Recommendation for Paris
 

We will be staying in Paris for 4 - 5 days in November and would appreciate a recommendation for a hotel using reward points. Two senior adults that would like to be near public transportation and close to an active nightlife. Thanks in advance.

I assume you're asking about Choice hotels, because this is the Choice forum. I hate to state the obvious, but sometimes you never know. :)

Anyhow - the only place in Paris where I have personal experience is the Clarion Collection Opera Pavillon, which I reviewed here.

To reiterate, it was clean and comfortable and provides breakfast and afternoon snacks every day. The Metro stops are a short walk away, one in either direction. Place du Clichy is a quite busy semi-tourist area with lots of shops, eateries, etc. Several tourist attractions are walkable, but the Metro gets you anywhere.

Paris has various cards similar to London's Oyster card (for Metro use), but they usually come bundled with various museum entries, which you may or may not need/want. I'd recommend just getting carnets of tickets - save on 'volume' and you'll pay for nothing you won't use.

We never took the bus in Paris, so I can't comment on that. The bus/taxi situation in Paris is not like London, but the subway is very similar and recommended. Get up at a civilized hour, have a nice breakfast, and avoid the rush hour.

There are a number of Choice hotels in Paris. I tend to look for the Clarions, because they are usually a bit more upscale. Others have reported favorably on Quality/Comfort props in the city. If you have a particular arrondissment you prefer, check out the props there. Search (FlyerTalk) and Tripadvisor are your friends!

Good luck, and enjoy!

Edit to add: The sticky in this forum has links to reviews on a lot of Choice properties, including several for Paris.

Opera is central, a lot of bus, subway lines and Roissy bus direct from CDG (nice ride) but it dead at night. The best areas (arrondissement) are 3, 4 5 or 6.
The bus system is getting better and better but of course it is slower than the subway.

Well, yeah. Somewhat.

However, the OP specified a couple of seniors, and I was thinking they probably weren't looking to get stoned/laid.:)

Or maybe they are ...

Fantastic time to head to Paris on Choice points now, as all the hotels are 8000 points (insanely cheap when you consider that a Peoria Comfort Inn is probably twice that!).

Read the reviews (both here and on tripadvisor), and consider individual preferences, but as a general rule when it comes to comparative-Choice hotel shopping, you "get what you pay for." The hotels that have more expensive room rates will generally be better than the hotels with lower room rates. So at the same point level . . .

I've stayed at the Andre Latin in Paris and can recommend it. It's not a "great" hotel, but it's a more than acceptable hotel. For Paris (as with most cities where you won't have a car) I find "location" to be the most important criteria for selectiing a hotel. The Andre Latin has very good location, but perhaps it can be beat by one or two other Choice properties there.

Thank you for all your information.

I have been to Paris 15 years ago and stayed near the St Germaine area and enjoyed the night life and little shops. I was hoping someone who has been to Paris recently might recommend their favorite hotel. We do need an elevator because of sore knees

My wife has never been to Europe so I wanted to utilize our choice points for their best value and have a nice room with breakfast in an area close to walking to various historics sites. We enjoy little cafes, antique stores, siteseeing, and just discovering the unexpected.

Unlike in the USA, most Choice hotels in Europe do not include breakfast -- although some do. The Andre Latin does not. Frankly, I don't consider that a deal breaker because I enjoy going to the local bakeries in Paris for breakfast. Obviously, if one of the properties offered a nice free breakfast spread, though, that could sway your decision.

We stayed last November at the Andre Latin and breakfast was included. The breakfast was simple and nothing special. We stayed using points for a room with a double bed. It was the smallest room I've ever stayed in and it reminded me of a hostel. Two people literally could not walk without one person hopping on the bed to make way for the other person. The bathroom was very simple. My room was nothing like what is pictured on the website. However, the location was excellent and the staff was friendly.

We are visiting Paris again over the Thanksgiving holiday. We are staying at Clarion Collection Hotel Etoile Saint Honore. Our friends stayed here a few months ago and raved about the wonderful hotel breakfast.

My first choice was Clarion Collection Hotel Opera Pavillon but they do not have any award nights available. I only wanted to stay there because I am familiar with the area. Otherwise, I'm happy with our upcoming stay at the Clarion Collection Hotel Etoile Saint Honore. It is located near the Champs Elysees.

Interesting. I stayed a few nights at the Andre Latin in 2011 and breakfast was not included in the rates (it was available to purchase). Times change, I guess. Is it also free at the Clarion Etoile? To actually get free food along with your room in Paris for 8000 Choice points is, well, crazy good.

My Andre Latin hotel room was small, too. NYC-sized. That's why I can't rave about the hotel. It's decent and well-located, but not extraordinary.

Comfort Hotel Royal Aboukir = DUMP !

I would recommend the Clarion Collection Étoile ST Honoré... a steal for 8k points. Breakfast and minibar included, possibility to book a executive room with points (which is small but nice).
I didn't test the other Clarion, Opera Pavillon but think it should be a good choice too.
Otherwise the Quality Hotel Orleans is decent (clear, comfortable) but be sure to have the room you book (they gave us a Double bed although we booked a queen). Breakfast is expensive (didn't took it, will test it in December as they offered us an upgrade and breakfast as a goodwill for the last downgrade)

This deal pretty much demands a long weekend in Paris. Unfortunately, if you're on the other side of the Pond, WINTER airfares to Paris (even from NYC) are close to $1000 these days. :eek:

So pretty much the only rational way to do it is on ff miles. Maybe in Spring.

One more thumbs up for the Clarion Collection Étoile St. Honoré. I just spent 2 nights there (8k points p/n) after spending one night at the Hyatt Park Vendome (one of my free credit card nights). I'm guessing that were I paying for it my room at the Hyatt cost four times as much as the Clarion (€800 versus €200) and no way was it four times better. I know there are rave reviews for the Hyatt but I have to admit that as a 5 star hotel I was a little disapointed. The Clarion is basic and not in such a good location but let's look at the pluses - free breakfast, free wi-fi and free snacks and soft drinks in the mini bar. These items will cost about €100 p/n at the Hyatt (for a non diamond) and after all - you are in Paris - who wants to spend time in a hotel (5 star or otherwise) when you are in Paris? I think this hotel, if you can get it for 8k points is one of the best bargains out there.

You've put your finger right on it. The people who can afford to pay the €800 for the Park Vendome can also afford all the other crazy charges that go along with such a hotel--so they probably don't care whether or not "elite" status gets them a free breakfast or not. It's the folks, like the bloggers who bleat about this hotel or the various Maldives properties, who essentially are living a life they couldn't otherwise experience. Nothing really wrong with that, but are you going to Paris (or Rome or London or Prague) for a hotel or for the experience outside those doors?

It's one of the reasons that I think Ric Garrido at Loyalty Traveler has it right for 99% of the population with his blog. If a Choice or Wyndham or Best Western happens to be located along some spectacular stretch of highway, he's happy to stay there although he doesn't mind the fancier properties either. With some of the other bloggers, it seems the inside of airplanes, the inside of hotel rooms, and the inside of airline lounges are much more important that the places they go to or the people they could find there.

This hobby of ours is great in that it does allow us to extend our travel budgets, but I will not build a trip solely around which redemption options are available to me, thus excluding destinations I might not otherwise visit but that are worthwhile in themselves (such as, for me, Ballyliffin in the northernmost part of Donegal in Ireland where I've spent the last few days--no major loyalty program hotel within 50 miles).

I sent my niece and her new husband there for their honeymoon in 2013, and they loved it.

Unfortunately, it's not listed as a Choice property anymore, so I guess that's out.

Actually, it seems lots of European props are disappearing these days, but new ones get added, too, so I guess the 'rules of the game' are - keep looking. If you see a good deal, grab it.