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There simply is no defense for La Defense.(sorry, couldn't resist)
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La Défense, because it is a business area, (and an interesting area in terms of urban planning) is not less " French" than the now largely disneyfied areas which seem to appeal so much.
Dear visitors, the Paris of Hemingway is long gone. Saint-Germain is not a "quaint typical Paris neighbourhood". Whatever the area's past literary glory, it is now littlemore than an expensive open-air shopping mall, with some of the most expensive real estate in town. If the original poster has found accomodation at a good price at La Défense, it is a perfectable viable option, especially given the excellent connections with Paris proper. |
The St. Germain de Pres district is like an 'open-air shopping mall' and is 'disneyfied'? You exaggerate.
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>Saint-Germain is not a "quaint typical Paris neighbourhood". Whatever the area's past literary glory, it is now littlemore than an expensive open-air shopping mall, ...<
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Within the 6th Luxembourg Gardens St Sulpice St Germain des Pres Les Deux Magots Cafe' de Flor Brasserie Lipp Corner of Boul St Germain and Boul St Mich Also, within 20 min by foot from the Hotel Bonaparte Pantheon Notre Dame Musee d'Orsay Musee Cluny Sorbonne Location, Location, Location :) ((I)) |
"La Defense is a perfectly viable option"- Maybe for Trudaine but not moi! We stayed in La Depressing 2 yrs ago and left after 2 nights. Enjoying Paris during the day and returning to La D in the evening was like having a fine dinner followed by a glass of buttermilk.
As far as "the Paris of Hemingway is long gone"- what major urban cities haven't experienced change! |
Your turn, rope and tru.
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A choice one has to make in any major city is how to split one's budget between accomodation, food and activities. If the OP has found a decent hotel at a good price reasonably close to Paris, i'd say go for it. Maybe he/she'll be able to spend more on meals, gifts, etc. Paris is not Los Angeles : everything, including the museums, is very reachable by public transport.
As to the famous cafes and restaurants in Saint-Germain, they are largely resting on their laurels, and living off tourism. Sorry for attacking some sacred cows, but there other, and more authentic ways of enjoying Paris than drinking 6-7 Euro Cokes at the Deux Magots, rubbing shoulders with Japanese "office ladies" on a shopping tour. |
Trudaine, you not only make the most stupid assumptions about St. Germain restaurants and cafes but you are also offensive. One can find reasonable places to eat in St. Germain. The Deux Magots and touristy cafes are not the only places available to eat there.
The o.p. can definitely find a variety of reasonably priced hotels with character in the city center. In fact, some even cost less than the Sofitel La Defense. |
I find it interesting that the detractors are the only ones resorting to <i>ad hominem</i> attacks and name-calling.
The pro-Défense crowd seem civilized by comparison. |
Excuse me passepartout, but where in my posts did I resort to name calling and "ad hominem attacks"? And since when does claiming to be on an "anti stupidity" campaign referring to ther posters count as civilized? Also where did Dukey launch such attacks? He is the only poster here who actually stayed in the hotel and who recommended against it based on EXPERIENCE with the hotel. Experience with the hotel, FYI, lacking by ALL of the pro-Sofitel La Defense posters.
My parents stayed in that hotel on a group tour of Europe. They did not like it and would never have chosen to stay there on their own. They liked staying in the 7th and 16th a LOT more, including a stay at Le Parc. And FWIW, we've stayed at LeParc in spring for 159€ per night, which is not that much out of the OP's budget. And we had a beautiful, spacious room, ALL the amenities available at the Sofitel La Defense (and then some), plus the benefit of being in one of the most beautiful parts of the city and within a short walk of its most famous landmark. Moreover, Robespierre is factually inaccurate in his mass transit comparisons for Sofitel Le Parc. First, the hotel is closer to the Victor Hugo stop than to Trocadero. It is, however, within a short walk of the Trocadero, a wonderful way to wind up your evenings...watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle with a last glass of wine or cup of hot chocolate, then strolling back along an elegant tree-lined street. (No one who actually knows this part of the 16th would call it "quaint"--elegant and beautiful fit, quaint doesn't). It is also a much closer (and nicer) walk to the Arc de Triomphe or to the Guimet Museum. One of the buses that serves the Victor Hugo area takes you along a very scenic route, one of our favorite bus routes in Paris. My recommendation was based solely on my personal experience with Sofitel properties in Paris (and elsewhere). And also with my family's experience with the Sofitel La Defense. It was NOT based merely on metro calculations. Robespierre has NO experience with Sofitel LeParc and apparently little *first hand* knowledge of its immediate neighborhood. |
I'd say that €159 was almost half again as much as $140. I would leave it to the OP to make the judgment whether that sum is "not that much out of the OP's budget" or not. If the subject has changed to "$205 properties I like" then further discussion can take place.
If we stay within the OP's original parameters of which I <u>do</u> have <b>first hand</b> knowledge, La Défense is a lot more bang for the euro. No, you can't walk out the front door into ParisLand, but transportation to the main part of the city is readily available. I can't vouch for the bedding you may get, but I would trust Sofitel to do it right. |
If you had read the OP's more recent post, you would have seen that the ideal rate was $175 or less. 159€, or $205, is NOT "half again as much" as $174. And we don't know what kind of discount the OP could get with this particular Sofitel. It may very well be enough to bring the rate down to $175, depending on dates of travel and room availability.
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You're right. $205 is half again as much as the original limit, but only 17% more than the revised limit.
But there's still a <u>limit</u> there which, for whatever reason, you don't seem willing to observe. Your continual upping the ante for a decent accommodation plays directly into the thesis that there really is no great lodging value within the Périphérique. There may be a discount available at either property. |
Robespierre, you are wrong again. If you look at my first post, I told the OP that if the $140 budget (aka "the limit") was the deciding factor, that they should consider other options, possibly non Accor properties, closer in Paris. As for this "limit", the OP has already raised it once and by comparing the original hotel choice and the other Sofitels I suggested, might think it's worth it to raise the limit again.
The OP also asked for information about other Accor properties more centrally located in Paris, which I provided based on actual experience with those hotels. The OP also would like to have a choice of restaurants nearby. My Michelin red guide lists no fewer than 35 restaurants of note in teh 16th, including several in the immediate vicinity of the Sofitels I suggested. Along with dozens of perfectly decent restaurants also within the area that weren't included in the guide. There were NONE listed for La Defense (except for descriptions of the restaurants in the few hotels there). None. Zero. I have been out to the La Defense neighborhood for business and did check out the restaurants in that area. Many cater to the working lunch crowd and aren't open in the evenings or on week-ends. Most were nondescript, not places where I'd choose to enjoy a fine French meal. For a very first visit to Paris, I don't the OP is best served by staying out in La Defense. Period. I think the OP would enjoy their stay much more and get more out of it by staying in "ParisLand" as you so condescendingly put it. If cost is the over-riding concern, then skip the Sofitels entirely and stay in an Ibis or discounted Mercure or a non Accor property. If cost is not the ONLY issue and preference for a Sofitel property is more important because of its amenities and opportunity to get some luxury at a discount, then consider LeParc or possibly the Baltimore; both offer rooms not much above the OP's revised budget and are much better located and are simply superior properties in almost every category. |
It should be obvious to anyone that if all monetary constraints are removed, one can get much more hotel in any area. But for a given figure, one will get less hotel in the Central Zone than further out. This is Econ 101, and has been tested empirically by myriad tourists: high land cost demands high room tariffs for an equivalent property.
The question ultimately devolves upon each person's subjective judgment as to which criteria take precedence: o Value for money (<i>i.e.</i>, not cost) o Convenience to transport o Proximity to Notre Dame (Two out of three ain't bad.) By the way, your comment about listed restaurants in the XVIe applies equally to La Défense: "dozens of perfectly decent restaurants <s>also</s> within the area that weren't included in the guide." |
"The question ultimately devolves upon each person's subjective judgment as to which criteria take precedence..."
AND I suggest you ADD the words, "and how each person's DEFINITION of each criterion" (which could be just a bit different from everyone else's and, as hard as it might be to believe or accept, seem perfectly valid to that particular indivdiual. |
I hear they need some more "Minutemen" down along the Arizona-Mexico border..sounds like an ideal job for the "only-one-answer" folks...and conveniently located, too!
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It seems to me that more heat than light is being generated.
The OP seems to have been driven away. ((I)) |
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