Where to Stay in Paris (2026): The Best Areas, 15 Hotels and the New Airport Train

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Paris is twenty arrondissements, numbered in a spiral out from the Louvre. Where you sleep decides how much of the city you see on foot and how many metro rides you take. A few things are new: since 1 January 2026 the city’s hotel tax is €8.45 a person a night at a four-star hotel, the Louvre charges visitors from outside the European Economic Area €32, and a new airport train, the CDG Express, is set to open on 28 March 2027, linking Gare de l’Est with Charles de Gaulle in 20 minutes.

This guide covers seven areas, from the Marais to Montmartre, 15 hotels, the airport links and the tax. The hotels are researched picks, chosen for location, what each property publishes and consistent guest feedback, and each was checked as operating at the start of October 2026. No hotel pays to appear here.

The short answer

Paris’s hotel tax in 2026

Every hotel adds the taxe de séjour to the bill, per person and per night, and the rate follows the hotel’s star rating. From 1 January 2026:

Under-18s pay nothing. A couple spending four nights in a four-star hotel pays €67.60 on top of the room. The total includes the shares that go to the department, the Société du Grand Paris and Île-de-France Mobilités, the region’s transport authority.

What else changed

• The Louvre charges €32 to visitors who neither live in nor are citizens of the European Economic Area, and €22 to those who are. It is closed on Tuesdays, opens late until 9pm on Wednesdays and Fridays, and recommends booking a time slot.
• The CDG Express is set to open on 28 March 2027: Gare de l’Est to Charles de Gaulle in 20 minutes, every 15 minutes, from €25 one way.
• The Centre Pompidou, on the western edge of the Marais, is closed for renovation; the museum says it will be in other venues from 2025 to 2030.
• Fares: a metro, train or RER ticket is €2.55, the airport ticket €14, and a Navigo day pass for all zones €12.30, though it does not cover the airports.

Le Marais: the first-trip base

The Marais covers the 3rd and 4th arrondissements on the Right Bank: Place des Vosges, the Musée Picasso, and, a bridge away, Notre-Dame and the Île Saint-Louis. Metro line 1 stops at Saint-Paul and Hôtel de Ville on its southern edge and runs straight to the Louvre and the Champs-Élysées. It is the base to choose if you want to walk most of your trip.

Where to stay in the Marais

How the hotel links work: a hotel’s name goes to its own website. “Check rates” opens it on Booking.com through our partner Stay22, which pays us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you.

• Le Pavillon de la Reine & Spa, splurge. On Place des Vosges itself, behind a façade on the square, set around shady gardens, with a spa, a fitness room and a restaurant, Anne. Choose it for a hotel on Place des Vosges. Watch out: the Classic rooms are attic rooms of about 21 m² on the top floor. Check rates on Booking.com →
• Hôtel National des Arts et Métiers, comfortable. A four-star of 64 rooms behind a Haussmann façade on Rue Saint-Martin, in the 3rd, with an Italian restaurant, Ristorante National, and a cocktail bar; rooms start at 20 m², and some have balconies. Choose it for a design hotel with a restaurant of its own. Watch out: you book a category, and the exact room is assigned when you arrive. Check rates on Booking.com →
• Hôtel Caron de Beaumarchais, good value. On Rue Vieille-du-Temple, decorated in the spirit of the 18th century, with Saint-Paul and Hôtel de Ville on line 1 a short walk away; by the hotel’s count, Notre-Dame is 10 minutes on foot and Place des Vosges 12. Choose it for the middle of the Marais at a lower price. Watch out: every room is a double for two, the courtyard rooms are smaller than those on the street, and breakfast is €16 extra. Check rates on Booking.com →

Saint-Germain-des-Prés: the Left Bank

Saint-Germain, in the 6th, is the Left Bank of cafés, bookshops and the church of Saint-Sulpice, with the Luxembourg Garden at its southern edge.

• Hôtel Récamier, comfortable. A four-star of only 24 rooms on Place Saint-Sulpice, a few steps from the Luxembourg Garden, with a bar open from 11am to 10.45pm and a courtyard garden with a fountain. Choose it for a small hotel on one of the Left Bank’s squares. Watch out: the Classic rooms face the courtyard and measure 15 m². Check rates on Booking.com →

Latin Quarter: the Panthéon and the Luxembourg

The Latin Quarter, in the 5th, climbs from the Seine opposite Notre-Dame to the Panthéon, with the Luxembourg Garden on its western side and Rue Mouffetard to the south. When we checked rates for the same dates, the two hotels below cost less than the Récamier in Saint-Germain next door.

• Hôtel des Grands Hommes, good value. A three-star of 30 rooms facing the columns of the Panthéon; the Panthéon rooms look at it, and some rooms have balconies. Choose it for a room facing the Panthéon. Watch out: the Classic rooms are 14 m². Check rates on Booking.com →
• Hôtel Le Petit Paris, good value. A four-star on Rue Saint-Jacques, under five minutes’ walk from both the Panthéon and the Luxembourg Garden, with rooms decorated by Sybille de Margerie after five eras of Paris, from the Middle Ages to the 1970s, and triple rooms for three. Choose it for character at a Left Bank price. Watch out: balconies are subject to availability. Check rates on Booking.com →

Louvre and Opéra: the museums and the stores

The 1st and 2nd arrondissements hold the Louvre, the Tuileries Garden and the Palais-Royal, with the Opéra Garnier and the department stores to the north. Montorgueil, in the 2nd, is a pedestrian district around the Rue Montorgueil.

• Hôtel Regina Louvre, splurge. A five-star of 98 rooms and 32 suites on Place des Pyramides, opposite the Louvre and overlooking the Tuileries, open for 125 years and renovated in 2015, with a sauna, a steam room and an English bar. Choose it for the Louvre across the street. Watch out: the hotel lists views of the Eiffel Tower among its features; ask for a room with one when you book. Check rates on Booking.com →
• Hôtel Bachaumont, comfortable. A four-star of 49 rooms designed by Dorothée Meilichzon, in the pedestrian Montorgueil district, with a restaurant and bar; some rooms on Rue Bachaumont have balconies, and there are two family suites. Choose it for the pedestrian streets of Montorgueil at the door. Watch out: the Classic rooms are 17 m². Check rates on Booking.com →

Eiffel Tower and Trocadéro: the tower from your window

The 7th arrondissement, around the Eiffel Tower and the Invalides, and the 16th, across the river at the Trocadéro, are where hotel rooms face the tower. Both are a metro ride from the Marais and Montmartre.

• Shangri-La Paris, splurge. The former home of Prince Roland Bonaparte, in the 16th, a palace-rated hotel of 100 rooms and suites with three restaurants and a bar, looking over the Seine at the Eiffel Tower. Choose it for the view of the tower from a palace. Watch out: the price, and only the rooms sold as Eiffel View rooms are sure to face it. Check rates on Booking.com →
• Pullman Paris Tour Eiffel, comfortable. A four-star of 430 rooms at the foot of the tower, by the hotel’s account five minutes away; some rooms face the tower, others the gardens. Choose it for the tower nearby at less than a palace. Watch out: it is a big hotel, and only some rooms see the tower. Check rates on Booking.com →
• Hôtel du Cadran, good value. A wine-themed four-star in the 7th, a minute from the food shops of Rue Cler and, by the hotel’s estimate, ten minutes’ walk from the Eiffel Tower, with soundproofed rooms and a spa with whirlpool baths and a sauna. Choose it for the Eiffel Tower area at a lower price. Watch out: the Marais and Montmartre are a metro ride away. Check rates on Booking.com →

Montmartre: the village on the hill

Montmartre, in the 18th, is the hill crowned by the Sacré-Cœur, with steep lanes, steps and views back over the city. Abbesses (line 12) and Blanche (line 2) are two of its metro stations, and the Louvre is a ride away.

• Terrass” Hotel, comfortable. Built in 1911 near the Sacré-Cœur, with a rooftop bar looking over Paris and Privilege rooms of 25 to 30 m² with a view of the Eiffel Tower; the Classic rooms are 16 to 19 m². Choose it for a drink above the city. Watch out: the rooftop is a bar with its own events, so it is not a quiet terrace. Check rates on Booking.com →
• Hôtel des Arts Montmartre, good value. Run by the same family for three generations since 1960, on Rue Tholoze, a few minutes from Abbesses and Blanche, with an elevator; the superior rooms look at the Sacré-Cœur or over the rooftops. Choose it for a family-run hotel in the middle of the village. Watch out: rooms are 12 to 14 m², and some top-floor rooms are reached only by stairs. Check rates on Booking.com →

Canal Saint-Martin and Gare de l’Est: the airport train

The 10th arrondissement has the Canal Saint-Martin, with its iron footbridges, and two big stations: the Gare du Nord, on the RER B to Charles de Gaulle, and the Gare de l’Est, where the CDG Express will start on 28 March 2027. In our checks, the two hotels below were the cheapest in this guide, and from 28 March 2027 the airport will be 20 minutes from the Gare de l’Est.

• Hôtel Paradis, good value. 38 rooms on Rue des Petites-Écuries, near Château d’Eau (line 4) and Poissonnière (line 7), from 13.5 m² Comfort rooms to rooms for four and a junior suite with a view of the Sacré-Cœur. Book on its own site and it adds the pool and hammam at its sister hotel, the Hôtel Pilgrim, in the 5th. Choose it for the 10th at a modest price. Watch out: the Comfort rooms are 13.5 m². Check rates on Booking.com →
• Generator Paris, budget. A hostel on Place du Colonel Fabien, near the canal, with private rooms, mixed and women-only dorms, a reception open 24 hours, a café and a rooftop bar. Choose it for the lowest price in this guide. Watch out: dorms sleep up to eight. Check rates on Booking.com →

Getting in from the airports

• From Charles de Gaulle, the RER B reaches central Paris, including the Gare du Nord and Châtelet, in about 30 minutes, on the €14 airport ticket. From 28 March 2027 the CDG Express is set to run to the Gare de l’Est in 20 minutes, from €25.
• From Orly, metro line 14 reaches the centre in about 25 minutes, on the same €14 ticket.
• In town, a single metro ticket is €2.55; a Navigo day pass, €12.30, covers every zone but the airports.

Before you fly: entry to France

• ETIAS is not running yet. The EU’s travel authorisation for visa-exempt visitors is not in operation and no applications are being taken; the EU says it will announce the start date several months ahead, and the fee will be €20. A site that asks you to pay for one now is not the official service.
• Expect fingerprints and a photo. The EU’s Entry/Exit System registers visitors from outside the EU at the border and is replacing passport stamps.

How to book Paris

• Count the tax. It is per person and set by the star rating: €8.45 a night at a four-star, €5.53 at a three-star, nothing for under-18s.
• Check the room size. Among the hotels in this guide, the smallest rooms run from 12 m² at the Hôtel des Arts to about 21 m² at the Pavillon de la Reine. If you need space, book the category above the cheapest.
• Book the view by name. Only rooms sold with an Eiffel Tower view are sure to have one, at the Shangri-La, the Pullman and the Terrass” Hotel.
• Compare totals. Hotel booking sites compared goes through where to book, and whether a rail pass pays in Europe helps if Paris is one stop of several.

All 15 at a glance

Before you go

• Before you fly, sort out mobile data (the best eSIM for Europe) and cover (the best travel insurance).

Frequently asked questions

Sources & further reading

• City of Paris: tourist tax rates from 1 January 2026 (PDF, in French and English)
• City of Paris: the tourist tax, and who is exempt (in French)
• Musée du Louvre: hours and admission
• CDG Express
• Île-de-France Mobilités: 2026 fares
• RATP: the RER B to Charles de Gaulle (in French)
• RATP: metro line 14 to Orly (in French)
• European Union: ETIAS
• European Union: the Entry/Exit System
• Centre Pompidou
• Official websites of each hotel named above, checked in October 2026

Prices, fares and hotel terms change. Every detail here was checked at the start of October 2026; confirm rates, room types and cancellation terms with the hotel before booking. These are researched picks, not reviews. This article contains affiliate links: hotel rates on Booking.com and other booking sites through Stay22, and tours, transfers and eSIMs through our partners; if you book through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. No hotel pays to be included.

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