Eh, I like the price, but I think I'm willing to spend $10 more per night for an ensuite and a slightly larger room (and something closer to public transit). I'd personally be happy with the Formule1 if I were alone, but the room in SYD was extremely cramped for two people--it was so small it was hard to move around.

[begin rant]Really, I don't understand why they can't build the Formule1 rooms a little bigger, at least the ones that are in the outlying areas where land is cheap (like Campbelltown in SYD--that's 70km from the CBD!). Making the room 20 or even 10% bigger wouldn't add much to the cost of building the building, so the rates would only have to be $5 higher (if even that) to cover the additional cost. (I understand small rooms in built-up areas where land is at a premium, but along motorways in the far suburbs, land isn't that expensive.) My standards aren't that high (I'll stay in hostels), but my first experience at Formule1 was really not positive enough for me to consider them again unless all of the other options are worse. Motel 6 (same owner--Accor) can build decent-sized rooms in the U.S. for daily rates lower than most Formule 1s, so I fail to understand how Formule 1 can't do the same.[/end rant]

Still haven't had a chance to check out the links people have posted...still settling back into life at home. Will get to that in the next couple of days--thanks again for everybody's suggestions!

Because F1 operates in a market segment where those 5$ actually make a difference. And if you are willing and able to pay 5$ or 10$ more for a bigger room you�re not part of their target clientele.

Good point, and price is indeed the reason we originally picked the F1 in Campbelltown.

Still, though, why can I get a comfortably-sized Motel 6 room for as low as $29.99 but it's impossible to find an F1 room for less than about the equivalent of $50? I don't even know that a larger room would require any price difference to cover the costs--especially if it results in higher occupancy as people who would never "stoop" to that kind of a place would be a bit more willing to try it (the F1 we were in for 6 nights was NOT full during the time we were there).

Although it looks like in Europe there are a number of Ibises which sort of fill that "willing to pay $5 more for a larger room" market segment, so the answer is to skip the F1 and go for an Ibis. In Australia, there wasn't really anything to fill the gap between the AU$69 F1 and the AU$110 nice mom-n-pop motels, so that was my main point of frustration there. Looks like that's less of an issue in France with the large number of Ibises (they're all over!).

Can you find a Motel6 for 29$ in New York? I don't think so. And similarly you will not find the really cheap F1 or Etap hotels in Paris. But I�m pretty sure that I�ve stayed in F1 hotels �somewhere� in France for 29� or maybe even less.

Paris is expensive...

I'm sorta getting OT here, but my rant was primarily referring to my experience in the one in Campbelltown. That's 70km from Sydney, which is equivalent to something like Thousand Oaks or Ventura, CA, where you can find $29.99-$39.99 (I used to drive by one along US101 every week in my childhood whose sign always displayed $19.99...it's up to $39.99 now). I'm not expecting $29.99 in Paris, though I am finding plenty of F1s/Etaps in the EUR40 range, so I'm not really complaining about that. I was mentioning that it seems a bit frustrating that a more expensive room in an extreme outer suburb is uncomfortably smaller than an equivalently-priced (or cheaper) room in the U.S. I wouldn't expect a cheap, huge room in a CBD or a densely-populated city like Paris. But enough on that subject--prices are what prices are.

I looked through some of the links last night and started assembling a list of hotels that looked like they fit my needs, and I am finding some very pleasant surprises, so thanks everyone for the help!

I haven't stayed there but ETAP at Marne la Vall�e Val d'Europe seems pretty cheap (starting at below EUR50), and the place is VERY easily accessible by public transport (just about 50 metres from the train station) and quite convenient to Paris city centre.

http://www.etaphotel.com/gb/hotel-50...al/index.shtml

I noticed the place during my shopping expedition to La Vallee Village and thought that it might be a convenient pad for future shopping expedition where I'd spend the EUR200 saved in one night's accommodation on more shopping

There are plenty of cheap hotels in St Denis, which is on the RER B line, about 20 mins from Gare du Nord.
Not the classiest town I've ever been to (and in fact, the only reason I stayed there is that I had a hire car and didn't want to worry about parking in Paris), but a good way to save some cash.

You cannot got wrong with this hotel...decent, clean and they even let you do laundry and use their kitchen, but it isn't a hostel.

http://www.hotel-marignan.com/

we stayed here in Paris last January.

spotless, sure like most of Europe the rooms aren't enormous

the prepaid breakfast was fine, great for bus and all transport

on the 1001 reviews I read, a lot of people recommended the Italian restaurant opposite, we found it not so good

http://www.edenhotel-montmartre.com/

Their "high season" rates start April 1.

Merci, non merci.