Hotels de Charme), positive and negative comments submitted by travelers who have recently stayed there, photos and a locator map. Take the prices listed as a guide only.

For more information: French Government Tourist Office, 9454 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212; France-on-Call hotline (410) 286-8310 (for brochures), (310) 271-6665, fax (310) 276-2835, www.franceguide.com.

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Toni Stroud is a travel writer for the Chicago Tribune.