Recommended Hotels in the 13th Arrondissement of Paris (Chinatown, Place d’Italie, Butte-aux-Cailles)

A 1903 Haussmann building on Boulevard Saint-Marcel, with forty-two rooms redesigned in four color themes. What makes it stand out is a wellness area included in the room rate, with a sauna and an experience shower, which you book by the hour at the reception desk. The gym is open around the clock, every room has a Nespresso machine, and a bottle of water is waiting for you when you arrive. Rue Mouffetard and the Jardin des Plantes are about a ten-minute walk away. Keep in mind that breakfast is paid separately and there’s no parking at the hotel. I recommend asking for a room on a high floor, since you can see the Eiffel Tower from some of them.

This isn’t exactly a hotel but a guesthouse: just five rooms in a private 1920 house on Rue de la Fontaine-à-Mulard, in the south of the arrondissement. There’s a library room with coffee and tea, a terrace, and a breakfast made to order with cold cuts, fresh fruit salad, juices and French pastries for about €11. Parc Montsouris and the Cité Internationale Universitaire are a six-minute walk away, and the Cité Universitaire station on the RER B, which runs directly to Charles de Gaulle airport, is about eight hundred meters away. Keep in mind that the reception isn’t staffed around the clock and that five rooms fill up fast. I recommend booking months in advance.

Fifty rooms on Rue Édouard-Manet, a quiet street three minutes’ walk from Place d’Italie. On the ground floor there’s a glass-enclosed winter garden, a library and a lounge bar that serves wine and cheese in the evening, which is exactly what you want after a day of walking. The rooms are soundproofed and allergen-free, with an espresso machine and a tea tray. The breakfast buffet costs about €19 and is served until 11 a.m. on weekends. Place d’Italie is a hub for lines 5, 6 and 7. Keep in mind that the rooms aren’t large. I recommend asking for a room on the garden side, since it’s the quietest part of the building.

The first floating hotel in Paris, moored at the Quai d’Austerlitz: two catamaran hulls joined by a glass bridge, fifty-four rooms and four suites, and between them a small deck pool open only to guests. The bar and the restaurant look out over the Seine through huge windows, breakfast starts at 6:30 a.m. and runs until noon, and there’s brunch on weekends. There’s also a marina right next to it where you can rent a private boat for a cruise on the river. Keep in mind that the hotel moves slightly on the water, so if you get seasick, you may want to skip it, and the quay is very lively on summer nights. I recommend asking for a room on the side facing the Left Bank.

Eighty-eight rooms on Boulevard Vincent-Auriol, with a design that’s one big tribute to literature, in keeping with its big neighbor, the Bibliothèque nationale François-Mitterrand. The bar and restaurant La Page are open from 6:30 a.m. to 1 a.m., and there are three breakfast options: the buffet, room service, or a quick coffee and pastry at the bar. Kids up to age 12 eat breakfast for free. The Quai de la Gare station on line 6 is right across from the hotel. Keep in mind that the rooms are 14 to 17 square meters. I recommend asking for a Privilège room with a balcony.

On a shady avenue lined with plane trees, a hundred meters from Place d’Italie, what looks more like a villa than a hotel hides behind a tall facade. The hotel was renovated in 2022 and has 60 rooms, inner gardens and a rooftop terrace on the third floor dotted with classical statues. My favorite detail: the artworks hanging in the rooms were made by students of the École Estienne, which is in the neighborhood, and there’s also a series of photographs dedicated to the Manufacture des Gobelins, the hotel’s historic neighbor. Breakfast is brunch-style with organic products and sprouts grown in the garden. The triple rooms are cramped for three people, though, so families should take two rooms.

Forty-one rooms on Rue Jean-Colly, in the heart of the Asian quarter of Paris, which means you’re within walking distance of some of the best Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants in the city. There’s a rooftop terrace with a view, the rooms have air-conditioning and a minibar, and there are rooms for three and four. At the reception you can ask for a power adapter and a luggage scale, and for families there’s a crib, a stroller, a high chair and a bottle warmer. The Olympiades station on line 14, which takes you directly to Châtelet and the Gare de Lyon, is a four-minute walk away. Keep in mind that there’s no restaurant at the hotel. I recommend going up to the terrace at sunset, because it’s the most beautiful thing here.

Fifty-seven rooms on Rue de l’Espérance, in the heart of the Butte-aux-Cailles, the neighborhood that looks and feels like a small village inside Paris. The rooms are modern with wooden floors, some have a fridge and a balcony, and there are rooms for four and two suites. There’s a garden and a private terrace, a lounge bar, and extra-long beds, which will interest the tall among us. Breakfast is a buffet, or continental in your room. The Corvisart station on line 6 and Place d’Italie with its three lines are a short walk away. Keep in mind that the rooms are small. I recommend asking for a room with a balcony overlooking the garden.

Seventy-two rooms on Rue Barrault, in a hotel whose design brings the neighborhood’s street art inside: a fresco on every floor with Parisian monuments and characters, and a food truck at the entrance. Breakfast is included in the room rate, and the lobby has a lounge corner open all day with free coffee, tea and sweets. There’s a bar with a foosball table, a kids’ corner and bike rental too. The Corvisart station on line 6 is a two-minute walk away. Keep in mind that the street runs uphill, which isn’t fun with heavy suitcases, and that the bathrooms are small. I recommend taking a taxi to the door on the day you arrive.

Fifty-seven rooms on Rue Véronèse, behind a classic facade with ornate balconies. It’s a simple chain hotel, but well located: four minutes’ walk from Place d’Italie with lines 5, 6 and 7, and five minutes from Gobelins. Every room has air-conditioning, a kettle and eco-friendly toiletries, there are connecting rooms, and kids stay for free. The breakfast buffet costs about €15, and the reception is staffed around the clock. On the ground floor there’s a computer for guests and a seating area with a TV. Keep in mind that the rooms are about twelve square meters and the furniture is completely standard. I recommend it if you want a cheap, well-connected base and aren’t looking for character.

Seventy rooms a two-minute walk from the Place d’Italie station, one of the most convenient metro hubs in Paris, with three lines. The rooms are designed around a music theme, all air-conditioned with a kettle and a bathtub, and some connect for families. On the ground floor there’s a bar called Le Colisée and three meeting rooms, and there’s a private parking garage with an elevator straight to the hotel, which saves a lot of headaches if you’re arriving by car. Breakfast costs about €15, the reception is staffed around the clock and every floor is accessible by elevator. Keep in mind that the rooms are functional rather than exciting. I recommend letting them know in advance if you’re arriving after 8 p.m.

Vanessa Scoffier, a former fashion stylist, bought the building on Rue des Gobelins and renovated it herself, without an interior architect. She picked out the furniture piece by piece at flea markets over several months, so the 32 rooms turned out completely different from one another: floral wallpaper, cement tiles, herringbone parquet and headboards that used to be wardrobe doors. She calls the style “broc’n’roll”. Breakfast is served under a glass roof in an artist’s-studio style, and in summer in the inner courtyard, and includes pastries, organic granola and cold cuts. Rue Mouffetard is a five-minute walk away. There’s no restaurant here, though, so you’ll need to plan lunch and dinner outside.

In the 19th century this building was a cabaret called “Le Cabaret de Madame Grégoire”, frequented by Victor Hugo (1802-1885), François-René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848), Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1869) and the chansonnier Pierre-Jean de Béranger (1780-1857), who even wrote a song about the owner. On the wall of the restaurant’s lower floor hangs a huge fresco showing them all sitting around the table. Since 1962 the place has been run by the Laborde family, of Basque descent, and the restaurant, the Auberge Etchegorry, serves Basque and southwestern cuisine under a ceiling hung with hams and strings of peppers. The hotel itself is small, with just 17 rooms, all facing a 250-square-meter private garden, and breakfast is served in the auberge. The restaurant is closed on Sundays and Mondays, though, so if you’re coming for a weekend, plan your dinner accordingly.

Fifty-seven rooms in a 19th-century building on Rue Philippe-de-Champaigne, fifty meters from the Place d’Italie metro station. The name refers to the Manufacture des Gobelins in the neighborhood, and for the interior they chose a style they call contemporary colonial: patinated lamps, wardrobes shaped like a gendarme’s hat and shimmering fabrics. The rooms on the seventh floor look out over the rooftops of Paris, and from one of them you can see the Eiffel Tower. The breakfast buffet is served from 7 to 10:30 a.m., with gluten-free and lactose-free options. For families there’s a stroller, a high chair, a bottle warmer and games. The standard rooms are small, though, so it’s worth considering a higher category.