My wife and I are looking to take our first trip to Paris Dec26-Jan 1 and would like some recommendations on hotels in the city. I'll give you some information to help understand what we are looking for.
First, we will be on foot and want to be centrally located. We both like old architecture and prefer small scale buildings with a mix of residents, hotels, and restaurants. From what I have read the Left bank looks like it might fit the bill. Huge noisy streets with beeping horns are not what we had in mind.

Next we would like to pay around $75 per night. We don't care if the hotel has a restaurant but would like a private bathroom.

Lastly we will attempt to take public transportation to the hotel and will be packing extremely light with only one rolling bag each. A bus or train stop within 2 blocks or so would be nice.

Our interests mostly surround art, history and architecture. Shopping and fine dining are not a big deal to us.

Any suggestions? Thanks Mark

I would recommand the Quartier Latin District (5th or 6th district), or the Marais (First District).
Match the 75 US$ target could be a little difficult.

If you want to book on-line or use big hotel-brandt, i would consider Best Western, Holiday Inn are not in the good area according to your indications. Otherwise there are a lot of hotels, try the ones on Rue du Sommerard, for isntance, few yards from the noisy Boulevard Saint Germain, and Place Maubert, the METRo (underground) is there, but you will in a very quiet street.

If you take a look at the "places to stay in Paris" thread started by tomb, you'll find a number of very recent suggestions. Mine for the Hotel Grand-Leveque may be a good match for you--they do offer rooms with baths, the street is mixed (nearly pedestrian only) and quiet in the evenings, is near the Eiffel Tower & Arch de Triomphe, and a block and a half off the subway at the Ecole Militaire.

There are a number of other good suggestions in that thread.

JP

We stayed at the Intercontinental a few doors from the Ritz on the Place de la Concorde. The hotel is centrally located within a very short walk to the Louvre. They seem to always have specials during the summer which makes them relatively inexpensive. We got 2 rooms with a 50% discount on the second room in the height of the tourist season. I don't know if they run specials in the winter, but logic tells me that's the time to run them.

The hotel is a little strange. The public areas are quite elegant. The rooms are rather plain and small. It's quite a contrast going from the lobby to your room. It's also true of the other Intercontinental near the Opera. Considering the price, I thought both were serviceable, but the one near the Ritz was more convenient.

Thanks for the tips and suggestions. There were many good ones. We finally decided on a 2* hotel in the 6th called Grand Hotel De Balcons. I'll write a review of it when I get back. It cost $65 a night and the pictures looked good to us.
Mark

Don't the pictures nearly always look good? Have a great trip!