Do you really need AC in your hotel/ apt in Paris in August?

Question

Do you really need AC in your hotel/ apt in Paris in August?

Answer 1

If the meteorologists are correct, there's a 30% chance that this summer will be hotter than the 2003 heatwave, when we had 40c during the day and "only" 30c at night. You will want to go home early if you DON'T have A/C if it gets that hot, because the humidity gets high too. I live near Paris and in 2003 we had to stay inside all day with the windows and shutters closed (with no A/C...hellish), we didn't open the windows until nearly 10pm and closed them again around 9am. We have since invested in a portable A/C unit; it saved us last summer, which wasn't nearly as hot.

Answer 2

To the guy above me, floor to ceiling windows don't do anything when there is no wind and it's hotter outside than inside...the frogs need to learn about A/C to make their country slightly more bearable.

Answer 3

You'll sleep much better with it.

Answer 4

Yes, it can sometimes get hot and while it is not very comfortable you can easily do without air conditioning.  

The only time I found myself seeking it out was the 2003 heat wave but other than that almost no one has A/C in Paris and you don't really miss it.  Also, August is usually pretty stormy .. . it was freezing and raining during that month last year.

Conclusion: I would not, personally, pick a hotel just on that one condition.

Answer 5

No. Many in Paris don't have AC. In France, the apartments usually have floor to ceiling windows that if you open lets in cool breezes.

Answer 6

Even if the average temperatures in Paris are generally 76 degrees, according to one respondant, Paris has had a few August heat waves.  I was there in August '03, when temperatures were well over 100 degrees (F).

With that being said, most one and two star hotels are not air conditioned.  If you decide that air conditioning is necessary, you will have to stay in a more upscale hotel.  

The cost of electricity is much higher in France, and air conditioning is considered a luxury, whereas in the United States, many people have it.  

If you are on a budget,  your best bet might be to ask when  you book if hotels have portable fans you can borrow.

Answer 7

The average high temperature in Paris is August is about 76°F and the average overnight low is 61°F which means its considerably cooler than most places in the United States.

You have to determine for yourself whether that is hot enough to warrant a requirement for air conditioning.

Answer 8

Generally yes, but we'll never know what weather will be this august. Oh, yes, in September.....