Yes, breakfast is about 30 euros. The Westin Excelsior in Rome charges 42 euros ... and breakfasts in UK *wood are not cheap, either. But you can just go to any café in Versailles and have an expresso and very good croissant for less than 4 euros.

[QUOTE=claes059]
I received this email from the hotel. They do not explain why they have different terms/conditions than other Starwood hotels on the SPG site. Though the offer is very friendly, I am not waiting for an commercial gesture:


"Dear Mr Claessen :


Further to your inquiry to our Customer Service, we confirm the information given by Ms de Lemos, the offer you mention is on a double room basis.

However as a commercial gesture we can propose you a single room in our Pavillon building at 250 € (B&B) with an upgrade in the Palace building.


Looking forward the pleasure of your visit and with our best regards.

Véronique Gavanou

Assistante du Directeur Général/Executive Assistant

Trianon Palace

Tel 33 (0) 1 30 84 50 12

Fax 33 (0) 1 30 84 50 19

E-mail : veronique.gavanou @westin.com"

It is still not clear to me, why the offer does not mention, based on double occupancy. I have send the hotel an email, I have not recieved a reply.

[QUOTE=claes059]
I received this email from the hotel. They do not explain why they have different terms/conditions than other Starwood hotels on the SPG site. Though the offer is very friendly, I am not waiting for an commercial gesture:


[I]"Dear Mr Claessen :


Further to your inquiry to our Customer Service, we confirm the information given by Ms de Lemos, the offer you mention is on a double room basis.

However as a commercial gesture we can propose you a single room in our Pavillon building at 250 € (B&B) with an upgrade in the Palace building.

Looking forward the pleasure of your visit and with our best regards.

Véronique Gavanou

Assistante du Directeur Général/Executive Assistant

Trianon Palace

Tel 33 (0) 1 30 84 50 12

Fax 33 (0) 1 30 84 50 19

E-mail : veronique.gavanou @westin.com"[/I]
It is still not clear to me, why the offer does not mention based on double occupancy. I have send the hotel an email, I have not recieved a reply.

I am afraid you will not get much further. I would think it is a language problem. The Trianon Palace staff understand their answer means the rate is based on double occupancy. The wording is not accurate, but they have otherwise clarified the issue and probably do not understand why you are still pressing the issue.

I have dealt with them in the past and the team at the reservation desk as well as the concierges have always been consistently helpful and courteous.

I have stayed several times at the Trianon, on a single occupancy basis. I have never seen rates go below 180 € in the Pavillon building or 200-220 € in the Palace building, and this was for we night or summer holidays. 250 € for a Palace room, including breakfast, is quite a good price for this property. As a Plat member, I have almost always had a very nice upgrade. Room 211 is especially pleasant and I love the swimming pool.

I hope you can find a mutually acceptable solution, but I am afraid 130€ would be the price you pay in a basic Novotel in some of the "zones industrielles" close to Trappes, rather than in Versailles, with a view on the Royal Palace garden.

Thanks for you explanation and experiences. However the rate is not the issue for me. But I did feel mislead by the special offer, I think that is clear. Is there any other Starwood property on the SPG site which has different terms&conditions than the regular way when booking a Starwood hotel at SPG?
Then I will know to look differently when booking Special Offers in a Starwood hotel at the SPG site.

Trianon Palace Versailles Paris Trip Report 2005
 

I have just completed a two night stay at the Trianon Palace in Versailles near Paris starting on 1st January 2005. I had spent the previous evening in the Novotel Eiffel Tower where the staff had been friendly and had allocated me very nice rooms with excellent views on the 25th Floor at a rate of 130 euros for each room. On New Year’s day at just after 12 I turned up with my family for our stay in “a deluxe penthouse bi-level suite” at a rate of 520 euros ($680) per night.


SPG Platinum Recognition

There was none. The reservation confirmation e-mail acknowledged my Platinum status but the check in receptionist gave no acknowledgement at all. She didn’t even welcome me to the hotel. I even gave her my card. When asked about an upgrade I was told I had booked the largest suite there was. I struggle to believe that however it would have been nice for her to have volunteered the information. It was some two hours later that another member of staff asked why I had not been given the option card at check in. I chose the wine and received a cheap bottle of regional French red. Funnily enough another bottle arrived the same day but they got the bulk of that back.

Check In

My suite wasn’t ready. This was fair enough since they had been busy the night before for San Sylvestre. We went for a walk in Versailles. Two hours later still no room. No apology. No invitation to have tea or a drink. It was around another hour before the suite was available.

The Spa

We went for a swim in the interim. Well we tried. What is it with barriers in this hotel? At the spa entrance there is a barrier which has been erected to make you go to the desk. For towels? No. For a ticket to give to the pool attendant. You then go down in a lift. Come out the lift and……..a barrier. To make you take off your shoes. Then the pool attendant jumps out to order you (I use the words advisedly) to take a shower. Given we were not in our room my wife had had to grub around on a store room floor to find our costumes. She could not find her own but was ordered to cover her clothes before entering the pool area. She declined. She was shouted at (we both speak enough French but the attitude would have shone through). I declined to accept the attitude and the duty manager came down. She shouted at him too! My wife retreated after a discussion which concerned hygiene. She pointed out that the changing room was filthy and smelling. Not our only experience of that in the hotel (see below). The attitude displayed to us as guests and the manager was quite unbelievable.

I proceeded to the pool through yet another barrier designed to make sure I bathed my feet.

The spa itself is lovely. The rules and attitude not consistent with a luxury hotel

The Suite

The “deluxe penthouse bi-level suite” is an interesting way to combine a small room with a couple of attic rooms by way of a very tight spiral staircase. Upstairs is fine in terms of size and layout. Downstairs is wasted by the staircase.

There were two bathrooms. The downstairs one had been refurbished but they had missed out the WC which was old and the toilet seat chipped. The cover on the new shower which sets the temperature was dislodged making showering an experience. The shower door had been nudged off its runner. Upstairs the bathroom had not been refurbished. There were cracks all over the marble and paint pealing off the wall behind the bath. Toiletries in both bathrooms were mean by a 2* hotel standard.

The bedroom was nice. The “deluxe penthouse bi-level suite” makes a great play of its views. They are fine if you open the windows. All three of the Velux windows were either blown or so dirty that you could not see through them. If you stood on a chair and opened a window fully then bent your neck round a chimney you could see the Palace of Versailles. Not recommended.

While the furniture was new and in good taste the decoration was somewhat spoiled by the black hand marks all over where the hotel’s maintenance people had taken access to what ever they need access to in the attic. We are not talking about a couple but many. Tacky.

Cleanliness

Given the rules at the Spa I was amazed to return to find the rooms smelling of having been cleaned with a dirty mop. My complaints promoted a maid to make amends but you really shouldn’t have to do that.

Overall Impression

I am sure you will have gathered that my overall impression was not positive. I wrote a note to the GM. I received no reply. There may be some very nice rooms in the hotel. I did not get one having paid a full rate. I did not eat in the hotel so cannot comment on the food. The prices seemed high. $235 (180 euros) excluding drinks is a lot even in Paris for a 1 michelin star chef. In Berlin a couple of weeks ago the going rate was about $100 in the two restaurants I ate in.

On a few occasions there was no-one on reception or at the concierge desk when I turned up. I have no idea where the staff hide. I asked the concierge for some information and she went out of her way to produce lots of documents from the web for me. This was impressive.

My impression is that it is a long time since the senior management did three things. 1. look at their rooms and the condition they are in. 2. Consider whether the Spa is for the guests or the staff who work there. 3. Remember that Westin is a brand which we SPG loyalists choose to stay in and should be acknowledged for doing so.

I won’t be back in the short term. I will post to let you know if the GM ever gets back to me.

You live in Glasgow..should gone to the Turnberry, Busman's holiday for you for sure, but a brillant property none the less..no barriers..or French :D

No Comparison
 

I do go to Turnberry two or three times a year. There is no comparison..........

Westin Trianon Palace, Versailles (Master Thread)
 

Since Search is still down and Google search didn't reveal any dedicated threads, here's a brief review of a recent stay at the Westin Trianon Palace in Versailles France, near Paris.

Just completed a 3 night stay at the Westin Trianon Palace Versailles and had a great stay. My ladyfriend and I and fellow FlyerTalker Catman arrived at the hotel to be greeted warmly by the front desk staff. Catman and I (both being Platinums) were each pre-upgraded to 2 room Deluxe Suites facing the gardens and parks of Versailles. We both selected the local Platinum Amenity gift which was a large jar of locally produced Pear Jam.

The Suites were wonderful. Catman's were the same room numbers on the third floor, while ours were on the first floor (actually the second floor). High ceilings with crystal chandeliers.

Our Parlor living room featured a fireplace, bookcases, and tall double French Doors that opened upon a view of the gardens and the friendly sheep grazing below. Decorated in a mix of genuine antique and reproduction period furniture in the Louis XV style.

The bedroom was fantastic with large built-in armoire, desk with a view, more furniture and of course the wonderful Heavenly Bed.

The bathroom was huge. Tiled throughout with large Jacuzzi tub and separate shower stall and heated towel racks. And again large French Doors that offered the wonderful view while soaking in the tub. A truly regal Suite. Here's some snaps:

http://members.aol.com/premexfiles/westCDG107_109.jpg

We never had the chance to dine at the main fine dining restaurant, but we did have dinner one night at the Café Restaurant and I felt it was very reasonably priced with a great meal prepared. The fine dinning restaurant figured about a minimum of 160 Euros per person before wine, so we passed on that experience.

We also enjoyed complimentary buffet breakfast one morning of our stay (our first night was on a 175 Euro "Winter Holiday" package that included breakfast...a 28 Euro per person value...and our other 2 nights were Award stays that did not) and it was just wonderful with an incredible spread of food and a fine and funny waitstaff to get our morning off to a great start.

We had occasion to use the Concierge Helena many times and she was wonderful, very helpful and friendly. We also used Concierge Louis once and he was equally helpful.

A great stay at a great property.

I stayed there twice and this is true that this property is a wonderful one.
The gastronomic restaurant is excellent but very, very expensive..

I heard once some people complaining about this hotel... but in fact there are two hotels in that place :

1) the Palace building with wonderful rooms

2) The Pavillion wing which is a kind of business/convention wing with meeting rooms, modern rooms, but not the same level as the Palace ones.

Thoughts I second. Far and away a much better hotel than the Prince des Galles in Paris itself. Far better priced too, if one is paying.

The gourmet restaurant is indeed megabucks but the food, setting and service was wonderful. Ditto the buffet.

And - dunno if it's fact or just a lovely legend but we were told the sheep are descended from those kept by Marie Antoinette. She had a faux farm, the Hameau, set up in the Petit Trianon at Versailles in order to see how the simple folk lived, I guess: she dressed up as a shepherdess and her pals as pretend rustics to play at being peasants, set apart from the heavy intrigue and formality up at the big house atop the hill. Not that "pretend" though; the sheep smells were offensive to her and her fancy friends so they perfumed the sheep.

She didn't do very well, as things turned out, but her sheep live on...

Thanks for sharing the recent experience.

I am considering to go Paris in March and thinking to stay at either Westin here or some other hotels inside of Paris.
As the platinum, I found pretty good reviews about this hotel.

I still have some questions someone could answer.

Is it convenient/inconvenient to go Paris everyday from the Westin?
How far from there to nearest train station to Paris?
Are there any inexpensive but reasonable restaurants around the hotel for breakfast and Dinner?

Thanks in advance.

I would say that this hotel is located about 800 yards from the closest train station which is Versailles Rive Droite.

The real center of Versailles town with the castle is about 500 yeards from this hotel.

Well here's my take on all of that from just this past weekend.

The RER Station is "Versailles Rive Gauche-Château de Versailles." I don't know how many yards it is, but it's a good 20 minute walk, minimum. Which is no problem normally. But if you arrive with luggage in tow, you'll find taxis almost non-existent even on the best of days and the hotel offers no car service. So if you don't get a taxi, you may find yourself having to schlep your bags the distance. Which is what we did. That was no problem for us, but if it had been raining or if we had several pieces of heavy luggage, it could have been ugly.

Getting a taxi from the hotel to the RER can even be a problem especially during peak times as we were told the few taxis there are don't like to take the short-haul fares to the RER station and prefer to pass on those calls unless they're doing nothing.

But 90% of the time if the weather is nice, it's a pleasant 20-30 minute stroll to the RER station. Not exactly super convenient if you don't like walking. Taxi runs 10 Euro each way.

Once on the RER itself, it's about a 20 minute ride to Champ de Mars/Tour Eiffel Station in Paris, for example.

So IMHO, it's probably not the greatest place to stay if you intend to spend every day commuting into Paris. That can be done though. But for the occasional couple of days into Paris...it's fine. The great thing about Versailles is not just the Grand Palace/Château, but it's also the town itself. Lots of shops and cafés. Fun "town square" open-air and enclosed stall markets. Really quite a bit to do and see and explore there.

And for getting to the Grand Palace of Versailles itself, it couldn't be more convenient. You have your own gate and it's a short 5 minute walk to the Grand Palace doors. The grounds of the Palace are free.

So if I were recommending the hotel it would not really be as a homebase for daily trips into Paris. I'd recommend it to enjoy the area of Versailles itself. And of course you could make quite a trip of it just at the hotel...it's so nice and has such great facilities and world class spa.

Thanks very much, PremEx.

I have been to Versailles palace so I just remembered what you mentioned.
It was a nice walk in spring( I don't know in winter).
Since I never visit any part of the town, I might stay a first few days there and move to Paris after that.

Thanks again!