Stayed here recently for an FT DO and thought I would post some pictures of the hotel and room in case it helps others in future. I did not find another trip report thread for this hotel so apologies if this already exists, MOD’s feel free to move as appropriate.

Hotel Website:(in English)

sofitel-paris-le-faubourg

Location:

The Main Feature: (King Bed)



King BedbyBA_pics, on Flickr

Lobby of Hotel:



Lobby SeatingbyBA_pics, on Flickr

Skylight above Lobby:



Skylight FaubourgbyBA_pics, on Flickr

Location

The hotel is very conveniently located for sightseeing and tourist visits to Paris, being located very close (100m) to the Place de la Concorde and associated metro station (underground public transport). The hotel is in the area where there are many high end brand name boutique stores with the American Embassy at one end of the street so controlled access for vehicles only which kept the traffic noise down to be certain…however, would ideally not want to be so close to any embassy wherever I stay!

Public transport is quite good in Paris and the sign posts were mostly easy to use and read with several in English for tourists. If you are arriving from Paris CdG airport then you can take the RER B train to the station Chatelet les Halles where you transfer to the local Metro (underground) and take line No. 1 towards La Defense for a few stops to Concorde. The whole trip from the airport to the hotel was less than 20 Euro certainly but I can’t remember exactly how much (IIRC around 14 Euro in total per person one way).

Taxis are available of course but far more expensive. There are also other options such as buses from Air France but we didn’t explore those.

Within easy walking distance were many sights so overall an excellent location.

Check In

I received the usual Sofitel email in advance of the stay asking if we had any wishes and what time we expected to arrive, etc…I usually ignore these but decided to try this time and see what response if any I would get. Unfortunately, NONE. I had mentioned that we would be arriving around 14:00 and would appreciate it if the room would be available then (or if they were kind enough to upgrade us to a better room!) I also asked a few questions and as mentioned, no response at all. Why bother sending the emails if they don’t respond?

View from Lobby to Entrance of Hotel:



View from lobby to EntrancebyBA_pics, on Flickr

Anyway, I had booked a Prestige Suite (called the Collection Suite) which was going for just under 700 Euros a night (we only stayed one night) at the advanced cash rate. I used a whack of points to reduce this down to a reasonable amount. We booked breakfast as well.

We were a bit delayed in our arrival and finally showed up at 15:30 to check in…the room was not ready. Not impressed to be honest. First the email, then showing up after normal check in starts for a 700 Euro room and it isn’t ready…The check in staff was friendly I have to say and apologised and told us that if we wished to wait a few minutes they would ask the cleaning staff to prioritise the room and offered us a complimentary coffee while we waited, which was nice and better than nothing. I did ask if my platinum number was on the reservation and was told yes, I asked if we would be receiving a room upgrade and told flat out no. ‘You have reserved the collection suite’ as an answer. Oh well…

To make matters worse, after finishing our drinks and flipping through the magasines in the foyer we decided we should ask about the room again (it was now 16:30). The original staff member that had checked us in was no longer around so went to another desk…This person says ‘of course your room is ready…’ thanks, we were waiting for the hell of it.

Anyway, a big fail for all of this as proactive email not answered, room not ready, no upgrade and no welcome and then no notice when room is finally ready…

Room

I was starting to worry at this stage about the hotel as we hadn’t had a good impression up to this point, however, the room was lovely. To get to it you could get in one of two lifts near the entrance. The lifts were old and slow with one having the door so bad it nearly doesn’t close! The lift buttons are duct taped over on some floors that must exist but are not used any longer (6 and 7 IIRC) which didn’t give a good impression…I mean duct tape in a lift of a hotel charging 300 Euro a night minimum!

Back to the room…For Paris the room was very big and lovely. Quiet although directly on the street (but as mentioned little car traffic due to controlled access). Several windows to the street and some opened to get fresh air if you wanted. The room was not a true suite in my opinion as there was no door to close off the bedroom from the living area but nevertheless the room was nice. There was a loo just off the entrance (the only one) which had the lights working on motion detection…so you had to move around a bit while doing your business or face darkness once in a while as the timer was too short. On the other side of the entrance hallway was the wardrobe with the usual storage space and shelves with coffee machine (Nespresso) along with mini bar (not free I was explicitly told!) and some nice extras such as an umbrella, shoe horns, etc…

There are a bewildering array of lighting options in the main rooms and bathroom…several switches and it took a while to figure out what did what and some subtle night lighting as well…nice but took a while to get the hang of!

The hallway leads to the main living room with a sofa along with a few modern tables and a 42” TV as well as a work desk area.

View to Living Room:



View to Living Area from BedroombyBA_pics, on Flickr

Work Desk Area:



Work DeskbyBA_pics, on Flickr

Plenty of Connection/Power Options:



AV and Power optionsbyBA_pics, on Flickr

The bedroom is just beyond this through a narrowed section of wall separation. As mentioned, no door. The King bed was fantastic and we slept great. There was a Bose radio with dock for iPhone or iPod (older wider connector) and another similar sized TV in the bedroom.

View to Bedroom:



View to Bedroom from Living RoombyBA_pics, on Flickr

Bedside Table:



Bedside Table with Bose RadiobyBA_pics, on Flickr

To the one side of the bed is the bathroom which is very nice and spacious with dark tones or marble throughout. the shower area was extremely deep and spacious with something like 2 meters by 1 meter wide behind a glass door. Both a rain shower and a hand wand were available.

View to Bathroom from Bedroom: (there are curtain in the bathroom for privacy behind the glass)



View to Bathroom from BedbyBA_pics, on Flickr

Lovely Bathtub:



BathtubbyBA_pics, on Flickr

Massive Shower:


ShowerbyBA_pics, on Flickr

Sink and Vanity Area:


Sink and Vanity AreabyBA_pics, on Flickr

The bath was a lovely deep long bath in the centre of the room and a decent sized sink and vanity area (only one sink though). Typical Hermes products (including Eau de Toilet but no hand creme).

Plenty of Towels:


TowelsbyBA_pics, on Flickr

Bathrobes and slippers were available (slippers hidden in one of the side commodes in the bedroom).

We were only in the room for a few minutes when the knock came to deliver some extra water (2 small bottles were in the room already) along with a bottle of wine and some macaroons. All appreciated.

Wine and Macaroons:


Platinum AmenitybyBA_pics, on Flickr

Room was lovely but not worth 700 Euro in my opinion and especially as no loo in main bathroom and no ability to close off the two areas from each other in case you were doing some business here. For Paris it is very large at around 40 m2.

Dining

Restaurant / Breakfast Area:


Restaurant AreabyBA_pics, on Flickr

We came down a bit late around 10:00 and found the breakfast area still very busy (Sunday), especially given it closes at 11:00. We soon did get a table and after realising no one was coming to take any orders for coffee or juice we tracked someone down and ordered these. We also were left to find out for ourselves that the breakfast buffet was spread around the room and even just outside towards the reception and lobby area…once we realised this the selection was good and we found it decent (again stupid money if you hadn’t booked in advance or special deal). One could order items from the kitchen as well but no menu was on our table…

The staff were friendly once the majority of guests had left though and were helpful when we did get someones attention. We only had cold items so can’t comment on the hot food but the cold items were numerous and excellent quality.

The breakfast area is the restaurant and it is rather small so at peak times it will be difficult to find a table.

Service

Check Out:

All too soon we had to check out and head back to the UK, the check out was very quick and efficient and the staff provided a itemised list of additional charges we would need to cover which was appreciated as someone had tried to put a glass of wine on our room. This was then checked (signature) and immediately removed with an apology.

We left a bag with the concierge and walked around for a few hours and then came back to collect it and have some lunch in the bar area (a separate area to the left when you enter the hotel down the corridor and to the left again). The bar food was excellent if pricey with excellent service. We had received a drinks voucher for two when we checked in for use in the bar and there was no problem with using this.

Overall

A lovely location which is very convenient for tourists is the main attraction, I would suggest getting a base level room or only one higher and hoping for an upgrade though as the ‘suites’ are not worth the extra 300 to 400 Euro over a base room IMO.

We would return due to the location and the staff were generally very good and welcoming to non French speaking guests but there were a few issues that stopped me from saying this is in the same league as say the Sofitel Vienna.

One hopes they can improve and get rid of the issues as it would then be an outstanding hotel.

I would recommend the hotel for first time tourists with points to burn and the above room choices…not the luxury hotel I was hoping though so will consider the George V or others next time I feel like treating Mrs. BotB to true luxury.

Hope this review helps, the pictures hopefully show the room and hotel to be quite nice and the above problems are all first world issues….

Paris belongs to my favorite cities. This time, the arrival wasn’t easy. The hotel informed only last minute that the demonstrations that’s going on in Paris will affect the traffic and public transportations. The street where the hotel is located would be closed.

If I knew this earlier I would have cancelled our flexible booking. But I received the information way too late to make any changes. The hotel also informed that a bellboy will be available at the beginning of the street to assist arriving guests. He was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was an army of police interrogating everyone who tried to access the closed street.

Moreover, our rude driver declined to take us to the final destination. He suddenly stopped the car and said he won’t drive any further. He left us on our own in some random street. We had to tug our bags in a rain without an umbrella tens of minutes. Other cars had no problems driving in that area.

Check In

We arrived at the hotel soaking wet around 11 am. I had informed the hotel that we will be arriving early but nothing was prepared and noone helped with our luggage.

I showed my Le Club card and I was convinced that the loyal customer number is already in the reservation. Great then! I asked about the room upgrade. ”We have upgraded you to a nice collection suite,” I was told. Oh, really, that’s the suite I booked. The receptionist typed his computer, spoke something in French to his colleague. Someone came to see us, difficult customers. He then said he will double check the upgrade.

Good! And when can we get to our room, is it ready already? ”You are on a priority list.” He wasn't able to estimate the time but repetead a few times that the official check-in time is at 3 pm. I then suggested what if he would offer us a glass of champagne while waiting for our suite. That's our experience in similar situation at other Sofitel hotels. ”You can use the voucher I gave you,” he said.

I was so annoyed. There had been so many things that didn't go smoothly and this young guy staffing the front desk didn't make any attempt to make me feel better. At this point I asked to talk to a guest relations and that was arranged. She was nice, we had a good talk and champagne was on the house. Finally, after waiting an hour, she took us to our suite. The guest relations person said we have received a double upgrade to a lovely prestige suite. ”It’s my favourite,” she added.

Room

It wasn’t the best room I’ve seen but certainly nice. Newly refurbished, 45 sqm. It had separate living room with couch, two armchairs and working desk, bedroom with king size bed, armchair and divan, bathroom with only bathtub and one sink.

There was two TVs, Nespresso machine, safe, lots of Hermes toiletries, one big bottle of Evian water hidden inside a cabinet and several small Evian bottles here and there.

However, I felt something was missing for a suite: a bouquet perhaps, maybe upgraded bathroom amenities such as hand lotion or perfume that the hotel offered a few years ago when we stayed in junior suite.

I also wonder why we didn’t get one level upgrade to opera suite which would have been bigger. Maybe it was fully booked. Or maybe the guest relations though that we would appreciate the higher-category prestige suite more. Who knows. Anyway, we were happy for what we got.

Service

Service was very good except at the front desk on our arrival. I guess that was due to new and inexperienced receptionist. Housekeeping was efective cleaning the room just at the right time and filling the amenities.

Dining

The breakfast selection is limited. For the price, 36 euros, it’s very basic. ”Hot” buffet included lukewarm scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, mushrooms and tomatoes. Omelettes, poached eggs and waffles all comes with an extra charge, not to mention champagne. They don’t even have passion fruits, only oranges, grape fruits, kiwis and mixed fruits.

We had twice lunch at the bar and once room service. Food was good and prices reasonable. For example, the set of quality burger, fries, salad, big bottle of Badoit and St. Honoré pastry was 38 euros delivered to room. One evening we had a glass of champagne and caviar for 35 euros, one day foie gras for 22 euros. Okay, I must begin to lose my weight now.

Location

Good central location, too central. It was right in the middle of the demonstrations. I have never before experience empty Place de la Concorde. The sorrounding areas were closed for the outsiders.

Elite experience

Despite the cold welcome, we were well looked after. We used our welcome drink vouchers for champagne. Handwritten welcome card from GM, two big bottles of Laurent Perrier champagne (delivered separately) and nut and fruit mix were delivered to our suite. Newspaper was hanging in the door each morning and late check-out was granted at 4:30 pm easily. A bellboy spontaneously helped us carrying our stuff when we left. Our driver had parked his car some hundred meters away from the hotel.

Overall

When we were checking out a guest relations agent (different than the one who took care of us) approached us and asked if we would like to have something to drink. She didn’t know that we were leaving.

It seems we were just unlucky on our arrival. In my opinion, this is the best Sofitel in Paris and I wouldn’t hesitate to return. Proper spa would be nice, though, and some improvement to the breakfast.