Familia Hotel

Set near the eastern base of the Rue des Ecoles, the two-star Familia is a family-run hotel with personal touches, some interesting perks and rates averaging around €171 that can be a good deal for the Latin Quarter.

We do love a good family-run hotel with personal touches. Unsurprisingly, a hotel called the “Familia” provides exactly that, with 30 charming bedrooms, most with exposed stonework, hand-painted murals of old Paris and furnishings carved in Brittany for the hotel.

Rooms sport attractive carpeting or tile, and all are equipped with air conditioning, free Wi-Fi, and flat-screen TVs. A few rooms have minibars.

Those in search of views should ask for top-floor rooms, many of which offer rooftop vistas down the nearby rues and boulevards. (You can even see Notre Dame from some.) Although 19 of the rooms face the street (and some have lovely little balconies—ask ahead), 11 rooms face an interior air shaft and don’t get much light. These could be better for light sleepers (even with soundproof windows there might be some traffic noise), although we’d prefer light and fresh air to an air shaft.

Throughout the hotel, oil paintings, photos, historical maps, and antique fabric tapestries dress up the hallways and staircases.

The hotel is run by the friendly Eric Gaucheron and his wife Sylvie. It was opened by his grandfather, continued by his parents, Bernard and Colette, and is now enthusiastically run by the couple. They also run the three-star Hotel Minerve next door.

Breakfast is available for €8.50.

Location

The Familia is situated at the eastern edge of the rue des Ecoles, near the University of Paris’ Jussieu campus. This part of the Latin Quarter bustles with more students than tourists, and is about a 10-minute walk north to the Place St-Michel, Notre Dame and Ile Saint-Louis.