France Paris Sofitel Grand Arche La Defense

[seaile]

Just a quick follow up, this was a great hotel. No mention of priceline, staff was very helpful. The hotel was in great condition, with a lot of extras you would expect at a 5 star, bathrobes, slippers, very clean with two maid service times. This was a wonderful hotel and would recommend it to anyone.

[Chris26WI]

Nice hotel indeed, excellent condition overall, nice staff, comfortable room (seperate tub and shower cubicle, comfy king-size-bed), internet connection fast, but expensive (20 euro for 24hrs). Room service great food, but expensive plus 5 Euro delivery charge (to room). Windows don`t open, only non-smoking rooms, electronic minibar.

Photos here: Realhotelphotos

[Romelle]

I just stayed 5 nights - May 12-17. Totally agree with previous posters. It was a wonderful hotel, especially with my $92 + $10 Entertainment Coupon bid.

If you arrive via the metro, it is the VERY LAST stop - La Defense Arch, NOT the previous one with a similar name. Line 1. When you come up out of the metro, face the gigantic arch and it is on your right hand side. While it is some 19 stories, and one is expecting a large building after seeing pictures on it's web site, it actually is sort of dwarfed by other even larger buildings around it.

For that matter, just finding one's way out of the metro is tricky. Keep following signs to the Grand Arch. Most of the signs are high eye level on walls, but one is central way above a big run of steps and easily missed (several times in my case).

On your left hand side there is a very nice McDonald's and a huge shopping center, including a grocery store. At the McDonalds, I'd really recommend the "Petite Salad". Way better than the simple iceberg ones we get in the US. There also are several other restaurants in the area.

The hotel breakfast looked very nice, but was 22 Euro. Too high for me for the simple coffee/juice/cereal I prefer.

You have to take three runs of escalators down to street level to get in the main entrance if you come via the metro. However, when you are leaving, if you ask nicely they will let you depart via the restaurant level and avoid all the escalator runs.

If you happen to open the mini-bar just to put something of your own in, 6 Euro is added to your bill for each day on which you opened it. However, at check-out they politely and cheerfully remove the charge.

Don't miss the work-out area on the lower level. Very nicely done.

While some people avoid the Defense area because it is so far out, I found we were always going someplace different so were always riding the metro anyway. It only adds another 5 to 10 minutes to one's ride.

Romelle