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Top 5 Hotels
We often stay in the same places, year after year
so we experience the ebb and flow of hotels
which are either getting better, or getting worse
ONE: Primo (The Best)
Hôtel Le Louis, Versailles Château – McGallery By Sofitel
Even though this hotel requires a train ride through the France country-side
This is a mythic location, just down the road from the Palace
Provides the opportunity for one of our favorite mornings in Paris:
Entering the Gates of Versaillles when it opens at 8:00 and run through this vacant albiet epic space
The Best Breakfast Buffet
The Best Desk Service
The most luxurious rooms (at a reasonable price)
TWO
Le Pullman Paris Centre
Another Remote Venue in Bercy
Although very accessible to Paris along the Seine by Velib or Running Path
Spectacular Suite (and wonderful facility)
Impressive Desk Staff (although it is all show and no go)
Very posh and professional, until you have a substantial problem
Great Breakfast Buffet
So Popular that it is a Crowd Scene (Greed and Gluttony on Full Display)
(this is one of our venues which is so good that it is almost bad)
THREE
Sofitel Paris La Defense Puteaux
We really appreciate the quality of Sofitel
La Defense, is another remote venue, worth the travel
this facility has ebbed and flowed, but is on the rise
We stayed in a remodeled room and love the Sofitel Breakfast Buffet
There are also great running opportunities
FOUR
Mercure Paris Montmartre Sacre Coeur, Paris
Our Favorite Neighborhood of Paris
And this is the most solid, respectable and consistent hotel in this arrondisemont
This is the best hotel that we have found in Montmartre
We could tell you 25 reasons that we love 18e (the eighteenth arrondisement)
FIVE
Novotel Paris Est, Bagnolet
This is five, because it is “not-as-good-as-last-year” (which happens with every hotel)
I like this place, it is cheap, but good and fun
I liked the very affordable single rooms
When we stayed in a suite, we flipped out
(spaciousness and bathtub big-enough-for-a-whale)
But then the bad experience last year
(worn-out and basic furnishings, separate dingy bedroom, with small television)
Disappointed by the Breakfast Buffet (I suspect that most Breakfast Buffets are this way)
septième
Seventh (7th)
We now stay 10 nights in Paris
usually split-up between 5 hotels
But in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, airfares are unpredictable
And instead of a reasonable Mid-Day return flight, we depart much earlier
Perhaps, staying near the airport one night
So maybe we stay at 7 different hotels
What will be the septième Hôtel?
We like the Sofitel:
Latin Quarter:
One Nighter, Saturday Run, Last Day in Paris
Montparnasse:
Niepce Paris Hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton
Roissy-en-France
If you have an EARLY flight out of CDG
Maybe you could stay near the airport
So, we are wondering if Roissy-en-France is a place to visit
Lots of Airport Hotels
But Anything Else?
Although I do miss more reasonable mid-morning flights when you can
-Get out on an early run
-Stop by the Breakfast Buffet
-Take the Red Line into Paris (one New Years Day morning
-Take the Airport Train out to CDG (always stressful for some reason)
-Big Delays at CDG
And Airport Hotels are always much cheaper
Le Pullman Paris Centre
The outpost in Bercy is a gem
A very posh hotel
Away from the city center, but an easy Metro, Jog or Bike
A nice little niche
Extraordinary Breakfast, although it is a mob
A mob of the well heeled and greedy
(a little distasteful although what great people watching)
The rooms, top-notch
The Junior Suite is well worth the price, very nice
Sofitel Paris La Defense Puteaux
Sofitel Paris La Defense Puteaux
Sofitel is my preferred brand in Paris
Over an extended period, Hotels wax and wane
The rooms show some wear
The buffet is not well attended
But the Sofitel La Defense is back and up to speed
The rooms have been remodeled
The Breakfast is great
The Staff is always good
Love the Location
Great Breakfast Buffet with Surprises
A Daily International Entry
and Daily Breakfast Cake
Expensive enough, to thin out the throng (which is not something I am accustomed to saying)
Luxury and Elegance and Superb Service
I look for Sofitel Options while in Paris
Mercure Paris Montmartre Sacre Coeur, Paris
Mercure Paris Montmartre Sacre Coeur, Paris
Pretty Good, but a Huge Personal Favorite
Great Desk Staff
Clean Rooms
Affordable Price
My Favorite Neighborhood
We return every year
Hôtel Le Louis, Versailles Château – McGallery By Sofitel
Hôtel Le Louis, Versailles Château – McGallery By Sofitel
Sofitel is my preferred brand in Paris
Great Breakfast Buffet with Surprises
A Daily International Entry
and Daily Breakfast Cake
Expensive enough, to thin out the throng (which is not something I am accustomed to saying)
Luxury and Elegance and Superb Service
I look for Sofitel Options while in Paris
Novotel Paris Est, Bagnolet
Once a treasured secret hotel
Great Price, Big Rooms, Huge Bathtubs
Then last year:
Bad Desk Service
Big Huge Room, but it felt old an not maintained
Tried the Breakfast Buffet, which was a disappointment
When a Hotel is a great bargain, it understandably attacks tourists
This big hotel seems understaffed at times
You wonder if the desk staff has any training
There was a wait for my room (and the desk staff was not helpful)
I left postcards at the front desk to be mailed when I left
(she said what do you want me to do with these?)
The Postcards arrived in the U.S. two months later
The Breakfast Buffet was nothing to return to
It is flooded with Airline Staff staying at the hotel
They stab their sausage with a fork, hold them up like a marshmallow on a stick, and then chew at the sausage
Lots of greedy people at a substandard Breakfast Buffet (no a pretty sight)
(it is understandable, but not acceptable at a mediocre buffet
