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LASplash.com: International Hilton Charles de Gaulle Airport Hotel Paris - Review By Susan di Rende
When you fly in an out of Paris, whether for business or pleasure, you should put the Hilton Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport Hotel at the top of your 4-star list. Long-distance travel is exhausting, and a night spent upon arrival or departure in the gleaming, spacious comforts of the Hilton Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport Hotel recharges your batteries and makes everything easier. And staying for your whole Paris visit, whether for business or pleasure, is an ideal option for some.
ARRIVING If you’ve ever come through Charles De Gaulle airport, you know that it is frenetic and confusing. You may have been traveling a whole day and night in a cramped seat, and have no reserves left to figure out how to get into town and find your hotel. It is all strange and new. And hugely crowded. Even with the exchange rates, you are so spent, you consider a taxi to your hotel no matter what the price. Unless you are spending your first night right nearby at the Hilton Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport Hotel. With the words ' hôtel,' which is the same in English and French, and ' navette,' which means shuttle, you can find the shuttle stop. As you watch other hotel shuttles pass, you notice people struggling to get their bags through the doors and up the steps with no help from the driver. Then the Hilton shuttle stops, the driver gets out and puts your bags in the van for you.
All the other hotel shuttles at the airport are outsourced; only Hilton’s shuttles are driven by employees of the hotel, so only the Hilton shuttles will treat you as a welcome guest This is your first indication of the Hilton Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport difference.
The hotel welcomes you into a broad reception area with a spectacular atrium behind it rising the full eight stories of the hotel proper. The Hilton Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport is also implementing the Journey Ambassador program. Visitors arriving at peak times will find a member of the management at large in the lobby, someone with authority and an understanding of the hotel to greet and direct people so there is no sense of being lost in the crowd or at a loss for where to go. It could be the hotel manager in person, it might be the head chef, but it will be one of the managers who can facilitate the travelers passage t through the check-in process so they can quickly settle themselves into their rooms with a minimum of discomfort. BUSINESS TRAVELERS The hotel has the largest conference room in the north side of the city and 24 seminar rooms. There is also a separate Business reception desk on the second floor (or the first floor in France) so that a large influx of business travelers does not cause delays for tourists and vice-versa. The check-in process becomes much more streamlined for everyone.
Business travelers enjoy the Hilton Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport Executive Lounge, which is open from 6 am (2 pm on Sunday) to 3 am. A full breakfast is served in the lounge as part of the service. All day, food and beverages are there for the free enjoyment of the executive traveler. In addition, the lounge has free internet, which otherwise runs 22 euros a day through Swiss Telecom. Considering the cost of internet and food, the added price of Executive Lounge access is a real bargain for those who use it.
ROOMS One advantage of being out of the center of town has to to with space. Rooms at the Hilton Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport are larger than the typical European hotel room that has to shoehorn itself into city spaces.
From the cathedral-like airiness of the lobby, up the glass elevators to broad, bright landings and into the rooms themselves, the hotel is filled with light playing in open space. There is room to stretch - literally. Rooms have yoga mats in the closet that you can roll out and use to work out the kinks from a cramped plane seat or a day around a conference table.
Rooms also come with a hot pot and a selection of coffee and teas. Even with access to the Executive Lounge at all hours, I am not inclined to use it late at night if I want a hot beverage. I am very grateful for the convenience of being able to make it in my room. The hotel is 13 years old and is undergoing a complete renovation of the rooms this winter. In the rooms, the decor is being updated, with a bit more color and comfort. This is perhaps part of the shift Hilton is going through as it clientele has been shifting to include more and more pleasure travelers. Women tend to prefer cushions in the rooms, more texture and color in the decor.
In the baths, the hair dryers are all getting updated so that they really do the job. New lighted mirrors are being installed. Baths have both a shower and a tub which pleases me since I prefer baths hands down.
Being an airport hotel, you wouldn’t imagine there was any “view” to care about, but the Hilton Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport does, in fact, have rooms with a view that is often requested: the Concorde view. Some of the rooms overlook an actual Concorde supersonic jet on display in a park outside the airport.
BRUNCH Hilton is the king of the buffet, and the breakfast at the Hilton Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport is one of the best. The choices just go on and on, from breads and pastries, eggs and cooked meats, cold cuts and salad fixings, fruit and yogurt, pancakes and waffles.
Make sure to have the breakfast bundled into the room price; it is much cheaper that way. However, if you are flying out early and don’t want more than a cuppa, take the savings on the room price.
AMENITIES
Hilton Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport Roissypôle, Rue de Rome BP16461 Tremblay En France, France 95708 Tel: 33 +1+49197796 Fax: 33+1+49197779
Published Feb 20, 2008 © Copyright 2003-2004 by LA Splash.com |
