Staying in the best hotels in Paris just got better as a Saudi-based family moved a step closer to investing €141 million (£111 million) in tourism in the city. The Musallam family has held the leasehold to majestic art deco Hotel Prince de Galles in Paris for the last 16 years and now plans to buy the property.

The deal would put Paris on the map for high-end tourism despite the turbulent economic market, said Ed Blum for the company arranging the financing, Molinaro Koger.

Hotel Prince de Galles

Hotel Prince de Galles is one of the best hotels in Paris. It is currently operated as luxury brand by Starwood Hotels with high ceilings, a traditional courtyard and an impressive Art Deco façade. Built in the 1928, the 138-room hotel still retains some of its original charm. It boasts marble floors and gold leaf chandelier features, at least at present.

Purchaser Sheik Ibrahim Mussallam explained: "We are planning to spend a further €80 million on the refurbishment of the property to ensure that the Hotel Prince de Galles continues to be one of Paris' most desirable hotels."

Where can I find it?

It is central to several of the most popular attractions in Paris on the Champs Elysees – one kilometre away from the Eiffel Tower. It is €12 to get to the top. Gustave Eiffel's iconic structure opened a champagne bar on the third floor this summer, so, you can enjoy the view in style within walking distance from your hotel.

A mere 1.6 km away from the Hotel Prince de Galles is the impressionist attraction Marmottan Monet Museum, which boasts housing the largest collection of Monet's work, including iconic paintings The Water Lilies, The Japanese Bridge and The Weeping Willow.

For guests who like more than a stroll, great attraction around Montematre are just over 3 km away, including Sacre Coeur Catholic church.

Dining and drinking

The Hotel Prince de Galles offers a variety of different settings for diners who can reserve independently to eat in the Jardin des Cygnes, the private extension the Trianon and the Patio. Traditional food in Southern French flavours is on the menu with guests able to retire to the elegant Regency Bar after eating. A full "tasting" menu is available for tables for €99, including servings of omelette, foie gras, pequillos, lamb, fillets, cheese, chocolate and coffee prepared by chef Benoist Rambaud who was taught by Michelin starred Gerard Vie in 1991.

Bottles of wine go for €12 in the Regency Bar, which is oak-panelled and away from the roaring crowd. Sofas are available as well as hard-backs, allowing visitors to sip through a wide menu of cocktails at their leisure. The venue also service tapas and snacks. Non-drinks are also able to enjoy afternoon tea every day from 15:00 to 18:30, local time.

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Party hostelling has been around for years, but the founding family of the Club Med holidays, the Triganos, are more experienced than most. They claim to have found a new concept in hotel design with Mama Shelter in Paris. There may not be any Club Med tokens or games here, it is plain-living with high-end facilities inside one of the cheap hotels in Paris.

Serge Trigano and son Gibert told the New Zealand Herald the 172-bed Mama Shelter had been purposefully developed in the 20th arrondissement down town - a place that used to only be considered fashionable if you were dead - because punters were hungry for a true taste of urban life. The only tourist attraction to speak of is the Pere Lachaise Cemetery where Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde are buried, but the Triganos reckon its proximity to alternative hangouts for writers, musicians and poets will make this a winner.

Mr Trigano junior said: "People no longer want to wait for hours in airports to fly to exotic locations which are no longer especially exotic. The new tourism of the 21st century will be urban tourism, the discovery, or the re-discovery of great cities, like Paris or Amsterdam or London."

Even Mama Shelter's name has been thought out. It is meant to symbolise that the hotel is a "convivial shelter from the tension and aggression of the city and a friendly [mother's] welcome".

People can leave their mark here - which is one of the attractions of many backpacker hostels - on the ceilings, floors and lifts. Slogans put up by the Triganos are geared around the youth market with lines like "human beings and dolphins are the only animals who enjoy sex" and "Twenty-seven per cent of women who win the lottery hide their ticket in their bra".

Where the Triganos have spent is on fine-quality bed linen, free access television and Wi-Fi. A one-facility-fits-all living area where breakfast is served makes for a cosy feel. Single travellers will no doubt appreciate that for its sociability. Rooms are on a par with the cheap hotels in Paris at €79 (£62.46) a night. The proof is in the popularity and Mr Trigano junior says Mama Shelter is fully booked in October every night.

Other steals for bargain hunters

Hotel Mon Reve is one of the cheap hotels in Paris, if not the cheapest, at €40 per night. The city is accessible on the metro from this 40-room, renovated hotel, which can be found by Felix Faure on Line Eight.

One-star, budget hotel Ermitage is cheaper than Mon Reve at €38 a night, but has more mixed reviews. It is almost 30 minutes from the city centre, which was described as a good way to experience residential Paris.

Pay a bit more at the Hotel de Paris for a family friendly atmosphere. The 44-room hotel is close to Parc de la Villette, exhibition rooms and a concert venue.

Paris is well known for its use of the guillotine, seen as one of the most humane methods of punishing criminals during the French Revolution. In the 12 months from 1973 the Parisian authorities lopped off 1,225 heads. Today this grim fascination with the macabre has not changed, with some very sinister exhibitions offered by the affordable accommodation in Paris over the next few months.

Marie Stuart exhibition at Musee National de la Renaissance

Although these heads have not been severed, the carved wooden roundels have been sent from a time when the Scottish also were known for torture and bloodshed for a special exhibition dedicated to Mary Queen of Scots, known in her birthplace of France as Marie Stuart.

It allegedly took two attempts to behead Mary Queen of Scots after she was sentenced to death on suspicion of attempting to supplant Queen of England Elizabeth I. Objects from Mary's reign and early life in France go on display at the Renaissance Museum in Paris from October 15th to February 2nd, including portraits, jewels, personal objects and art work.

Curator of the exhibition Thierry Crepin-Leblond said: "The exhibition Mary Stuart is an occasion to show … unknown and impressive pieces that the Queen of Scots used to admire in the Inner Hall of her father."

Musee d'Orsay looks behind masks

Masks from Carpeaux to Picasso follows the history of covered faces, focusing on the late 19th century when the art form saw a disconcerting revival drawing from its background in Japan and ancient Greece.

The Orsay Museum explores their popularity among European artists such as Klinger, Gauguin and Picasso with a display of paintings and artefacts. The exhibition runs from October 21st to February 1st. Orsay Museum also hosts concerts and lectures as well as expos.

Discover what makes a man at the Musee de l'Homme

The brain of philosopher Rene Descartes, an assassin's skull and crystal head are among the macabre exhibits at the Musee de l'Homme in Paris. Unusual items are reported to include an Incan mummy in the fetal position, which is rumoured to have inspired Munch's painting, The Scream.

Alongside cabinets of curiosity Musee de l'Homme takes a deeper look into the evolution of humans and our development into different ethnic groups. Dummies which are part of the Ethnographic Exhibition represent people from different French colonies.

Where heads fell

A visit to Paris would not be complete without a grim trip to the Place de la Revolution, renamed Place de la Concorde around the corner from some of the best hotels in Paris. During the revolution, a statue of King Louis was torn down and replaced by a guillotine which saw more than a thousand people beheaded in a year during the "Reign of Terror", including Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. The square was said to have run with so much blood, cattle refused to cross it.

In the centre is an obelisk given to the French government by the Egyptians in the 19th century. At each corner of the octagon are statues that represent the larger of the French cities at the end of the Champs Elysees.

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One of the Parisian suburbs holds the capital's best kept secrets, a little prefecture called Belleville. It literally translates as "beautiful town" and has attracted up and coming artists for decades for its attractive views and cheap rents.

It may not seem like the first port of call for visitors, but take time out from the cheap hotels in Paris to clamber up to the galleries, cafes and boutiques and you will reach one of the best vantage points over the city.

The Parc de Belleville affords a stunning view of the traditional sights and more from a bar at the top - perfect for anyone with a penchant for a panorama and a drink. Don't miss the opportunity to try Paris' most tasteless wine, the Piquette, developed by a local tavern keeper as an inexpensive drink for Belleville folk.

Inside the park is the Maison de l'Air, which allows families to explore the atmosphere in intricate detail, from how plants and animals use the air to how humans are polluting it. From November until February blow in anytime before 17:00, except Monday and Saturday, with free admission.

Belleville started out as an independent commune annexed by the city of Paris in 1860. This perhaps lends itself to what has become a fiercely independent artistic movement, symbolised by a 200-strong group of sculptors, painters and crafts persons, Les Atheliers d'Artistes de Belleville. They formed eight years ago to exhibit after temporary displays of their work were closed. This September, their exhibition is called Bleu, Jaune, Rouge.

Artists make up most of the graves in the famous Pere Lachaise Cemetery - the largest in Paris and opened by Napoleon in 1804 to keep disease away from the city. A trip to Belleville would not be complete without a trip round the beautiful gravestones in this 44-hectare burial place. Luckily, a map of the site is available in English.

Famous French painters like Rosa Bonheur and Eugene Delacroix lie here, alongside French composer Georges Bizet as well as some foreign names, including Irish novelist, poet and playwright Oscar Wilde - whose art deco monument traditionally attracts lipstick-kisses from visitors - and The Doors' lead singer Jim Morrison whose grave has led to the defacing of other monuments (with arrows pointing to Jim, often in both directions).

If you want to stop for something to eat, the selection of non-French fare in Belleville is superb if you want a change from the city. Many immigrants who settled in Paris came to this quarter for cheap accommodation and the commune is well famed for its selection of Chinese and Arabic restaurants. For the best food from tiny eateries, try the bars and cafes around Place Sainte Marthe. The Louch and Le Sainte Marthe are particular recommendations.

Some of the cheapest hotels in Paris can be found here, but Belleville is also accessible from Metro stations Belleville, Pyrenees and Jourdain. You will find Belleville around the 19th and 20th arrondissements of Paris. It's so different from traditional Paris; it is definitely worth a visit.

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Air France has announced an expansion into rail with plans to launch 224mph trains to Paris from St Pancras by 2010.

The trains would be 38mph faster than rivals Eurostar when they started in two year's time, the airline told the Independent.

The airline wants to tap the increasing number of people choosing to use the railway amid burgeoning fuel costs and rising inflation for European airlines.

Eurostar has seen an 18 per cent rise in the number of people using its rail services in the first half of the year, the Independent reported.

However, in 2010 an open access law will change Eurostar's monopoly of the rail service and other companies will be able to compete.

As well as Air France, other interest has come from Virgin and Deutsche Bann to operate the route.

Air France is also looking at a Paris to Amsterdam rail service.

Paris is already fairly quick to get to from London, taking an estimated two hours and 15 minutes by Eurostar.

London trains stop at the Gare du Nord and range from £59.

Book into a cheap hotel in Paris and your stay could be under £100.

Parisian attractions have just become more accessible for low-budget travellers, as Ryanair opened a new route from Liverpool and East Midlands.

To celebrate the launch of new flights to Beauvais Airport in Paris, the company is charging £10 a ticket for passengers who book to travel in October or November this week.

Forget the spring, Paris is lovely at autumn-time, says the Parisian tourist office, when attractions are less crowded and amenities less expensive.

The best hotels in Paris could become cheaper, making the likes of the Eiffel Tower, the Arc du Triomphe and the Moulin Rouge in Pigalle more accessible.

Hundreds of artists' work goes on display at the Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain in the capital from October 23rd to 26th.

La Louvre will host some of the art work while the Grand Palais will host other elements.

Ryanair has six million £10 tickets for anyone who books until Sunday and promises no hidden fees.

It is also launching £26.99 deals from London Stanstead to promote its other new route to Agadir in Morocco between the same dates.

Ryanair's Stephen McNamara said: "These new routes from Liverpool, East Midlands and Stansted will bring Ryanair’s guaranteed lowest fares and the promise of no fuel surcharge ever to those planning a break in the beautiful city of Paris."

Some of the world's best artists will exhibit in Paris this autumn for one of the most prestigious art events in the world.

Globally-renowned gallery La Louvre will host some of the show while the Grand Palais will host other elements.

There are events, conferences, performances, previews and fairs to mark the Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain (FIAC), which runs from October 23rd to 26th.

Check out some cheap hotels in Paris early to avoid the rush and buy a ticket for the art fest quick.

There are 25 partners to the FIAC, which will feature artists that have been short listed for the prestigious Marcel Duchamp prize.

Artists Michel Blazy, Stephane Calais, Laurent Grasso and Didier Marcel are in the running for this year's title.

Promising personalities have also been invited to share their opinions on the international exhibition.

For more information on where to buy your admission visit the FIAC 2008 website.

Tourist offices recommend visiting Paris in the autumn because several airlines offer special out-of-season airfares.

Hotels also do cheap deals and tourist attractions are generally less squashed.

Wrap up warm though - temperatures can reach as low as five degrees Celsius, according to Go Paris, and there's a fair bit of rain.

Paris exhibits work from a controversial artist whose paintings are so significant they are fought over.

Expressionist Emil Nolde's work is so renowned it is shown all over the world.

The Moderna Museet in Sweden currently shows Blumengarten (Utenwarf) which was painted in 1917.

It is an example of Nolde's flower paintings, completed in admiration of Vincent Van Gogh.

Controversy surrounding Nolde's art work hit the headlines following reports it had been looted from a German-Jewish refugee.

A Holocaust survivor group is demanding its return, which authorities have said is between the family and the museum.

Nolde was a member of the Nazi party which did not recognise Expressionist work.

Hitler removed more than 1,000 paintings during his rule in Germany.

Until that time Nolde's art had been celebrated.

Paris's Les Galeries Nationales due Grand Palais offers visitors the chance to see for themselves at an exhibition which runs from September 25th to January 19th next year.

Guests will be able to see Nolde's watercolours in the very first exhibition of his work to be organised in Paris.

Book into some affordable accommodation in Paris by the Grand Palais or Grand Palace.

The gallery stands on the VIIIe arrondissement of the capital.

Lovers of Wimbledon can catch more tennis action this year in the capital of France when the ATP Masters Series hits the city.

Paris will be alive with athletes and rackets between October 27th and November 2nd when stars from around the world descend on the Palais Omnissports de Paris-Bercy.

The city will play host to the final round of the series, meaning spectators will see the ultimate champion of the competition.

The series is the highest ranking in the world after the Grand Slams and this year has stages in North America and Europe.

Last year David Nalbandian won, with people staying at the best hotels in Paris able to see the victor again this time round.

Other winners at the final Paris stage in previous years have included Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.

Etienne de Villiers, the executive chairman and president of the governing body of men's tennis, recently said he has exacted change in the sport.

He told the BBC he had modernised the contest which has led to "unprecedented levels of investment".

Included in the alterations is the use of Hawkeye, which monitors whether balls are in or outside the line, and an increase in prize money.

The romantic city of Paris is set to continue as one of the world's most attractive destinations, according to local tourist officials.

Despite a decline in long-haul visitors to the capital because of a rise in airline ticket prices, Paris is still popular with tourists because of its rich history and varied culture.

Figures from Paris's Tourism Office confirmed that there has been a fall in visitors from the US, however, the French city has welcomed a rise in tourist numbers from the Middle East, South America, Eastern Europe and India.

During the first six months of the year, the number of visitors increased by 2.2 per cent to total 17.3 million and there is expected to be a similar increase over the second half of 2008.

"Paris is doing well," Jean-Claude Lesourd, president of Paris's Tourism Office, told Business Week.

He added: "2008 will be a very good year - as good as last year and perhaps even better."

Visitors often opt to stay in the best hotels in Paris in order to make their trip to the famous city even more enjoyable.

There is plenty to see in the capital besides the traditional sightseeing tours - visitors are encouraged to take in the Musee Grevin, which houses some very impressive waxworks or see the masterpieces on show at the national Musee du Moyen Age.