When you're looking online for a hotel in Paris, you should start by asking yourself what it is that you actually want from the place you'll be choosing. Although you might think this is obvious, in my experience it's easy to forget this simple rule that you should keep in your mind.

When you're looking around for a hotel in Paris, you should start by asking yourself what it is that you actually want from the place you'll be choosing. Although you might think this is obvious, in my experience it's easy to forget this simple rule that you should keep in your mind.

To get to the bottom of this, you need to go into the question at a basic level. So when you're looking through the list of hotels in Paris that are available to you, you are in the best possible position to make an informed decision about the hotel that most matches what you're looking for.

Starting at the beginning, you'll obviously have a reason to be staying in a hotel in the first place. There are plenty of possible reasons here - visiting people you know, attending a function etc. - but the two we find the most common are for a break or holiday, or for work purposes.

Next, you need to think of where it actually is in Paris that you want to stay. For instance, do you want to be near to the sights, the nightlife or the town centre, or is it essential that you stay near to where you'll be working, or perhaps there are other issues that will come into play.

Once you have this in mind, you'll want to determine what sort of facilities are important to you within the hotel itself. Certainly most modern hotels will come with en suite bathrooms, but if that isn't important to you, you may be able to save some money. Similarly, you should decide if you want a bar or restaurant in the place you'll be staying.

Many hotels also now come with facilities that would have been unheard of a few years ago, including some with their own gym and swimming pool. If you want to keep on top of your emails or just chat with friends on Facebook, a wireless internet connection might also be important to you.

Having mentioned money, this is a very obvious issue that you'll want to address. No point looking for five star luxury if you simply can't afford to pay the amount it would cost per night. Paris certainly has its fair share of hotels to choose from in all price brackets, so you should easily find something suitable with just a few minute's investigation.

Now you have all this info to hand - location, facilities etc. - you should look into each of the hotels that are available in Paris that match up with your requirements. You'll probably find several that tick all the boxes, so you now simply need to choose your favourite.

And finally, you'll want to be sure the hotel you want to stay in is available on the dates you want to be there. Make sure you check for each of the nights you want to stay to ensure your chosen hotel is suitable for the whole time frame you need to book for.