Paris Hotel
 

I will be visiting Paris in July. I have made reservations at Radisson SAS Hotel Champs Elysees. Can anyone tell me whether this is a nice hotel?

What's your definition of "nice?" Sure, it's a classy hotel, but it has zero "Parisian charm" and is not in an ideal neighborhood for touring, IMO.

Is this your first visit to Paris? If so, you've probably been told that you have to stay on/near the Champs Elysée. In fact, it's just a huge wide street with a lot of American chain stores on it. There are scads of other places in Paris that are more interesting and more attractive.

But yes, it's a nice hotel and certainly close enough so that you can get around to the sites pretty easily. And you've already made reservations, right? It'll be fine.

Note to self: inquire about hotel <i>before</i> sending money.

I'm assuming your reservation can be cancelled, else you wouldn't be asking, non?

I agree the Champs Elysees was a disappointment-- so crowded and commercial. Not the charm I expected. We liked our Hotel La Bourdonnais near the Eiffel Tower for a quieter, upscale neighborhood close to the Champs De Mars, Les Invalides and of course the Tower. We even had a view of the Tower from our little balcony (room 503).

If you click on my name above, you will find my travel report of London-Paris-Amsterdam, with more specifics about the hotel and some mid-priced restaurants we enjoyed.

Have fun in Paris! (Get A/C for sure, IMHO.)

I suggest you read ALL the reviews on TripAdvisor about this hotel. There seemed to be some concerns, by some travelers, about the prices of the restaurants, etc., in the hotel's neighborhood.

If my first visit to Paris hadn't dazzled me so much, I probably would have been unhappy with our hotel -- The Warwick -- right off Champs Elysees. Like others I THOUGHT that's where one should stay in Paris. The hotel was big, classy, and very nice -- but no different than a Hyatt or Marriott in the busiest and least Parisian area of Paris to me. I've since moved away from that area.

Sorry, no help specifically with the Radisson SAS.

Intrepid makes a good point about the restaurant prices in that neighborhood. We looked at a few menus, and there sure are few, if any, values in the Champs Elysees area. Too many places were coat and tie, too, with which we do not travel!

Practically everyone else before me has commented on being disillusioned with the Champs Elysees. Count me in. I always thought it would be best to stay either near the Eiffel Tower or the Champs Elysees. While staying near the tower is nice though very quiet, I was disappointed in staying nearby the Champs Elysees. To me it's not appealing at all. The crowds are there on the boulevard and there are lots of tourist trap restaurants both on the boulevard and in the side streets. The shops are not appealing as well. Perhaps the only good thing there is the Arc de Triomphe, but you don't need to stay near the Champs Elysees to enjoy a visit to the arch.

To me the Latin Quarter, St. Germain, Louvre/Tuileries, Marais, and Invalides areas are much nicer.

Thanks to all of you for the advice. I will be canceling my reservations at the Radisson and looking for another hotel.

This past winter we stayed at a hotel in the Latin Quarter on our 3rd trip to Paris. On another visit we had stayed in a hotel near the Arc de Triomphe because we thought it would be convenient. We were wrong! The neighborhood we were based in this time was much more interesting and convenient to everything. We stayed in the Hotel Sorbonne, by the way. It was nice, not great, but reasonably priced.