Needed a last minute five-night stay on points in Paris that could sleep three in early August. The Hotel de Berri was one of the few options available at the time. Booked a Deluxe Room (the most basic) on points and hoped for the best. In general, we had a great stay.
Pre-arrival – The concierge desk reached out to see if they could be of assistance and they passed on my request for a rollaway/sofa bed for our early teens son to their reservations desk. One thing I was concerned about was getting from Gare du Nord to the hotel as my wife has some mobility issues and the Paris Metro is almost entirely stairs. Not fun with enough luggage for a two-week trip. They suggested a private driver with a mid-class Mercedes for 115 euro. Highway robbery I thought given the distance was less than five kilometres. However, a friend wisely recommended I book it and I did about four days out. Within an hour of booking was upgraded to a Prestige Suite. Perhaps a coincidence given the experiences of others.
Arrival – It turned out the driver was a good investment. The Eurostar train in front of us was delayed so it arrived only a few minutes before ours did so there were tons of international passengers and it was rush hour with crowds from numerous other trains. A professional looking driver met us at the end of the platform and within seconds he had whisked us out of the crowd into a small private parking area on a lower level. It took longer to walk along the train platform than it did for him to get us out into traffic. It definitely beat fighting off crowds (and pickpockets) for a rush hour taxi.
The driver called ahead to the hotel when we were a few minutes out. One of the Assistant Managers personally checked us in and gave us a tour of the hotel and our room. She noted that the owners, the Dokhan brothers, are art collectors and that the hotel is filled with thousands of pieces of art and all rooms are different.
Room – Our hearts sank a little when she said that it was time to see our room and opened a door that led directly out of the bar. Thankfully it was to a stub hallway for three rooms and our room had at least an inch of soundproofing. We never heard a peep from the adjacent bar. About the only noise we heard during the stay was children running in a room above, but their footsteps were not that intrusive.
I found the room set-up to be a bit odd. As noted by others, the suites are really long. The entry room was somewhat large with a large set of closets, drawers and not much else. Through a door was the bedroom/living area. Facing the private garden was a treat. No people are allowed in it. I know others have dismissed it as shrubs, but greenery is a rarity in central Paris. Plus, there is one of those “You can drive this car” things up the block where yahoos can rent a Lamborghini for a few hours and rev the engines as they pass the street side of the hotel.
Lots of art in the room. There were two TV’s inside two-way mirrors on the walls. The iPad to control the TV’s, curtains, etc. was not that hard to use, although my son was the focus of the demonstration. The bathroom had a large separate standalone tub and the shower had an aromatherapy plug-in feature that resembled Keurig coffee pods. The heated towel racks were a nice touch. Actually, we even had trouble finding the separately-located toilet afterwards. Our eyes were used to outside light and the room is a little dim given the art. Eventually noticed a gold handle sticking out of some stylized wallpaper in the entry room. No doorframe, just a thin cut in the wallpaper for the door. The TOTO toilet had numerous non-flushing functions.
Breakfast/Drinks/Food – Given the previous confusion noted above I made a point of asking what was included for Platinum guests and it was Continental Breakfast for all three of us. Some cold meats, cheeses, fruits, yogurts, a ton of breads, etc. with refillable coffee and juice. Not elaborate like other countries but more than enough to get us started for the day. Service was attentive and fast. We also received three drink vouchers for the regular bar menu.
The bar looks back into the private garden. The restaurant (closed for August like much of Paris) looks out to the street.
Staff – Uniformly friendly and helpful. I was impressed at the degree that they shared information amongst each other. When we arrived, a magnet on the top of the shower door had dropped out of place and had essentially locked the door shut. An employee tried in vain to open the door but could not. I eventually figured out that one could open the door by reaching over the doorframe and pushing back. When I went to the front desk to report this, I was so tired from travelling that I forgot to say who I was or what room I was in and simply started talking about my fix for the magnet. The person I was speaking with whom I had never met immediately said my name. A nice large plate of cookies and macarons were sent to the room to make up for the fact that maintenance had gone home for the night and no one could fix it until the next day.
Some hiccups – Given how well things had been going I didn’t even think of checking out until the second last day of our stay. As Platinum, we should have received a guaranteed 4:00 p.m. late checkout, given that this is not a “resort” or a “convention hotel”. I went to the desk only to be told that late checkouts are “based on availability” and given that another Platinum guest had already been assigned our room for the next night no late checkout was possible. While I was offered the use of a Deluxe Room for the next afternoon, this defeats the purpose of a late checkout where you can do things during the day and pack at leisure. I didn’t feel like arguing in front of others so we simply stored our luggage the next day. I realize that this property has a limited number of rooms, but if they are going to be a Category 8 property, they could at least adhere to the regular program benefits.
One of the advertised amenities is “Outlet with dual voltage adaptors”. I didn’t realize that this was literally meant as singular. There is one multi-power outlet next to the desk by the window. In a reeeeeally long suite that really doesn’t help if you need something near the bed or the bathroom. We were having trouble getting an adaptor that we had brought to work so I called the desk to see if we could borrow one. Was somewhat surprised when I was told that there were no adaptors to borrow and that I would have to go to a store buy one if I wanted one.
A small point, but apart from the magnet that failed, three different lightbulbs burned out while we were there and I had to call to have them replaced. Not really sure how this property is going to hold up, especially with a few paint chips already in evidence and it had only been open for just over a year.
Summary – Generally a great stay with a minor few hiccups. However, I don’t think North Americans from large cities staying on points are the main target market. One employee made a somewhat telling comment when they said that they found it nice for a change that we wanted to experience various cultural attractions in Paris rather than simply “go shopping”. No offence to the Champs Elysees, but In Toronto we already have Louis Vuitton, macarons at Ladurée, Massimo Dutti, etc. The large number of TV channels in Chinese, Russian and Arabic were, I think, another telling sign.