My teenage son & I spent 2 nights at this hotel during an extended layover in our travels. Having less than 2 days to spend on our first visit to Paris, I picked this hotel for it's centrality to the sites we wanted to be able to walk to. The 1st night we walked to Notre Dame and back. The next day we set out for the Eiffel Tower, crossed over the Seine to the Arc de Triomphe and then down the boulevard & back to our hotel. I hadn't planned on walking that far, but it was very doable. Having the hotel so near the River Seine and all of the popular sites made it a wonderful way to immerse ourselves in the city of Paris! Plus - Very helpful, English-speaking concierge! Minus - Had a hard time finding anything to drink! Bottled water in the room would have been very nice!

The Hotel Saint-Jacques provided an excellent place for our family to stay during our three nights in Paris. It is located in the Latin quarter and surrounded by cute shops and sights to explore. The Metro is a very convenient short walk away as well. Our triple room on the 5th floor featured a balcony with a view of Notre-Dame. The rooms are well-appointed, clean, with a modern bathroom, and decorated in classically French and European decor. The hotel keys are old-fashioned, so they must be turned in and retrieved upon entrance and exit of the hotel from the front desk, but it was no major inconvenience and gave us an opportunity to ask the friendly staff questions or ask for recommendations. The lobby features a small bar, which I did not patronize. I do recommend the hotel's breakfast once during your stay, perhaps on a day when you are anticipating a later lunch. It features breads, spreads, pastry, croissants, meats, cheeses, salmon, yogurts, fruit salad, and hot teas and coffee. On the other mornings, explore the local bakeries within walking distance. There is also a farmer's market at the nearest Metro station if you rise early enough for a glimpse of how the French do their food shopping. The Hotel Saint-Jacques is a wonderful place to stay in Paris, and offers a real taste of how the locals live while at the same time being centrally located to all major tourist destinations. Highly recommend it for families such as ours with older children and for couples.

I did extensive research in preparation for our Paris trip and all roads led, happily, to the Hotel St-Jacques. My optimal features were these: Sorbonne/Collège de France area but not too far up the hill (so within easy walking distance of the two islands); largish rooms (for Europe); reports of comfortable beds (more on this below); nice bathrooms; some charm; a reasonable price; and, yes, no hassles about our having to speak English. This was as one might imagine not an easy search but the St-Jacques fit the bill all around. The beds and pillows are excellent, so much so that we tried to figure out if we could procure something comparable at home. They're on the harder side, which is for us perfect. The bathrooms are lovely and even a bit decadent, with marble and big tubs and bath salts. Plus there is a nice bar in the lobby with quite reasonably priced drinks.

Also in the lobby are excellent staff, especially the two women who work the desk. Some of the men, it has to be said, are a bit snide about the English thing (not sure why it divided by gender but it did) but I suppose there's always that.

My wife and I took our mothers to Paris as one of their Christmas Gifts. Historically, we have stayed at another hotel in the Latin Quarter during our visits to Paris but decided to try a different venue this time. And we were very glad we did! The hotel is in a great location (Latin Quarter is our favorite area of Paris) and the staff were fantastic. Rooms are very spacious (especially by European/Paris standards), fun balcony and we really liked the crown molding in the room. Great experience and we would glady stay here again! Tres Bien!!!