Hilton HHonors - Which One For My Dad - Paris or Rome in January?

My dad has been to all 50 states, Canada and Mexico, however he has never been out of the country. This morning he said that he would like to visit Paris or Rome, so I said let's go!

The choices (for many reasons) are limited to:

- Hilton Charles DeGaulle Airport
- Hilton Paris Orly Airport
- Hilton Rome Airport

If you had to spend 6 nights at one of these properties in January, which one would you choose?

Hi,

6 nights at an airport hotel?? Good luck!! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

If it was me and visiting those cities I would if necessary choose a non chain hotel and spend more of my time in the city as I may want to return to my hotel during the day to change clothes( if the weather if wet)/rest my feet and relax before going out in the evening and spending around 1 hour each way back to the hotel from the city centre is not ideal to say the least.

But you have already ruled a city centre option out so ;

I would probably choose Rome as it would likely to be slightly better weather than Paris at that time of year.

Both are beautiful cities and from the airport , relatively easy to get to the city centre by public transport.

No personal experience of any of those hotels. Sorry.
Have a good trip.

Regards

TBS

[This message has been edited by The _Banking_Scot (edited 11-23-2002).]

If you do decide to go to Paris, then the Hilton Paris Charles de Gaulle seems like a great choice. It looks like a beautiful hotel. And the convenience of it being right next door to the RER, which operates the express train from the airport to central Paris, can't be beat. The express trains operate frequently and run through midnight. I think it takes about 45 minutes to get into central Paris (Châtelet Les Halles).

http://www.hilton-paris.com/roissy-airport/

Rome, slightly warmer and complimentary shuttle to and from the city several times a day -it takes ~40 minutes each way depending on traffic.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TravelManKen:
My dad has been to all 50 states, Canada and Mexico, however he has never been out of the country.</font>


Since when are Mexico and Canada part of United States?
Why the insistance on airport hotels? Stay in the city, you will have a better time. Can't tell you about any of the hotels in question, but go for Rome.


[This message has been edited by andrzej (edited 11-23-2002).]

Huh?

I of course don't know the age, health, and energy level of your Dad. My personal experience as a traveler entering his geezerhood (55), I always like to have a centrally=located hotel so that I can get back to the room once or twice a day. The notion of spending 6 nights in an airport hotel, 45-60 minutes (by just about any mode of transport, at best) from downtown, sounds awful to me.

The towns of Roissy and Fiumicino are sorry outposts, a place to arrive and leave quickly. Given the choices you listed, I'd choose "D - None of the above," and stay home. I'm sure the idea of the trip is well-intentioned, but if it were me, the aggravations would outweigh the benefits.

Note: you can find some really decent hotels at decent rates, for Paris at least, in January. You can even get miles -- check out the deals at www.aavacations.com (http://www.aavacations.com) (you don't have to fly AA to get these deals); http://www.hrs.com/ doesn't get miles but does have decent deals.

Really. If this might be your Dad's only trip to Paris or Rome, do consider not staying in some faraway outpost.

To answer a few questions:

1. It has to be one of those properties because I must use a GLON Cert (non-premium property). The cert is going to expire and it cannot be extended. Even though I'm a Diamond the cert is from another person's account and without going into private details just believe me - it will expire if it's not used.

2. I'm not going to spend money on a hotel when I have a certificate for 6 free nights; that would be just plain dumb.

3. My dad is 69 but he is in almost perfect physical shape. He can still do just about any activity that your average healthy 45 year old man could do.

4. I've been to both of these cities with my wife and we stayed in town (Hilton Paris and Westin Excelsior) both times and had arrived via train. So I'm not familiar with any of the airports.

With that said, are these locations/properties so bad that it is better to just not go at all? That seems a little extreme, but then I don't know these properties/areas - am I missing something?

Rome will have better weather and should be slightly warmer than Paris in January. Have you considered Brussels, Belgium? It has many cool things to see and do, the cuisine is excellent, and there are some good day trips from there, such as Brugge. I believe the Hilton Brussels is a Classic property, so you should be able to use a GLON award. The reason I suggest Brussels is that it is an excellent city, has a great Hilton hotel, and the hotel is CENTRALLY located.

Along these same lines, you may consider Vienna, Austria. The Hilton Vienna Plaza is a fabulous hotel, is centrally located, and is only a Classic, so you could use a GLON there too. Vienna is magnificent, has loads of culture, art, music, incredible architecture, and food. Unless you have your heart set on Paris or Rome exclusively, I'd give some serious consideration to Brussels or Vienna. I've been to all 4 of these cities and each one is amazing. You can't go wrong with any of them, but the above-posts are correct in that there is a definite benefit to having a centrally located hotel.

Would also highly recommend the Conrad Brussels for the use of the GLON, since this hotel is also rated a Classic (a rating I cant figure out since the hotel is much nicer than the Paris Hilton, on Ave Suffren)
Had a 3 day award stay there early Oct, got a room upgrade and free breakfast (no executive lounge)was able to get full breakfast for the difference of Continental to full = 5 euro.
Location upscale Ave Louise, short walk to
good subway system and trams stops and dozens of (some very) good restaurants (two whole pedestrian-only streets of them just two blocks away)
Area is also close to antique district around Place Sabon.
Mike



[This message has been edited by MIKESILV (edited 11-23-2002).]

Yes, Brussels is a very nice city to visit. There are definitely a few interesting things to see there. But, how could I put this in the gentlest way possible, it's not the most exciting city in Europe. It's charming and the food is great. But six days in Brussels alone is a bit too much.

If you plan to stay at the Conrad or Hilton in Brussels for six days, I'd recommend a day trip to Bruges and/or Antwerp. Train travel within Belgium is very easy, inexpensive, and convenient.

Also, day trips to London are possible on Eurostar. It's two and three quarter hour ride (passport required). Eurostar offers weekend day return tickets for only in €145 first class and in €85 second class.

http://www.sncb.be

Day trips to Paris are even easier and less expensive on Thalys. There are over 20 Thalys trains each day running at over 180 mph between the two capitals.

http://www.thalys.com

Rome Hilton Airport has a very nice concierge floor and lounge. I echo the comments about distance, both Rome and Paris.

Transportation from Orly or DeGaulle is better than from Fiumincino. From either Paris airport, just hop on the RER and transfer to the Metro in central Paris. The "Paris Visite" pass is valid on the RER.

If you decide on Rome, either take the hotel van to central Rome or walk over to the train station and take the train that does not go to Termini. It costs approximately 1/2 of the express and stops at Ostia, Tiburtina and similar stations which are more convenient to central Rome.

If you want to eat cheaply, reasonably, or even somewhat overpriced at this hotel, you cannot! Breakfast is of course included since I assume that you are at least Gold. Quite good buffet, but could become boring 6 days in a row. The evening snacks in the concierge lounge are, IMO, of poor quality, as is the extremely overpriced food in the downstairs buffet and coffee shop. Wine service starts at 1830 and my experience says you have to ask. Bring your own before 1830. Beer, juice, coffee, diet coke and coke, fanta etc. are available all day as are simple cold nibbles. There are no restaurants within a reasonable distance of the airport. The nice thing is that you could rent a car for day trips north of Rome because of excellent Autostrada access which bypasses the heinous Rome traffic. Unfortunately, the formerly free parking directly in front of the hotel is now chained off. Rental cars are in the parking garage across from the hotel. Car return from the hotel can be confusing at best.

Please e-mail should you have any specific questions.

Ken,

How about Vienna or Prague?

The Hilton Prague is really nice, and if you're a Gold/Diamond there is a very nice Executive Lounge.

The Hilton Vienna is very well situated and is the terminal for the motor coaches to the airport. Just don't buy any drinks in the hotel bar - I paid $13 for a Crown Royal and 7-up... The Hilton Vienna Plaza is supposedly even nicer.

The RER ride out to CDG will NOT be fun. When we did it inbound at 10am, the conductor came and talked with us about being careful as he said there is substantial crime (mostly muggings and thefts) on that route.

[This message has been edited by ElmhurstNick (edited 11-24-2002).]

I like Frank O'Fael's (sp?) Brussels suggestion!! While it's true that 6 days in Brussels might be a bit much, day trips by train would be simple to Bruges (about 1 hr each way) or Paris (1hr 25mins each way).

I second the vote for the Conrad Brussels. Do six nights there and take day trips by train to Amsterdam and Bruges and/or Antwerp.


btw, my old band did a song about Antwerp:

http://www.accessplace.com/gdtc/1027.htm

Just a common sense question...

Since your dad has never left North America, has he acquired a passport? If not, he better hustle to get one in time!

------------------
Addicted to airline miles? Check out: Mileage Workshop (http://www.mileageworkshop.com) --- "You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." - Frank Zappa (1940-93)

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Since your dad has never left North America, has he acquired a passport? If not, he better hustle to get one in time!
</font> The San Francisco passport agency is real cool. All he had to do was tell them he had a trip coming soon and they process your passport the same day!

I can't tell you all how much I appreciate the responses and suggestions. Later this evening I'm going to look at all of the rail options to/from Brussels. I know the Eurostar will take you to London and Paris, so maybe we'll try that as an option.

I was really leaning toward Rome, however it seems that the consensus here is that the hotel, while nice, is so far out of the city that it would make for a horrific week.

I second the vote for Brussels, and definitely take a trip to Brugge. In fact if you could extend your stay beyond six nights, you do some touring of Belgium. I did a week in Belgium with my husband about 2 years ago and rented a car. The roads are great, the signage clear, and it's a small enough country that you can really get around. We stayed at a couple of Inns, went back to Brugge and found a restaurant we had dined at 15 years before. There are wonderful museums re WWI and there are so many cities worth spending some time. This is not to offend anyone, but Belgium is like France without the arrogance. People are helpful and don't expect you to know French and Flemish. We drove into Luxomberg which was also a treat. So, there are lots of day trips out of Brussels and then areas where it would be nice to not have to return to Brussels for the night - so if you have more time....You might want to think about renting a car and not having to rely on train schedules. I actually went to Brussels for the President's week-end which was 6 weeks Before our planned week. There was a cheap fare, bonuses at the time, and I was able to do the Platinum challenge by adding the extra trip. I explained to everyone that I was scouting out the place. For the second trip I told everyone that I had run out of chocolate from the first trip.

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Ms.DtG

TMK - you have gotten some very good advice here. I'd go for Brussels as well, especially if you can get the Conrad which is a nice property and very well situated. As wideman points out, the Thalys (high speed train between Paris and the Benelux countries) is just a short trip from city center to city center and a whole lot more comfortable than the RER!

Rome would most likely have nicer weather, but the thought of spending a week in one of the most beautiful cities in the world stuck out at the airport is depressing (to me).

My brother was in Italy for two weeks last year and spent his last night at the Rome airport Hilton (he had spent five days in the city center at the beginning of his trip). He said the property was fine (perfect for an early morning flight) and the shuttle to town was easy and fairly quick, but he couldn't believe that people would actually stay there to visit Rome.

Edit to add: hope you have a great trip with your Dad wherever you go. Feel free to e-mail me if you need any suggestions for Paris or Brussels. Also, Antwerp is a very short train trip for Brussels and a fun place to make a day trip.


[This message has been edited by blairvanhorn (edited 11-24-2002).]

Hi,

I agree with the above posts, Brussels is well worth a visit with Brugges a wondeful city for a day trip (or possibly stay overnight there).
The Hilton Brussels and Brussels City are both good with the Brussels one ( near Ave. Louise) better.
There is the Hilton Brussels Residence also but do not know much about that one.

Regards
TBS

Ken,
I've been to two of the three you mentioned and the Conrad at BRU.

My first choice will be Rome. So many things to see, a lot of history and culture to get him busy for six days. FCU Hilton is a nice modern hotel, friendly staff, daily hotel shuttle to downtown, and the weather is not bad this time of the year (specially for Northern Californian http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif)

Paris CDG will be my second choice.
From Paris you could take a day trip to Brussels or Amsterdam.


AndrewM

Given the choice of cities at that time of year, Rome would win IMO. But the choice of the Hilton Airport just doesn't work IMO.

Just remember that the trip to/from the Centro Storico (central Rome) could be anywhere from 25-30 minutes on a Sunday morning to well over an hour (or more) with traffic. Despite his great health, we are talking about a trip for a 69 year old man. Given that most of us like to go back to our hotel at some point during the day to set down purchases, rest, or freshen up before dinner, the Rome Airport Hilton just doesn't work in this case.

[This message has been edited by Jerry Garcia (edited 11-25-2002).]

If your dad has never been to Europe---&gt;GO TO ROME!!! Words cannot explain the feeling after visiting all the historical ruins and seeing the Sistine Chapel. Paris is nice, but there is no comparison! Also, the food and wine in Italy is the best in Europe!!! Dont worry about the hotel, I wouldnt waste my Points to visit a European country in the off-season..you can find some great deals that time of year---try www.hoteldiscounts.com. (http://www.hoteldiscounts.com.)

CIAO!

[This message has been edited by Debragwu (edited 11-25-2002).]

I think where I am torn most is this: I want to make sure I take him where HE wants to go. Pure logic would say Brussels if it were myself or my wife because we've bee to all of the other places. However it's difficult to justify taking my dad to Brussels for his only trip to Europe.

My dad is thinking about the Colosseum, The Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Eiffel Tour, Mona Lisa and the Moulin Rouge; not Brussels. On the other hand I also know how much it sucks to not be near your hotel during the day.

Usually I am very decisive, but this is a really difficult choice. Well I'll make sure to let all of you know where we end of going and create a trip report. My wife, mother, sister and grandmother are already nervous about my dad and I "having a one-week party in Europe." http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

It's decided - Rome! I spoke with my father for about 30 minutes this morning and laid out all of the options, the pros & cons, etc. The analogy that I used (since he is from SFO) is that the hotel location would be like staying in San Mateo while visiting San Francisco. Even though he was said that he would happy going anywhere, I was able to get him to admit that there are 3 places that he has always wanted to visit - The Coliseum, The Vatican and The Eiffel Tour - Rome has two.

I'll probably rent a car and drive out to Florence for a day trip and maybe another city as well. Thanks again for all of the advice and guidance, this should be fun.

Glad you had to make the decision (and not I)
You will have a lot of fun driving in Italy.
Though Florence is nice, one day may not enough and the city can be packed around the holidays.
If you have only one day I suggest you leave early stop in Orvieto in the morning, drive to Pisa takes only a few hours to see the Duomo and the tower (its hard to believe but pictures do not do them justice) and the afternoon/night in Siena. The latter in my opinion a much nicer city than Florence, fantastic Doumo (better than Florence's) and huge shell shaped piazza where they have the semi-annual horse races with people just having a stroll and meeting friends till way past midnight. Florence is nice but you need more than one day to visit the Uffizi, the Gardens of Boboli, Palacio Pitti, statue of David etc.
Mike



[This message has been edited by MIKESILV (edited 11-25-2002).]

Good for you for really thinking it through and deciding to do what your Dad wanted to do most.

You'll have a great time - enjoy.

Well done, Ken -- I'm sure the trip will please you both.

If you do decide to drive up to Tuscany, there are 2 places on the way to Florence that you really might think about:

Siena is an absolutely lovely city, smaller and more manageable than Florence but every bit as beautiful and interesting. The center of town is an open, arena-like area, where the famous paleo horse race takes place twice each year.
San Gimignano is a medeival city built on top of a hill, with a dozen or so towers still in place. If it didn't exist, Disneyland would have had to build it just so they could copy it.

I enjoyed reading the comments. This was tough and I think you and your dad made the right decision for YOUR trip. He is lucky to have you!

Can you get a free stop over or force an overnight to include 1 day in Paris???

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">jukebox: Can you get a free stop over or force an overnight to include 1 day in Paris???</font> Talk about being on one accord - as you were typing this note, I was trying to figure out a way to pull that off. I can't find any logical routings that will allow us to take advantage of the free stopover en-route. It seems to be limited to ORD, IAD, JFK, LHR, FRA or MUC.

I'm going to place a call to UA and see if we can find something that works.

TMK, I am in Rome now. There is plenty to see at the Vatican, be sure to go as early as possible. The last ticket to tour the inside of the Coliseum is sold at 3:30pm. I do not know about driving, though, it is crazy!

Linda

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TravelManKen:
I'll probably rent a car and drive out to Florence for a day trip and maybe another city as well. Thanks again for all of the advice and guidance, this should be fun.</font>

Since you'll be staying at the airport, the easiest, fastest, and cheapest way to get to Florence (my favorite city in the world, you need to go to Il Latini for dinner) is to take the train. The termini is easy to get to from the airport, and the train to Florence takes less than 2 hours. The views are great (even at 175 MPH), and it beats paying $7/gallon for gas.

Travelmanken, give us an update on you plans. Were you able to figure out a way to squeeze Paris in. Air France woould be a natural, but they aren't partners with United. You could fly into Paris and out of Rome using miles to fly between the two cities on Lufthansa. You might want to post the question on United's thread. They have quite a few experts who can work this out for you.


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TravelManKen, in case you consider renting a car for 1-2 daytrips (or you could arrange a guided (& more expensive) bus tour): drive to Pompeji!

TMK - Sounds like it will be a wonderful time. My wife and I spent 2 weeks in Italy in Sept 2002 - and had a blast. I personally would spend more time in Siena and a TON of time in San Giam. as noted above - the best cities for sure. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif As for Rome - we hired a guide for the Vatican and it was wonderful. Guides and their guests can get into the Vatican 30 min before opening (to get tickets and get inside - and skip the line - the actual museum doesn't open early) and it was great to have a "roman" walking us through, showing us the secret treasures, special paintings etc. Our guide was waiting with a sign and we walked past the 200+ person line and right in. We used http://www.romelodgingandlimos.com Bob's Limo & Tours - he is an American living in Italy with many Italians that work for him. We used him for airport transfers and a day trip to Pompeii and Naples. In any case - about $120 for 2-3 tour plus entry ($10 ea I think). Just a recommendation - a tour was a great/quick way to see what we wanted to for us. THere are many out there - but it was a luxury that we really enjoyed.

We also drove to Pisa - you can park for e 1.00/hr outside the walls and walk in to see the Leaning Tower. We were in/out in 1 hr - but did not go into the Duomo. It was a impulse stop - we were on our way to Piedmont.

I hope you and your dad have a wonderful time. As for the stopover option- you could stop in LHR - take the tube to Waterloo station and the Eurostar to Paris. They have special prices with a same day return sometimes. No doubt it is a strech -might be more train riding than anything. And US flights arrive early into London, go to Paris for the day - and take the night flight to Rome. Since you are staying near the airport - that late arrival might work well. It will be a LONG day - but you can nap on the train each way - and hussle around Paris. The Eiffel and Louvre are within walking to the Metro (and not THAT far from each and you can make a bee-line for the Mona Lisa. A hint - take the Metro to the Louvre underground - don't go in at the Pyramid. You can get right in underground - and avoid *some* lines that form outside (if it is raining - long lines everywhere). http://www.paris.org/Metro/

What about an open-jaw - arriving in LHR - Eurostar to Paris - then leaving from Paris to Rome?

Enjoy! Buon Viagge (or something like that! my wife was the Italian - I was the German)

If you stop in London, British Air offers round trip flights to Paris for about $95.00. Come on, you can have it all!

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I'm going to write a more detailed trip report later when I have some more time. Thank you to everyone for all of your tips and advice - it was an awesome trip! We stayed at the Hilton Rome Airport for 6 nights last week and my dad was 100% happy and excited about the entire trip - air travel (LH Biz Class), hotel (great room, exec lounge) and of course the city of Rome.

I can't tell you all how exciting is was to be able to make my father that happy. Happier than I have ever seen him in my entire life. Heck he's 69 and I'm 32 and he outlasted me one day while we were out walking - and I'm in pretty good shape. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Well now I have to get busy planning a trip for my wonderful wife who let me use so many points (that she earned too) and miles to take my dad on a trip.