mtlfoodie

I have just returned from a 5-night reward stay at Le Meridien Etoile.

Overall, my experience was fantastic.

A little recap: My husband and I booked a base room reward stay (5th night free). Upon check-in, they immediately upgraded us to a President Club Level room (on the 8th floor). The check-in clerk was extremely polite and efficient. In the room there was a 1L bottle of evian and Le Meridien chocolates as a welcome.

The room itself is small but sufficient. It was in very good condition - definitely recently renovated. The shower had ok pressure. The only complaint we had about the room was the heat... For us, it was pretty warm but we are used to much colder cliamtes so I don't think this would bother the average traveller. The good news was that even on the 8th floor the window opened wide.

The benefits of the club level room included breakfast in the lounge and water (sparkling and still) and coffee throughout the day as well as wine and appetizers (although they didn't look too appetizing) in the evening. Breakfast consisted of a baker's basket on the table (croissants, bun, brioches, chocolatines, etc) and then buffet style, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, bread, yogurt, cheeses, cereals, fruits, cold cuts, etc. Served from 7am - 11am this was perfect for both early mornings and days we slept in.

Location: The hotel is located right across the street from the Palais de Congres. For us, this was fantastic as we primarily travelled around Paris using their fantastic rail/subway system (RER/metro) and there was a station in the Palais de Congres (Porte de Maillot) for both the RER and the metro. Porte Maillot is a stop on the metro line (Line 1) that runs along Champs Elysees, Arc de triomphe and the Louvre. The Porte Maillot RER line runs to Chateau de Versailles.
We also walked a lot and Champs Elysees/Arc de triomphe wetre about a 20 minute walk away.

Overall, the service was extremely polite and accomodating (in contrast with most of the rest of our Paris experience). We would definitely recommend Le Meridien Etoile.

Hope this helps someone in planning their next trip!

UAPremExecflyer

I had three nights there checking out yesterday morning, and I would echo pretty much all of what the previous poster noted. I had a room on the eighth floor (Le Club President) ... access to the lounge -- breakfast was very good. Afternoon snacks the one day I went there weren't too great. Room was very nice. Recently renovated. Flatscreen TV. A little funky having a separate toilet and bathroom. But the bathroom, itself, was very nice. I like the location -- next door to Palais des Congres. Short walk from metro and RER (Porte Maillot). Staff was very welcoming. Best part of weekend was the weather was fab!! Did more walking around Paris with my gf than I've done in several previous visits. Only downside is the value (or lack thereof) of the Dollar. But you're in Paris ... so I enjoyed it. Look forward to my next visit!!

adgtravel

Has anyone stayed here lately in a regular room, not on the club president floor? Do gold members get access to lounge? How small are the rooms? Thanks!

Land-of-Miles

We are staying at the Etoile right now after spending yesterday at the Montparnasse. I have stayed at Montparnasse around 6 times in the last 12 months and tend to know exactly what I will get which is normally a good sized one bedroom suite with slightly tatty furniture and fairly pleasant bathrooms. The Montparnasse property has been the only Starwood which is located close enough to my Paris clients for business trips, but since I am building up Meridien stays under the 7 nights for 4 offer, I thought this would be an easy extra Meridien stay.

This is my first stay at Etoile and apart from the fresher decor I am not particularly impressed. We got a club floor room as we expected after reading this thread). What I did not expect was to find the smallest room I have ever found in a starwood property in any stay to date. Those who compared the room to a Holiday Inn are doing Holiday Inn a grave disservice. Most UK Holiday Inn rooms I have stayed in were significantly larger. The seperate loo is fine in principle however the small room size makes it seem like you are stuck in a tiny cupboard. The hotel really feels like I am staying in one of the many international Hiltons with really tiny rooms, combined with a US style lounge which eally offers very little.

The Lounge seems fine for free water or coffee but that (and breakfast) appears to be all you get. Having just sat in there until around 7.30pm there was no sign of either free wine or even the most basic of canapes. To be honest there seems to be very little point to the lounge and there isn't even any free internet (using the lounge PC's is chargeable as is using wi-fi, I opted instead to use my 3G card).

On the whole I would now have a strong preference for the Montparnasse property.

iwc

The lounge does not serve wine and canapes on the weekend. Only available during the week.

Helena Handbaskets

Does that also mean no breakfast on Saturday morning?

Land-of-Miles

Breakfast is available, well it certainly was on a Sunday so I would assume it would be on Saturday too. Breakfast was quite pleasant actually unlike the guest rooms.

iwc

Yes for Saturday breakfast in the lounge.

BlindPilot

I just completed a 3-night stay at this hotel.

As a Starwood Platinum member, I was treated very well. I was allowed early check-in at 10 in the morning. Check-in was smooth through the SPG counter. I was given free upgrade to the 8th Club floor and just after check-in, one of the staff accompanied me to the 8th Floor Club floor and showed me around the lounge (where I will have free breakfast every morning, free drinks and snacks all day).

The room itself is fine by European standard. It was clean, the bed is decent. Free bottle of water was in my room everyday. As a platinum member, I chose a bottle of wine and a box of Laduree candies as free gift.

The club concierge were helpful and accommodating with my inquiries and requests.

The location is a block away from the metro (line 1, station Porte Maillot). From the ariport, the Air France bus (line 2) will stop directly across the street from the hotel (fare is 14 euros). Very convenient.

There is a grocery store across the street, inside the Palais de Congres. Good restaurants within walking distant (I highly recommend Bistro Saint-Ferdinand, a block away). Arc de Trimophe is within reasonable walking distance (from there you can walk some more to the Eiffel Tower).

I will not hesitate to stay here again.

yamakake

Chiming in here with additional info for anybody who might be staying in a standard room:

I stayed here for week in May, 2007. Although I'm a member of Starwood I rarely stay in any of the properties, so no real status, plus I booked with Priceline (blind bid) but I was overall very happy with my stay.

Early check-in request (about 9:00 AM) accomodated. Check-in staff pleasant and organized. Large room, recently decorated, and large, very clean bathroom. I didn't dine there or use any of the other facilities, so can't comment there.

There was one glitch in my stay: I spent a night away from the hotel (visiting a friend in Normandy), taking only a few toiletries and change of clothes. Housekeeping removed all of the objects visible (so toiletries on counter, item on desktop), apparently assuming that my still-made bed meant I'd left (but did not check the closets or drawers, as everything was still there). So I ended up spending quite a bit of quality time with management, first attempting to track down my items, and then going through the rigamarole of listing what was missing. They reimbursed me for everything, and went to great effort to replace one item (a camera battery charger) but in the end gave me cash for that as well.

I'd stay there again.

toomanywords

Can anyone who's stayed in both the Etoile and the Westin recommend which one would be best for a tourism visit in early January on cash+points? I've got five nights reserved at the Etoile (fewer points, so I could book it earlier) for $80/4,800 points per night, but the Westin has rooms available at $150/8,000 per night.

I'm thinking of switching the reservation over once I have enough points banked (we also booked 5 nights on points at the Le Meridien Barcelona for the same trip, so it's taking a while to rack 'em up again). Is the Westin's location better enough than the Etoile's to be worth the $70/3,200 difference? I'm sure the rooms and service will be better, but my wife and I don't tend to spend too much time around the hotel when we travel anyway, so I'm mostly curious about what's best for getting around the city from. (I've only been to Paris once, a decade ago, so I don't know my way around very well, forgive me if the answer to this question is completely obvious.)

Thanks.

SanDiego1K

For me, for the sightseeing I want to do, I consider the Westin Paris in the heart of the city and Le Meridien Etoile on the fringe. Westin Paris is near the Louvre and the Isle de la Cite with Notre Dame. It is a short trip to the Marais District, and not far across the river from Musee d'Orsay. And Angelinas, my favorite place in the world for hot chocolate, is right across the street.

CIT85

Paris Westin for sure. I stayed at LM Montparnasse, LM Etoile, and the Westin in April. Both LM's are large, bland conference hotels with little character. Rooms are Etoile are also the smallest and not nearly as nice. Westin's location is about as nice as it gets in Paris for sightseeing. You can practically walk to most tourist attractions from th Westin.

I actually used cash and points for a business stay at the Westin because it's worth it to me to use my points when the normal room rates are too high for my expense account. It's definitely worth the extra cash and points. Points are worth a lot when used for cash and points at the Paris Westin.

toomanywords

Thanks for the advice. I switched over all but one night and will do the last one after the points from my next few weeks of travel for work post.

nicolas75

Remember that Le Méridien Etoile is the first Méridien property, which was built in 70's.
Despite all the efforts of renovation, this is still a 70s hotel in terms of accommodation and atmosphere.
With the new Le Méridien policy, it would not be a surprise that Le Méridien Paris may switch to another brand (Sheraton for example, which will be more appropriate to the location and style of hotel).
Location is not central and rather out of action, but still close to the very centre by metro or taxi.

Don’t forget that Le Méridien Etoile has, with New Morning, Duc des Lombards, Sunset Club, one of the best Parisian Jazz Club :
the Lionel Hampton Jazz Club (with an excellent programme, even if the atmosphere is perhaps to much business rather than arty). http://starwood.webcanada.com/restau...d=5174&lid=212