A Room with a View
The Eiffel Tower is 324 metres high, and sticks out of the Paris skyline partly because of a policy of refusing planning permission to other high buildings - there are no skyscrapers in Paris outside of the La Defence district, although Sarkozy and the newly re-elected Mayor have big plans to change all this.

Currently, then, you can see the Tower from practically anywhere above three storeys in Paris. So if you only want to look at the thing, there's no need to get a hotel near it.

What's in a Name?
Googling Hotel + Eiffel Tower is not a sure-fire way of finding hotels near the Eiffel Tower. Unscrupulous hoteliers scan the horizon for a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower (which, as we say, can be seen from most places in Paris), write "stunning views of the Eiffel Tower" on their website and hike their prices up a few notches.

Other original thinkers call their shed of a hotel "Grand Hotel Eiffel" or the like, even if it's located in the slums outside the centre, in order to get the google traffic and the punters who can't be bothered to look up their hotel on the map.

What's it For?
Climbing the Eiffel Tower (in an elevator - they've fixed the lift cables now) is not something you will do every day of your holiday. In fact, you'll do it once or - if the Parisian fog has descended on the city - not at all. Lots of Parisians have never climbed it, in fact, simply because they get better views from their top-floor apartments.

If you choose to climb the thing in summer, you'll have to wait a minimum of several hours in a noisy, stinky queue outside, being harassed by tramps selling Eiffel Tower keyrings and dishcloths.

A much more civilised way of seeing the view is to save your pennies for a dinner in the Jules Verne restaurant, newly taken over by serial Michelin-star winner chef Alan Ducasse. A three-course set meal on a weekday lunchtime will set you back at least €75 ($115) without drinks and à la carte dinners are astronomical, but if James Bond did it.....

The Eiffel Tower Hotel Scene
The key to getting a good hotel near the Eiffel Tower is not to stay too near to the Eiffel Tower. We're sorry, guys, but frankly it's a bit of a dump.

Instead, stick to the western side of St-Germain, the 7th arrondissement of Paris (zip code 75007) and a little bit of the 6th (75006). St-Germain is packed with trendy restaurants and shops, cute alleyways which lead to the Seine, and it's within walking distance of you-know-what. A nice walk, in fact, along the Seine. Even better, it's also within walking distance of the Louvre and has the Orsay Museum in its very centre. So you'll be able to tick off the first few pages of your guide book without touching a metro ticket or taxi.

Watch this space: this week we'll be seeking out some of the better hotels within walking distance of the Eiffel Tower , including the quietly sleek Hôtel Montalembert, the loud Christian Lacroix baby Hôtel Bellechasse, the plush velvety Jarques Garcia creation L'Hôtel, the cheesy Hôtel Lenox (budget option), the rather run-down Duc de Saint-Simon (grandma option) and the two sisters Le Walt and Le Marquis.

[Photo: Taylor Miles]