75006 Travel Guide
Tags: Hotel Reopenings / Hotel Renovations / Paris Hotels / → All Tags
The Hotel Ferrandi Is Dead, Long Live The, Um, 'BJ 2010'
Well here’s a way of getting our attention. The Hotel Ferrandi in Paris has closed for a rebuild, but lest you forget about it and fall for one of the establishments offering crazy deals all over the place, it’s making a bid for your attention by renaming the new hotel, BJ 2010.
Ok, it’s a codename for the rebuild project rather than a permanent moniker (at least, we sincerely hope), but still. The hotel’s blog says:
It’s our way of hiding the identity of the character who will be giving the hotel its new theme.
Er, whatever. We say it’s their way of getting our attention – and it’s worked.
Tags: Deal or No Deal / Hotel Deals / Concorde Hotels / Europe Hotels / → All Tags
How Special is the Special Winter Offer From Concorde Hotels?
Well, hello Paris. And Berlin. And Prague. And even Marbella. Christmas shopping on the Continent is looking pretty promising this year. The latest lot to offer special winter deals are the folk at Concorde Hotels. But is it worth it?
The Winter Offer which starts 1 November and ends March 31 promises bed, breakfast and a “surprise gift” if you stay two nights or more. And the rates sound pretty good – Prague from €80 ($118/£72), Berlin from €136 and Paris from €148.
Except we just looked up rezzie rates for a couple of properties, and looks like you can do better by simply paying up front, if all you want is a room with no added extras.
Tags: Twitter / Paris Hotels / Boutique Hotels / → All Tags
Twitter Real Time Hotel Recommendation in Paris
Those of you that utilize Twitter to its fullest potential realize that the best gems come from real-time conversations with other users (HotelChatter included). Travel aficionados have found a niche in the social networking medium, like maverickwoman, who recently turned to fellow Twitterers for advice in her search for the best "quirky new boutique hotel in Paris." It's always refreshing to receive recommendations that provide an alternative to those ubiquitous Hilton hotels, and user montyhamilton gave a sharp suggestion:
Maybe look @ [Hotels Des Academies Et Arts] I'm staying there in Oct, has a great TripAdvisor rating too.
If you have something to add, throw in your comments below this post, or chime in on Twitter. If it was up to us, we'd be discussing the City of Lights ad infinitum.
Tags: Hotel Deals / Paris Hotels / Deal or No Deal / → All Tags
The Internet Rate Is Your Best Bet At the Hotel Des Academies
Now here’s a hotel that’s crying out for your moolah this summer. The Hotel des Academies et des Arts in Paris has no fewer than five special offers on at the moment — and they aren’t all bad either.
Normal rates start at €229 ($321) for a classic double room. But their internet rate (called Special Charlotte’s Offer) immediately brings this down to €189 ($265; a 17% discount) or €199 ($279) for a superior Club room instead of €264 ($370).
Then there’s the Stay 4, Pay 3 deal: four nights for the price of three in a classic or club room from July 13 until August 27. Which doesn’t sound bad if you’re planning on staying that long (though we tend to think of Paris as a long weekend kinda place, so it wouldn’t be much good for that). If you can stay that long, it works out at about €170 ($238 a night).
Tags: Sweet Suites / Paris Hotels / Hotel Deals / Design Hotels / Fixed Dollar Rates / → All Tags
Suite Guarantees from the Bel-Ami Hotel Paris
With the worldwide economy staying on its current roller coaster ride for the foreseeable future, it seems like there are fewer and fewer guarantees in life…especially when it comes to international travel. However, the 112-room Hotel Bel-Ami (a member of Design Hotels) in Paris’s St. Germain neighborhood is offering guaranteed room rates in U.S. dollars through 2009, including for the three new suites it has just unveiled.
The two larger suites are called the “Creation” suites and were designed by French couture hat designer Marina Besse on the first floor (that means second floor for us Americans). The third suite is the “Romance” suite on the fourth (or fifth!) floor, and is done up in “rich, warm, jewel-toned colors accented by soft green and raised ceilings” for a touch of bohemian Paris ambiance. Of course, the in-room La Durée macarons and Les Contes de Thé teas in the lounge don’t hurt either.
Tags: Hotel High Tea / Paris Hotels / Hotel News / Hotel Restaurants / → All Tags
New Parisian Tea Lounge Means a New Excuse to Eat Macarons
What's cuter than a 20-room artsy boutique hotel in Paris? How about a 20-room artsy boutique hotel in Paris with a dedicated tea lounge, serving up perfect pastel macarons from famous French pastry chef Pierre Hermé? At the Hôtel des Académies et des Arts in Montparnasse, you will find such a jolie thing as this in the Chez Charlotte lounge, which has just opened to serve those selective in their tea-swilling.
With gourmet teas, like "the du Tigre, which is a Taiwanese smoked tea, or Fleur de Geisha, a tea inspired by the Japanese Hanami tradition of viewing cherry trees in blossom," the number of offerings from Le Palais des Thés probably outnumbers the guests staying in the hotel. To satisfy your stomach along with your palate come the usual tea cakes, but we'd set them aside in a second for a sample of one of the macarons.
Tags: Hotel Video Tours / Paris Hotel Scene / Paris Hotels / Concorde Hotels / Dita Von Teese / → All Tags
Inside The Hotel Lutetia
Although we don’t like to admit it, we often go by celeb guests when we’re deciding where to stay. So when we decided to take an empowered single lady trip to Paris, we took a leaf out of uber-empowered single Dita Von Teese, by going for the Left Bank Hotel Lutetia, where she’s apparently staying at the moment.
We didn’t catch Dita, or anyone else of note, but the bar is the place of choice for a host of French celebs – Carla Bruni used to be a regular before she became Mrs. Sarko, and Gerard Depardieu pops in most days. We can imagine that – it’s a gorgeous art deco hall with a couple of bronze statues propping up the lights, and panes of coloured glass on the ceiling.
Tags: Burlesque Hotels / Paris Hotels / Dita von Teese / → All Tags
A Paris Art Deco Delight for Dita von Teese
Dita is back! In Paris, we mean, as she is set to return to the famed Crazy Horse cabaret for a series of scintillating performances in February. The first guest star to perform at the Crazy Horse, Dita von Teese holds legend status in both the performance and fashion worlds, and looks to equally legendary hotels when she travels. Her Paris choice is reputedly always the Hotel Lutetia, the first art deco hotel to be built in Paris and a favorite of another cabaret icon, Josephine Baker.
Tags: VIP Hotel Reviewer Series / Paris Hotels / Eric Rosen / → All Tags
Shhh...Don't Tell Anyone About the Hotel Le Clos Medicis
We now present you with our VIP Hotel Reviewer Series in which we hand-pick experts in the travel and media worlds and beyond to tell us what are their favorite hotels and why. Once a week, we'll feature a hotel review from said VIPs about their favorite leisure or business hotels. Pay attention: These VIPs are experts at what they do and they don't mess around when it comes to their hotels.
Our next VIP reviewer is Eric Rosen, the chief restaurant reviewer for LA.com. He's also contributed several travel guides to the site on cities like Napa, Sonoma and San Diego hotels. But here he takes us away to his favorite hotel in Paris.
Nowadays when you hear the phrase "boutique hotel," you think of some huge W Hotel in the middle of a huge city, with a huge number of huge rooms. But if you want to go back to the roots of the trend towards these tiny treasure hotels, look no further than the darling little Hotel Le Clos Medicis in Paris.
Le Clos Medicis may only have three stars--which can be pretty iffy in Europe--but its immaculate rooms, modern décor, historical architecture (it was built as a private residence in 1773), and friendly staff (also a rarity in Paris) make it one of the best values in the city.
Tags: Killer View / Paris Hotels / Art Hotels / → All Tags
Room With a Killer View :: The Roofs of Paris Have a Likable Je-Ne-Sais-Quoi
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
Thanks are due to Zoe, today's HotelChatter tipster who sent in this killer view from her stay last month at the Hotel Des Academies Et Arts in Paris. As well as having what she described as a very pleasant stay, Zoe was particularly taken with the view out of her hotel room window:
The roofs of Paris have a je-ne-sais-quoi that I really like.
The hotel itself is very artsy-Paris: the first section on its website is all about its philosophy, and it gets described as being dedicated to the creative arts.
It's a boutique hotel in Montparnasse and you are still allowed to stay there even if you're not an artist--in fact, most artists probably couldn't scrape together the nightly rate of over €200 (US$315) a room, plus €15 (US$23) for breakfast in the morning.
Tags: Eliot Spitzer / Paris Hotels / Hotel Sex / Monica Guy / → All Tags
A Parisian Hotel Suggestion for Prostitute-Loving Politicians
So Eliot Spitzer chose the Mayflower for his sneaky after-work business with an Emperors Club VIP prostitute.
It's not an easy question - where does a well-known man take a high-class hooker so that no-one recognises either him or what he's up to?
A hotel's got to have at least the basics: a large bed, a good shower, flattering bathrobes, soundproofed walls, a well-stocked mini-bar, some kind of music system and discreet staff. Got to be located near enough to the city centre to be easy to find and quick to leave, but not be so conspicuous that everyone can see guests' comings and goings.
And an Emperors Club VIP prostitute ain't gonna be happy with a cheap motel - she's wanting jacuzzi tubs, top quality toiletries and champagne on ice at the very least. You can't google a hotel like that.
So where would a Parisian version of Eliot Spitzer take his madame for a few hours?
Tags: Bad Rate / → All Tags
Bad Rate: Esprit Saint Germain
[Ed. Note: This is the Bad Rate in our Good Rate/Bad Rate feature. The screenshot above was taken on May 2, 2006 and rates are subject to change. Enjoy.]
SmarterTravel.com takes a stand against European hotels advertising guaranteed dollar rates "as if such a guarantee were somehow a huge benefit for American travelers."
One such offender is the three-night package at the Esprit St. Germain in Paris which charges $1,666 per room for two people. The extras included in the package are private car airport transfers on arrival and departure, daily full breakfast, open bar, and use of ``wellness'' and business centers. But the package still breaks down to $555 a night.
Additionally, the hotel's regular rates start at $375. As SmarterTravel points out:
In effect, the guaranteed dollar rate adds $180 a day to cover two breakfasts, airport transfers and a bar bill. Obviously, you could get by for less.
Related Stories:
· How good are guaranteed dollar rates on European hotels? [SmarterTravel]
· Esprit Saint Germain reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Good Rate: Ibis Hotels in Paris [HotelChatter]
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