The Weekly Flyer

Any recent stays?

Can anyone confirm if there has been an updating/renovation of this hotel?

MikeBOS

I know there are a lot of positive postings about the Prince de Galles, but just to balance things out I thought I'd weigh in on a recent stay. I would, overall, rate the hotel as "fair" -- worse than average, by a significant margin, than the typical European Starwood (and I have stayed in a number of them).

The pluses:

1) Location is, as others have pointed out, very central and convenient. This is probably the biggest plus.

2) Concierge service was very good -- both knowledgeable and helpful.

Now for the minuses:

1) No upgrade at all. Granted, it was an award stay, but this was my first time as a Plat that I got exactly what I booked (lowest category room). I can't complain too much, but in my experience I have received better upgrades as a Gold at other European Starwoods than I received here as a Plat.

2) Very slow service generally. For example, luggage took over 1/2 hour to arrive in our room, and then only after two calls to the bell station to find out where it was.

3) Somewhat run down room. The room was OK on an award stay, but if I were paying the going rates, I would have been quite disappointed. They seem to be in need of a renovation.

Overall, if I were paying, I would choose other hotels (even non-SPG) over the Prince de Galles. For an award stay, it's OK but not great.

sonofzeus

Stayed 3 nites in Nov 2006 at 12000 points per nite. Room was immaculate and location was OK.
Requested/received early checkin. Amenities were paltry.

If/when we return to Paris, we'll rent an apartment in St. Germain with a full kitchen and easy access to the Metro. IMHO a better value.

topherathon

travelling with my wife and her parents. since we are 4 people with luggage, I would prefer not to take two taxis. We arrive on a Wednesday morning - I have heard both good and bad about pre-arranged shuttle service. Looking for the simplest, safest way to the Westin. Cost is a factor of course but would spend a few more euros to gain some time/convenience.

Thanks for the help folks -

Starwood - Plat
Marriott - Plat
AA - Plat

SST

Get one of the taxis waiting at CDG that CAN accomodate 4+ luggage; there's usually several. The drivers ahead of them in line will no doubt understand....... (and if they don't, so what?) I've never taken two cabs FROM CDG. Now, getting back, you're in a little jeopardy. Having the hotel call one for you could lead to a big charge. My suggestion there is that you ask your driver for his card; he'll probably have one, and you can book him personally to come back and give you your lift to the airport. It's worked for me (with three others). Have a great time in Paris!

(NOTE: In my experience, this confidence is NOT justified in Paris on the streets; PLAN on using the metro, because half the taxi drivers in the city will complain bitterly or just refuse to take you at all once they see 4 people. It pains them to move their map and stuff off the passenger seat. Arguing politely in francais will improve your percentage over 50%, and in any case you'll eventually get a ride because either a bigger cab comes along or a hungrier driver, but the arguing gets tiresome especially if it's raining and cabs are scarce, and the metro is really superb and beats a taxi most times anyway.)

stc

So, we just stayed at the Prince de Galles 96000 points for 5 nights in a suite.

I was not all that impressed.

Yes, the location is great, but:

I've had better suites in Sheratons and Hilton in the USA not be mention Plaza, Biltmore, Westin Madrid, London Conrad, and so on.

The bed was too soft. The pillows were dead. The room was too hot. Yes, Paris is going thru a heat waive, but I dread to think what this place would be like in the summer. There was a second bathroom and shower, but they didn't bother putting soap or shampoo in there.

The door lock had an interesting problem; if you opened it from the inside and didn't make sure that the deadbolt was totally unlocked, it would not unlock from the outside.

38-40 euros each for a marginal buffet breakfast??? We wound up spending 3750 points (think $75) for buffet breakfast for two each day. The buffet at the Westin Mardrid at 25 euros or so was much much much nicer.

We we arrived at 2:30 our room was not ready yet. As it turns out it wasn't ready until about 4:30. The excuse was that it was very dirty from the last guest. I think it more likely the maid was working at a typical French pace. We wound up waiting in the Bar. 17 euros for 2 diet cokes? Give me a break. First they should have been free since the room wasn't ready (skip the champaigne in the room, picking up our bar tab we we could actually use it would have been a nicer gesture). And second, 17 euros???

They actually wanted 40 euros or so for a nip (50 ml) of Cognac in the mini-bar. I'm not sure if that or the coke was a better markup for the hotel.

Paris is *NOT* supposed to be more expensive than New York, at least not that much more expensive!

At about 6 PM on the last night of our stay both TVs started blaring loudly that we had a message. The message was that the front desk wanted to know what time we were checking out the next day. IMHO, the correct way to handle this was to assume that people were checking out by the posted checkout time or maybe turn on the message light on the phone. What if we were sleeping?

And finally, after asking the concierage to get us a taxi in the morning that would take charge cards to go back to CDG and them making a BFD over which charge card we wanted to use (MasterCard) and them asking if we had a taxi reserved in the morning, when we got to CDG we found out that the taxi didn't take chargecards. Fortunately, we had enough money. But now I have to stop at the ATM and get more money (and pay another ATM fee) for AMS.

I can't wait to see if I get a survey in the (e-)mail. This is one stay that certainly feel short of expetactions, and would make me less likely to stay at a SPG / Luxury Collection Property in the future.

And I would *never* pay the 1500 Euro Rack Rate for that hotel. In fact given how bad my wife's back is from the bed, I'd probably prefer to pay money for the Four Seasons next door than get the Prince de Galles for free!

mikeyyz

Do you think it's worth $325 euros (maybe not 1000+)? They have buy 4 nights get 2 free on in May and I'm thinking about it for a special week. How was the room other than the door lock?

stc

The bed was terrible (soft, bad pillows) and the rooms was hot. If 325 Euros is for a run-of-house room, I would probably not take it unless I had a good chance of an upgrade. Seriously, what does the Hilton (Arc) or FourSeasons (next door) or even Marriott (on Champ Elysees) want a night?

mikeyyz

I was thinking the FS - even just for 1-2 nights, but they want $1000 USD (800 E) I am Plat so I think there might be a good chance for an upgrade, but maybe I should try out the LMs instead. Switching once means two stay credits ^ but I miss out on the deal. Oh well.

jumpdogjump

Had a great stay for 2 nights in Feb - Jr. suite on points pre-devaluation. (no upgrade as a gold). Try calling ahead to a front desk mgr to get chances of an upgrade a few nights, seeing as it's going to be a special occasion for you and all You may get a pleasant surprise.

mikeyyz

But was the bed as terrible as described? ms. needs a comfortable bed or she can't sleep well at all.

The Weekly Flyer

Same here. Any updates or other opinions on the beds in the junior suites?

Any recent experiences would be greatly appreciated.

stc

It was a full suite on the 8th floor. The bed sucked. Unless you like soft saggy beds.

ldsant

I stayed at the PdG last year on a free night award and had a junior suite. I thought that the hotel was fine for a free night award. Great location. However; I went to the bar to have a glass of champagne, saw that it was 16 euros and promptly walked around the corner, bought a bottle of champagne for 20 euros and brought it back to the room. The prices are high at the hotel, and if you're looking for "modern" in any way you'll be disappointed. The bed was fine; not Heavenly but it was fine. The staff was very nice though and extremely helpful when I needed directions.

Honestly, I think it's marked luxury due to its age of the hotel and the old grandeur that it has. I happened to have loved seeing my name on the TV as a "welcome"

However; in full disclosure, I only stayed here for the one night due to it being a free night on points and I never stay at chain/large hotels when in Paris (due to the fact that I'm rarely in the room so why spend the $ thought).

BogeyMan

We stayed in a jr. suite in Feb for 6 nights using points. The bed was fine, not a heavenly bed as mentioned earlier but very comfortable.