After some unsuccessful tries for 4-star hotels in La Defense, I tried for 3 star hotels in this area (wanted this area because I will be working there for some time), I got the Mercure La Defense Parc for all over 12 nights, for between 62 and 66 US$ bids. The Mercure La Defense Parc is not in Paris itself, but in the near city of Nanterre (which is almost in Paris), close to the La Defense complex (which isn't in Paris itself actually too, but in Courbevoie). The RER station (regional trains) "Nanterre Prefecture" is practically under the hotel, the hotel consists of two (quite modern) buildings which are built around one of the exits to the RER station. So very conveniant location in terms of access to public transportation. From the Airport Charles de Gaulle Roissy, it takes about 1 hour to get to the hotel (RER A to Chatelet, then RER B to Nanterre Prefecture). Check-In was friendly and efficient, Priceline not a topic, never had seen long queues at the front desk. The hotel seems to be mostly frequented by Japanese travel groups, by the way. It's a quite typical Mercure 3-star hotel. The lobby is quite smallish with a restaurant/bar in the back. I think it's 5 or 6 guest floors in the hotel. They offer two different guest room types, the standard ones and the "premier" ones (which seem to be better fitted) - the photos in the website seem to relate to premier rooms, of course. I got a standard room of course, in the first floor - while I'd have preferred a higher floor because one can hear the trains from down in the earth sometimes (but it's still ok, not really heavily noisy). The decoration in the room is quite modern and cold in style, there's a TV with not a lot of channels (23), but 4 pay-tv channels (channels 9-13, which is not nice if you "zap" around the channels because you'll always have to pass the Pay-TV channels). There's no minibar in the room, just a drinks dispenser outside (with the usual minibar prices, so not a cheap solution, and doesn't offer any alcohol). This is a bit bad as there's apparently no supermarket in the near neighbourhood of the hotel. The bathroom is ok, nothing special, but clean and light. There's enough space in the 3 wall closets in the entry area of the room, and a safe is there too. The entry area is separated from the sleeping room by another door which is a nice thing because you become a bit more isolated from the guest rooms corridor. The floor carpet was already quite run-down and especially in the entry area markedly caved. There's a room service available until 22.30 h on working days, not during the night and not on weekends. Breakfast costs 14 Euro extra (didn't take it). There's a private parking garage in the hotel too (17 EUR/day). The neigbourhood of the hotel is more unpersonal and characterized by large condominiums (mostly social condos). There are some pizzerias around the corner, a news stand etc., but otherwise nothing special to see and do. The La Defense complex (with a lot of malls too) is however in easy reach, one RER station (ask for a ticket at the ticket desk, not at the machine, as the cheap one stop ticket - 1,10 EUR - can only be bought on the desk, not in the ticket vending machines), or 15-20 mins walk by foot. To go to Paris city center is easy with the RER too, so it won't take you much more than 30 mins to get to the Louvre or even less to the Champs-Elysees. All over, it's a "ok-"Hotel, quite modern and clean. The neighbourhood is not a plus for the hotel, but otherwise, it's very easy to get to any place in Paris thanks to the near RER station. For the price I paid via Priceline, I really cannot complain (looking at the usual high hotel rates for Paris). The official rates for a standard room here are 165 EUR (185 EUR for a premier room) in low-season! Incredible! (Internet-Rates via mercure.com still around 115 EUR excl. bf).
