Raffles

Get the Roissy Bus. Stops directly opposite and the bus only has 1 stop so you can't get off at the wrong place.

pauleeepaul

+1. Did this with my wife on the last trip-her first time. Her initial reaction, "What- I haven't taken a bus in 10 years!" On the return to CDG she acknowledged it was as convenient as a cab.

It left a few shekels to donate to the shops on Hausmann

stimpy

No, it is at least double the price of a taxi. I only did it once when there were three of us and lots of bags. Too much for a regular taxi, so the IC sent a Mercedes van for something like €120.

Benny8444

I am traveling with my dad who has not taken a bus since he was in Law School

I will look at the website for the bus and make a decision. How is traffic on a Thursday morning?

stimpy

Traffic is the one main reason to NOT take the bus. At times, traffic can be horrible. During the typical rush hours that all cities have, plus certain holiday times, plus during transport strikes. And if there is an accident on the periphique, it can be hell, but there is no predicting that.

I generally only take the bus on weekends, or if I happen to land around noon. Otherwise the metro is always faster.

Comet21

Do you normally contact the hotel prior to your stay or do you just show up and receive the upgrade?

Benny8444

Some people contact the hotel, some just show up.

The hotel will usually automaticly upgrade you prior to your arrival and the upgrade could be better as the stay comes closer and they see that the hotel is not going to be crowded.

The one positive about contacting the hotel in advance is you know what room you are going to get but they will usually block you into that room and then there will be no "further" upgrade.

I never e-mail the hotel, I always know that I will at least get a jr suite and hopefully sometimes a nice suite.

stimpy

Like Benny, I never call the hotel to beg. I just show up. These days it's as automated as it can get.

jason8612

i looked online and got a upgrade to a exec room from classic.Are they nice? should I ask farther at checkin?

Raffles

This is what you'd expect - a strict 2 level upgrade. The last one I had was very big, although if you book a Superior you'll get a Junior Suite which can be huge (as city hotels go). Its a bit pot luck on the day, though. The last 2 Execs and Junior Suites I've had were interior view, which wasn't an issue for me but may be for you. If you want to push for anything at check-in, ask if it is interior or exterior.

jason8612

i really don't care about the view. I just usually like a larger room.
Should I ask about club access? Any luck recently about comp'd club access as a RA?

stimpy

Every time, including right now! However I should add that most the other RA's here think that this is due to the fact that I have had about 100 stays at this hotel since the renovation.

Comet21

Just checked out from here this morning after staying for 3 nights on the free nights promo. Was upgraded as RA to opera view room from the classic room with free mini bar excluding the power adapter and USB. No free internet nor club access was offered, but was quite happy with the upgrades due to it being free nights.

Casimir

I stayed at the Le Grand over Thanksgiving week (I think stimpy posted that he/she was there then also). I noticed a couple of things. Both at checkin and checkout, the person taking care of me somehow contacted the guest relations manager on duty who came out and, at checkin, processed my room and information. I am an RA, but I only get the to the Le Grand about once a year, so I don't think this is special treatment for me, rather something they do for RA's.

This was a big benefit because I politely said to the manager that the previous times I'd been there I had been comped the lounge, but that I'd heard that this perhaps was no longer their policy. She smiled, and said yes, RA's no longer routinely receive lounge access, but "as the hotel is not very crowded this week, I will grant you lounge access because of your loyalty to IC." She also noted that, indeed, at the time of my last visit lounge access was routinely provided. That is a lesson that it doesn't pay to bluff with the facts as their system is reasonably sophisticated, not that I do that anyway.

Needless to say, this was a superb move from a customer relations standpoint!

I thanked her profusely and then casually let slip that this was a trip to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary, and that this was my wife's first visit to the LeGrand. The manager immediately picked up her pen, smiled, and said this was crucial information! The hotel delivered a bottle of champagne within an hour gratis.

Upon checkout I told the guest relations manager how much the lounge access, the RA upgrade and the special gift of champagne meant to us.

So, a couple of lessons. First, it never hurts to ask politely about lounge access, though unless one travels there as much as stimpy I would not count on it. Second, the guest relations managers handling RA's, at least at the front desk, are accommodating if it is possible for them to be so. Third, LeGrand seems to be very willing to please even an infrequent guest RA such as myself. Oh, and I didn't realize until later that they comped me internet access for the entire week. As always, YMMV.

edykho

I'm Plat Ambassador.

Just had very bad experienced in IC Le Grand.

My room got water leaked from the third floor room, after complaints several times to the reception/instant service the technician finally came to my room after 2 hours.

Amazingly they didn't do anything and left the room afterward.

Is this a standard service from the IC Paris? Or maybe because i payed the room using the PC points?