Paris Hotels Have a BIG Problem – And It’s Getting Worse

If you are planning a summer trip, you need to know the truth about air conditioning in Paris before you wake up sweating at 2 a.m. in your hotel room. In this video we explain why so many Paris hotels, apartments, restaurants and museums are not cooled the way Americans expect, what to watch for when booking, and how we Parisians get through a canicule (heat wave), when temperatures can reach 40°C.

Why Paris has so little AC

Paris sits at about the same latitude as Vancouver and Montreal, and for a long time we only needed cooling a few weeks a year. Many buildings are 200 to 400 years old, installing units is expensive, and strict building rules forbid the window units you see in New York. Also, when a hotel says its rooms are climatisé, it may only mean cooler than outside. Four- and five-star hotels are much more likely to have AC that really works. In a one- or two-star hotel, read the reviews and call to ask whether every room has working air conditioning. Most rental apartments have none at all.

Our tips for hot days

• Go out early, around 7 or 8 a.m., rest in the afternoon, and head back out after 7 p.m. when it cools down.
• At night open the windows wide; in the morning close the shutters to keep the heat out.
• Hide from the midday heat in department stores like Galeries Lafayette and La Samaritaine, in cool stone churches like Saint-Sulpice, or at a movie marked VO (original version).
• Skip Versailles and the Eiffel Tower in the afternoon, and book timed tickets for the Catacombs so you don’t wait in the sun.
• Metro lines 1 and 4 have air conditioning; many other lines don’t.
• Order like a local: a salade composée, a chilled rosé, a citronnade, or ice cream from Une Glace à Paris in the Marais.
• Refill your bottle at the Wallace fountains and carry a small fan.

Where to stay

Picking the right hotel makes all the difference in the heat. Our Paris hotel guide with 125 picks by neighborhood lists hotels we have tested and recommend, and our Paris Guide Bundle has all our best recommendations for the city. To skip a hot taxi line on arrival, book a Paris airport transfer.