Originally Posted by
dwcatty
I am looking at a points redemption stay for me and the Mrs in early December, going to see the Christmas lights and decorations on this, our fourth visit to Paris. Twice we stayed at the old Hilton near Park Monceau and last trip at the Renaissance Trocadero. Now I'm trying to decide which Hilton property would be best for this trip and have narrowed it down to this one (Opera), the Maison Astor and the Canopy Trocadero. I'd appreciate any thoughts or input Flyertalkers might have for me (or anyone else reading this thread in the future - I did go back three years reading posts).
Points are the same for all three; 80,000 a night. My biggest concern is the Canopy is the only property that I can book a king size bed with points. At the Maison Astor I can book a queen, which would be fine, but a double (Superior) is all the Opera will book at 80,000 points a night; it's more than double that for anything else. What chances (I know noone knows but whatdoyouthink?) do we have of getting an upgrade to either a king or queen at the Opera? My thought is early/mid December should be fairly low occupancy and the chances are good.
I do like the location of the Opera, close to Blvd. Haussman and the shopping district. Maison Astor is nearby. We stayed near Trocadero before so the location of the Canopy is not a deterent.
Honestly, what puts me off about the Canopy is the modern styling. Both the Opera and Maison Astor have more of what I consider a Parisian ~feel~. That's important to me. Reviews of the Maison Astor are less than encouraging here on FT, although over at TA people rave about the property.
All three have a free breakfast for Diamonds. Opera is the only one with a lounge, which is a nice perk. I've read the reviews of the lounge and it doesn't compare to the old Hilton's (which was fabulous), but a glass of wine and a few hors d'oevres in the evening are nice.
So all in all (this is good self therapy), it would seem Opera would be our best bet - but for the double bed. I just don't know if I want to take that gamble.
I just returned from 3 nights at Paris Opera. My plane landed about 1030am, so I probably arrived about 1130 or 12n. In my entire Diamond experience, no Hilton property has ever informed me that 'my room wasn't ready; come back at 230'. I was literally shocked. If necessary, Reception would say that 'the room isn't available right this minute', a phone call is made to housekeeping, and I'm told that I'll have a 20-30 minute wait. Nope, nothing, not even the offer of lounge access. So if a King room is vital, I'd not count on it. They literally let me wait to check in until 230, finally offered access to the Exec Lounge (I was too jet-lagged to even ask initially).
I am very easy to please, and found my room to be enormous, with every comfort imaginable. The whole hotel was over-heated to about 75F, and opening both my windows on rue St Lazare gave me a taste of true city noise; every emergency vehicle in Paris came past my room. But the room was so hot I had no choice. The Exec Lounge was fine, I was never there at peak times, but it
is tiny. Staff did a super job of keeping everything up to French standards. I do remember the lounge at the old Hilton over by Arc d T ... to die for. Had a really odd meal in the 'Grand Salon' one evening; the food was wonderful, but service was just bizarre. For your visit, you cannot beat the location!