Recommended Hotels in the 18th Arrondissement of Paris (Montmartre)

The building, from 1890, stands right next to the Moulin Rouge, and during the renovation secret passages were found that once led backstage at the cabaret. The original stone walls were left exposed in the design, and there’s air conditioning, soundproofing, an elevator and a 24-hour reception, with only nineteen rooms in all, each one different from the next. The fifth-floor rooms look out over the rooftops of Paris, and about a hundred meters away is the Café des Deux Moulins from the movie Amélie. Note that the rooms are small, and that the side facing Rue Lepic and the Boulevard de Clichy stays awake until late. I recommend asking for a room facing the inner courtyard, because that’s where it’s really quiet.

Three hundred and five rooms on nine floors on Rue Caulaincourt, right on the edge of the Montmartre Cemetery. On the roof there’s a large terrace with a vegetable garden and a pétanque court, downstairs a bar called SpeakArt and a gym, breakfast is a buffet, and the Privilege rooms look out over the Sacré-Cœur and the Eiffel Tower. The Place de Clichy station is about 240 meters away, with lines 2 and 13, so you can get to the Arc de Triomphe without changing lines. That said, this is a big chain hotel and not a neighborhood boutique. I recommend paying the extra for a Privilege room, because otherwise you may end up with a dark inside room.

Twenty-six rooms on Rue Constance, a quiet little street about three minutes’ walk from the Moulin Rouge. Breakfast is served in a stone-vaulted cellar, a sweet and savory buffet, from seven to ten on weekdays and from eight to eleven on weekends, and children up to 12 eat for free. In summer you can take it out to the patio, and the lobby has a wine corner that serves by the glass. The rooms range from 14 square meters (the Classic rooms, small even by Parisian standards) to 38 square meters in the suites. I recommend that families take the connecting rooms for four, because they’re the only ones here that really give you space.

Built in 1911 by Edmond Hurand, who already owned the Élysée Montmartre at the time, and ever since it has been the hotel of the hill: ninety-two Art Deco rooms on the corner of Rue Joseph de Maistre. On the roof there’s a restaurant with a view of the Eiffel Tower, and downstairs a Nuxe spa with a sauna and a hammam, a gym and yoga classes. On Sundays there’s a buffet brunch in two sittings, at sixty-two euros per person. It’s very expensive, and even hotel guests should book the roof in advance, although guests do get priority. I recommend asking for a room with a balcony, because that’s the real difference here.

A three-star hotel (it now operates as Hotel Apolonia Paris Montmartre) with sixty-five rooms on Rue Marcadet, on the northern, residential side of the hill. There’s an elevator, a 24-hour reception and a continental buffet breakfast, and that’s about all there is: no bar and no lobby to sit in. On the other hand, the Lamarck-Caulaincourt station on line 12 is close by, and from there you get to the Madeleine and Concorde without changing lines, and Place Dalida is about four hundred meters away. I recommend it for anyone who plans to be out all day and mostly wants a clean bed in a good location at a sensible price.

Forty-three rooms on Rue Lamarck, on the quiet part of the hill and a four-minute walk from the Lamarck-Caulaincourt station. Breakfast is a sweet and savory buffet from seven to ten thirty, costs 13.5 euros and is free for children up to 12, and the baguette comes from an award-winning bakery. The reception is open around the clock and you can leave your luggage. The Comfort rooms face the courtyard and are quieter, and the Superior rooms face the street and get more light. Note that the hotel is simple, not fancy, and that the climb from here to the Sacré-Cœur takes about a quarter of an hour. I recommend asking for a Comfort room if you’re a light sleeper.

Thirty rooms on Rue Aristide Bruant, a three-minute walk from the Blanche station on line 2 and the Abbesses station on line 12, which means two ways out of here without changing lines. There’s an elevator, a 24-hour reception and a buffet breakfast, and the windows are double-glazed, so the noise outside barely gets in. Rue des Abbesses, with its bakeries and bistros, is just around the corner. The design is functional and unsurprising, and some of the courtyard rooms sit slightly below street level, so they get less light. I recommend asking for a room on a high floor when you book. The hotel used to be called Pavillon de Montmartre.

Fifty-six rooms on Rue Ravignan, on Place Émile Goudeau with its chestnut trees, benches and Wallace fountain, right across from the Bateau-Lavoir where Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) worked. The Superior rooms are air-conditioned and look out over the Sacré-Cœur, and the suite on the fifth floor gets a panoramic view. The reception is staffed around the clock, the Abbesses station is about two hundred meters away on line 12, and Pigalle is about five hundred meters away. Note that the standard rooms are 13 square meters and not all of them have air conditioning. I recommend paying a bit more for a Superior, because here the view is really the product.