On the last day of my vacation,I'll be flying into CDG airport from the south of France, arriving in late afternoon. Should I spend my last night at a hotel near the airport since my flight to the US leaves at 11 am or stay in Paris for the last night. Has anyone had any luck with dinner and a hotel near the airport. If we eat at an airport hotel restaurant, I'd hate my last dinner in France to be a bad experience!

Why not book a hotel at the airport (because you will have to check in for your flight at 8:00 am for your 11;00 am departure) but go into Paris for a last bang-up dinner at a good restaurant.

I agree with Norma -- stay at the airport for convenience but just take the RER into town for a dinner. That will be a lot easier than having to take all your luggage into town (and back the next day), checking in and out, etc. Taking the RER from CDG without luggage will be easy -- about 20-30 min. one way.

Joe,<BR>We have done this a couple of times. There are numerous hotels near the airport. Take their shuttle to the Airport, hop on the RER and return after dinner. Hop on the shuttle the next morning and you are off. No worries about luggage and other possible delays.

Vote #3 for staying at a hotel near the airport (the Sheraton is actually IN the airport) and going into Paris for the evening. Your enjoyment of Paris would be lessened with hauling your luggage from/to the airport, trying to find a taxi in the morning, worrying you won't get to the airport in time because of the traffic....

I have stayed at the CDG Airport Hilton. It is a clean, relatively new hotel. When I arrived there was a box of truffles waiting in my room. The train is a short walk from the hotel and they are pretty helpful at the station-to help you get into Paris-plus the hotel has a courtesy bus to and from the airport. I am not certain of your budget or the hotel's rates, but you can easily check via www.hhonors.com or your travel agent. Be careful not to stay out too late, as they trains stop running after a certain hour--had to take a taxi back a few years ago!

Another decent airport hotel with shuttle service is the SAS Radisson.

Sounds like you need only a place to sleep, shower and stow your bags; try the Hotel Ibis at CDG. Actually, there are two - one at CDG and one in Roissy, across the highway from CDG. Both have shuttles to the termnal. Nothing fancy, just clean, comfortable basic rooms at very moderate prices. The one at CDG has a restaurant that serves some pretty good food in the local tradition - again, not fancy, but perfectly acceptable and a far cry from what is served in most American hotel restaurants. They have a very nice breakfast buffet, too! You can book on www.hotelibis.com

Joe-We just did this a few days ago. We came in from Normandy/Brittany and ended up at the Ibis right at the airport and train station(our flight was leaving for the states before 11am). My daughter and I hopped on the train(about $7 euros one way-would recommend buying round trip as ticket place closed when we were coming back and machine would not take my American VISA card). The train will take you into Gare du Nord and then you can take the metro wherever. We wanted to go to the Eiffel Tower (have seen it before) but wanted to see it lit up at night so it took us almost an hour(one way) with the train and 3 metro changes. Also,until April 1st they were stopping the train returns to CDG and you had to get on a bus for the last 8 miles but you will be fine on that now.<BR>I would recommend the Ibis hotel at CDG as we had a triple for $109 Euros and we had everything we needed in room except for a hairdryer. They have a very efficient breakfast buffet in the morning for an extra $6 euros a person.There is free shuttle service to and from airport also.Cabs are very expensive to and from CDG and Paris.