mweiner:

Thanks for your review. That's very helpful!

We stayed at the Hilton/Eiffel last April. We had previously stayed in the Latin Qtr. and loved it but part of this trip was on our own and not the company paying for it, so, we gambled with Hotwire. At that point we just knew the price in US dollars and general area but not hotel. Well after my hubby hit enter we found we were booked at the Hilton/Eiffel. We took the metro to the area from the Latin Qtr. Hubby went to register and was told we could come back and we would get a room with a balcony. That sounded just fine. We went back at 2 p.m. to move our luggage up and to our surprise we had a room with a 3/4 view of the Eiffel Tower which was just amazing at night. We could sit with our wine and watch the light show. We were able to walk to Rue Cler for picnic items and could sit on the grass in front of the Tower with our wine and food. On our last day (daughter had joined us from Italy where she lives) we sat with some bubbley before heading to our airport hotel. The area was fine and a great place when you walk out the front door, make a right, another right at the corner to a little place for morning breads and coffees. Just great!

Ugh! This thread is not making it any easier to make my decision. We, too, are planning a March 2008 trip to Paris and are decided between the ADT and the ET locations.

This will be my BF's first trip to Paris, my second. The first trip we stayed in the 15th near the Convention metro stop and we loved it. Very neighborhoody and not many tourists at all.

That being said, we don't like to be in the major tourist hubs, i.e., in NYC we stay in Chelsea never in Times Square.

I'm really torn. Leaning toward the ET location and hoping for a balcony room with HH Diamond status, but the ADT seems like it might be a little "better/safer" spot.

We're really not big Hilton Hotel fans, we much prefer a small pension/B&B, but I'm trying to take advantage of the points we have.

Thanks in advance.

The Arc de Triomphe location seems to get better anecdotal reviews than the much older Eiffel Tower location. The latter was built in 1966 and looks it, at least from the outside (the inside has been periodically renovated). The former is almost brand new.

Both are about equal in terms of location. They are convenient to the monuments after which they are named. Other major monuments will usually require a subway ride, except for the Invalides (Eiffel Tower location) or the Champs-Elysées (AdT location).

There are no safety issues to worry about at either location. Paris is a safe city to begin with, and these locations are in particularly sedate areas.

Just noticed this was a year old. Oh well, the information is still valid.