omegadeal

I would recommend staying in the city as well. If you don't have enough points then you may want to consider priceline. I got the Novotel Les Halles last year for slightly above $100US/night and it was an ok hotel in a great location.

FTraveler

I stayed there on several occasions. Modern French hotel chain. Great base to visit the city. I had a junior suite for several nights @ $130 pn several years ago. Steps from Chatelet RER/Metro lines. Direct RER trains take you to CDG, Notre Dame, Place de Gaulle. Next to Les Halles shopping complex and dozens of dining options. Within walking distance of the Louvre.

flyboy_421

I'd recommend staying in the city, we stayed once at the Hotel Normade (terrible spelling), it was about $110/night. I wouldn't worry about the number of stars too much, nor would I care about the hotel having breakfast. Paris is one of te best places in the world (IMHO) to just go out for breakfast at a local pub. Just about any bar serves a better breakfast then you'll find in most hotels. Not super fancy, just great tasting and cheap.

Save the bucks and spend it on the unbelievable food and wine. The airport hotel is way way too far out.

How short are you point wise for the second night?

BamaVol

I'll be way short. Current balance is around 195,000. Could conceivably be up to 260,000-270,000. Need 350,000. Oh well.

My choice is between an award/paid combo at a Hilton property or 2 paid rooms elsewhere. I'll keep looking. Cheapest prepaid Hilton room is E219 a night, I think at ADT or E195 at La Defense. So to beat that I'd have to find an apartment or 2 rooms for less. I'm not sure what I might find. Is PL an option?

sy7

If your stay includes a weekend, priceline often has great deals for the La Defense area, eg $70-80/night. You might not get the Hilton, but all the hotels there get good reviews and it shouldn't be too difficult to switch. Weekdays are more expensive, but you can use points for that. Actually, La Defense is the only zone in Paris that I would bid for, since it seems to have uniformly decent 4* hotels that are all close to a metro station (unless you bid for the central 5* >$200 hotels).

RDU-Man

Paris is not CDG. You MUST stay somewhere in the city and WALK and take short metro hops. If you stay at CDG, you might as well have not even been to Paris. Don't do it! Please.

daph

We checked out both those Hiltons when we were in Paris in August-Sept. Even the Hilton Paris [I think that had to change their original name because of that notorious Hilton heiress! At least that appeared to be the name when we actually saw the place] isn't in too exciting a neighborhood although it is near the Eiffel Tower. It was nice but rather bland. They have a view bar/resto on the top floor. We spent the night before our flight home at the Novotel at CDG. It had pretty good food and we had a room with a view near an offshoot of the runway. There is a non-smoking floor. We stopped in at the Hilton. It is rather vast, inside and out. The lobby is large but not that inviting, nor is the bar/restaurant. The menu prices looked high. There is a Bouche D'Ore ? stand in the RER station. They are quite good as a rule but this one didn't seem to have much choice. We had a bad meal at the Ibis "cafeteria".There's really not much else around unless you bus to another hotel. I'm not sure of the ages of your sons but to be out there would be a tough trip for little ones and boring for the older ones, IMO.

dtremit

One thing to look into is the possibility of renting a private vacation apartment. Of course there are risks, and you don't get hotel services, but the savings can be quite significant, too -- two bedroom apartments for $1000-1500 a week in good areas aren't out of the ordinary. Besides, for me, strolling the open-air markets of Paris and buying food for simple meals is part of the charm of the city.

VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner) has a lot of good listings with pictures:

http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals...e-france/paris

(Note that if you search on other sites, Paris is often listed under "Ile-de-France," which is the "state" in which Paris is located.)

Hog Heaven

My husband and I recently stayed at the CDG Hilton (using points) on the night before what was supposed to be our flight back to U.S.A. Check-in was great, upgrade given, lounge access, amenities in room, etc., etc.

Flight to U.S. got ultimately cancelled and all passengers were sent to Hilton. My husband and I were in first group to arrive. Now I realize that the airline is paying a (cheap) negotiated rate for rooms in this situation, but the staff at the Hilton went out of their way to annoy the Hilton Hhonors people. They would not let us use the Hilton Hhonors check-in, they wouldn't give any upgraded rooms (even though the hotel was obviously very empty) and wouldn't allow lounge access.

Am I out of line to think they could have shown a little tiny demonstration of appreciation for their better customers? SHould I attempt to contact the Hotel G.M. or anyone else at Hilton Hhonors? OR is this just one of those 'tough turkey' situations?

Bondiboy

It sound a lot like the treatrment given to those with Priceline Reservations. Most probably the hotel was swamped with airline referred guests. I would be inclined to be thankful you had a room for the night.

kyushuman

I'm staying at the Hilton CDG 2/19.
As a HHonors Gold, if I book the pre-paid, EUR99 rate for room only, I can assume lounge access based on the previous posts.
My question: Will I have a choice of Breakfast in the lounge or in the restaurant, or can I only take the meal in the lounge? I would prefer the restaurant, since my friends will be in the hotel and aren't HH Gold.
Alternatively, I could book a room with breakfast, but it's EUR129, about $40 more.
Thanks!

kyushuman

bump?

dunwu

Hi, We stayed there 1 night last month and were upgraded to Exec. floor as gold, but we were allowed to eat in the restaurant with no problem. It's a pretty good hotel. Enjoy your stay!

kyushuman

Thanks for the reply.
I got exactly the same treatment--I was upgraded to an Exec Room, 301, huge with great view of the planes. Quiet, with a decent spread at the Exec Lounge on 1st Floor.
Breakfast was quite nice, could be taken either in the Exec Lounge or in the main restaurant--and I recommend taking it in the main restaurant, which was much less busy than the Exec Lounge.
Great hotel, friendly service, nice gym, 5-minute shuttle to Terminal 2E.

SAT Lawyer

My wife and I are staying at the Hilton Charles de Gaulle this upcoming Tuesday night before our Wednesday return flight to the States. We will be arriving at the hotel from central Paris (Chatelet-Les Halles) on the RER B (and not from the airport). Which RER station should we use? CDG1? CDG2? And can we walk from the RER station directly to the hotel rather than going to an airport terminal first to catch the hotel shuttle?