Family values... Most hotels in Paris have rooms that can accommodate three people (sometimes with a proper bed, sometimes with a cot), for hardly more than the cost of a double. But if you’ve got too many kids to squeeze into that configuration, or if you want a wall between you and other family members, you’ll have to search for rare American-style connecting rooms. You will find a few connecting rooms at the friendly Hotel des Grandes Ecoles on a quiet cobbled side street; they also have good value triples and quads if you want to keep everyone under one roof and plan on a completely celibate vacation. Relais du Louüe also offers connecting rooms, as well as an apartment-size suite on the top floor, complete with kitchen and washer and dryet An even better deal might be the nearby Hotel de 1’Abbaye, which has four duplex suites with terraces, or, one notch thrther up the price scale, the duplex suite at the Relais Christine (also on the Left Bank), with its warm, wood-paneled lobby and attractive rooms. As for kids’ programs, kids’ menus, game rooms, room service milk ‘n’ cookies, and all those other family-friendly perks that chain hotels lay on in America.. .forget about it.

Located in the heart of Paris, Hotel Tonic Louvre ( Paris Tonic Hotel ) offers you a comfort equally as functional as elegant one of Praises most famous and beautiful hotels.

Taking care of business... There’s no central financial district in Paris; business travelers should choose a hotel near their clients or near the center of town. The big, modern hotels are the best for getting business done, but the decor is generally bland. The Méridien Montparnasse has modular conference and exhibition spaces with a capacity of up to 2,000 and a variety of services. The modern Hilton Paris has 15 meeting rooms, conference rooms with views over Paris, and two executive floors with a private lounge. The Holiday inn on the place de la Republique is a classified historical monument, but the cookie-cutter rooms could be found in Kansas.

Those with hefty expense accounts can afford the rich atmosphere at the 8th-arrondissement palaces, though the business facilities may not be as extensive. The discreet Belle Epoque Royal Monceau in the same arrondissement is a fair runner—up for meetings. Near the place Vendome, the Ritz goes only for smaller meetings (no riffraff, you know)—it can host up to 300 in its lavish meeting rooms. Businesspeople looking for a more intimate meeting venue can stay on the lovely Ile Saint-Louis; the quaint Jeu de Paume, constructed as a 17th-century tennis court by Louis XIII, has a seminar room for 25.