dwcatty

I wouldn't go that far...but pretty close.

We spent the first night of our nine in Paris at the Versailles Trianon Palace before moving on to the ADT. It was a very nice hotel and an excellent use of one of my Q3FNs. The clientele is definitely upper crust, and you can almost smell money instead of perfume when guests walk by. It was a good stay for one night for our purposes, but there was nothing about the hotel itself that makes me long to go back.

Having read reports here ahead of time about the two different buildings I wrote the property the week of our arrival and specifically requested a room in the main building. We got it. No upgrade, however.

The room was comfortable. There were 12 foot ceilings and a window that actually opened into the courtyard. The bathroom was rather odd - the floor was heated but there was no control for it. The glass panel for the shower only extended halfway. Bed was firm but comfortable, sheets were excellent quality and the towels and robes were fluffy.

We got no breakfast although we did have use of the pool and hammam (which were wonderful for our aching bodies after the long travel day), and they gave us a coupon for two free drinks at the patio bar. The concierge was very helpful, and I think can sell you tickets to the chateau or gardens, but we had already purchased them at a tourist office we passed near the train station. They had good information on the trains.

We arrived in Versailles after the overnight flight from the States and rolled our suitcases there from the Rive Gauche station, stopping at the market in Notre Dame Square to buy picnic supplies. They seemed rather surprised to see guests arriving on foot. Same with our departure; we walked to the Rive Droite station and that surprised them to no end.

We used the WA-TPV as a base to see the Versailles palace and gardens. We entered the gardens just across the street from the hotel our first day and had a picnic and just wandered the gardens watching the fountains play to stave off jet lag. After a good nights sleep were at the entrance of the chateau the next morning when it opened, and after touring the main building stopped back at the hotel (after visiting the market again for more picnic supplies) to check out and leave our bags in storage, and then went and saw the Grand and Petite Trianons before catching the train into Paris. It worked out perfectly for us.

As for a comparison to the ADT, I wrote a rather lengthy report on our stay there a week ago. The only reason I would choose the VTP over the ADT is if I wanted to spend two days doing the chateau and gardens, which we did. For our purposes a Hilton Garden Inn would have done just as well. Having stayed there, I have no burning desire to return.