Just a couple of comments regarding my recent stay at Trianon:
*I reached the hotel via the Rive Droite train station. I believe it was the "L" train line. I walked to the hotel from the train station itself. I had a couple of decently heavy bags, but the walk wasn't bad itself. In fact, I ran into a bachelorette party on the way there and the bride insisted on giving me a cookie and a kiss.
*Upon check-in, I asked for an upgrade into the Palace building. The front desk kindly did the necessary magic and I found myself in a nice room up on the top floor (5) with a view of the chateau. One thing about the top floor however, is that the rooms don't have standard showers. I think its because the tub is underneath the building's dormer. In other words, it is not a full-height ceiling above the tub. It made for a fairly interesting attempt at a shower. The heated floors in the bathroom are amazing. How in the world did they do this in a 100 year old building?!
*The lounge in the Pavillion building is closed for good. So no bogo happy hour.
*I would have not been very happy with a room in the Pavillion. Someone up above said that the Pavillion was of "Holiday Inn Express quality" and though I did not see a room in-person, the common areas were very low-rent. And on the website it lists that the Pavillion rooms are quite a bit smaller.
*This WA is still giving out free drink certs though the updated T&Cs do not require this. It's a nice benefit because the house champagne is Pommery Brut which goes for 18 euro.
*Concierge was of no help in getting tickets to see the Chateau. They directed me to an alleged ticket retailer half way in between the Chateau and the Hotel. When I showed up, the cashier knew nothing about tickets.
*Behind the hotel, I fed the grazing goats part of a baguette that I bought at the sunday morning french market. Both things are absolute musts when visiting. The market was a great experience. It made US grocery stores look downright boring. And the goats were thoroughly entertaining.
*My key card quit working halfway through the stay and it took about 4 trips up and down the elevator to get it solved. This ended up being incredibly frustrating. Admist the frustration, I handed my shopping bags with about 400 euro of stuff over to the front desk for delivery to my room. When I got back to my room, the bags were no where to be found. Worse yet, no one had any clue what happened to the bags. Turns out they put them in someone elses room! A less honest person would not have returned the bags to the front desk. After they had been found, it still took 20 minutes to get the bags. At this point I was pretty fed up and complained. The manager comped be a 1/2 bottle of Pommery which I accepted.
*All in all, an opulent hotel and I would visit again. However next time I might be better prepared to fend for myself when it comes to needing assistance. And I would not stay there unless I had secured a Palace room.