pattyshearts

We are able to get a "Friends and Family" rate at a Marriott in Paris. The problem is the only ones offered are the following:
Courtyard Paris Neuilly
Renaissance Paris Hotel LaDefense
Courtyard DeGaulle
Marriott's Village d'ile-de-France

Not knowing too much about Paris, it looks as though the Renaissance Paris Hotel LaDefense is the closest.

Does anyone know anything about this hotel? We want clean and a safe neighborhood. Can you make another suggestion also?

Should I skip the good rate and go for another hotel?

I really depend on you guys for all my trips!
Thanks!!!

Travelnut

If you would provide the specific rate, room type, and number of people someone might be able to make suggestions...

Bird

The LaDefense is located within the business district and won't provide much in the way of nightlife or local flavor.

Galeigh

I worked for Marriott and I have stayed at both the LaDefense location and the Courtyard DeGaulle. I felt like the LaDefense was too out of the way. But the Courtyard Degaulle has a shuttle to and from the airport so that gives you easy access to the metro. I am going to stay at the Paris Neuilly this Spring. I hope this helps.

francophile03

Hi, I would suggest to book an independent hotel and not go with any of those Marriott locations. You're paying anyway since the Friends and Family rate is just a discounted rate, but even if the stays were free I would suggest getting a hotel located in a central neighborhood. I've a relative who could've gotten a free stay at the La Defense location. I explained to her that I'd rather stay in the 6th and would prefer to pay for two rooms instead of choosing to stay in La Defense even if it were free.

Galeigh

I thought the hotel itself was really nice just the location was odd. But it wasn't so odd that I wouldn't take a free night.

Christina

I agree with Francophile, I wouldn't stay in any of those, even if they were free, let alone just a special rate.

francophile03

There is one Marriott that's in central Paris. It's the Champs Elysees location. Sadly this is not a Friends and Family property, otherwise, I'd recommend staying there instead of the ones on your list.

Chels

I have stayed at the Renaissance La Defense before, as well as the Hilton La Defense on 3 separate occassions.

The area has no ambiance whatsoever. It is extremely quiet at night. It did not feel unsafe; rather, it felt a little lonely after sundown as it is a business district. I felt fine when I traveled with a group of friends, but I would not want to be a female alone walking in the area at night -it's just too quiet.

With that said, I have stayed in the area several times due to free point stays, and I would stay there again if the price were right. If you are an independent type of traveler, there is a train station outside and downstairs from the Renaissance that is very convenient. It is on a direct line to the Champs Elysees/Arc de Triumph (about 7 minutes away) and the Louvre is a few minutes past this. You can pick up a hop-on/hop-off tour bus near the Arc de Triumph, or you can meet several tour companies near the Louvre for organized tours. You can take a direct RER train from downstairs to the town of Versailles and visit the palace.

I consistently took the train during the day, and took a cab back to the hotel at night if we are out late in the evening. To give an example, a cab ride from the hotel to the center of the Champs Elysees ran us about 10 Euro, and took about 10 minutes.

As for the hotel itself, the Renaissance is fairly small, and the rooms are average in size. However, the rooms were cozy, modern, and in excellent condition. Room service was more than adequate, and the concierge was helpful. It is a business-oriented hotel, but there was plenty of tourist information available, and the concierge can make various reservations for you. It may be easier to research in advance, and have a good idea of what you want to do on the trip prior to arrival.

Hope this helps,
Chels

Travelnut

I wouldn't want to stay out at CDG, as possibly endorsed above. It would be a good hour each way to get from the hotel to the RER to Paris.

I've heard Neuilly-sur-Seine is rather nice, but possibly the problem is limited metro access.

How many nights were you planning? Maybe you could compromise and spend a few at your Marriott, then spend a few in Paris-central...

lemidi

Hi
We stayed at the Courtyard CDG for two nights at the end of a long France vacation and wanted to be near the airport. Great hotel (very comfortable large rooms with king beds) especially if you get a good price but I definitely would not recommend if your goal is to visit Paris; it is doable with the airport shuttle to CDG then RER from CDG into central Paris but this whole thing would take over an hour because of waiting and changing and making stops etc...This hotel though is located across the street from the charming small town of Roissy en France with several nice restaurants, beautiful gardens, a great excercise trail, beautiful church and some nice Concorde memorabilia in a park. Nice stopover point.

My sister in law stayed at the Courtyard Neuilly two years ago and liked it. She described it as a very nice Courtyard in a high class residential neighborhood on the outskirts of Paris. Check Marriott's website about transporttion from this hotel. It usually says how far the metro is.

Both of these are nice hotels but I don't think either are good if you want to be in the heart of things but between these two the Neuilly is better for proximity to sightseeing.

kerouac

I agree that Neuilly would feel more like Paris, but if I had to choose one of the places with a knife at my throat, I would probably stay at La Défense which has a lot of different transportation options -- metro, RER A, SNCF (to Saint Lazare) and bus lines. Since I would only be sleeping there and not spending any other time at the hotel, it wouldn't really matter that the La Défense area is dead at night.
If it is of any importance to you, it might be mentioned that the shopping mall at La Défense is one of the largest in Europe.

kerouac

Oh, the SNCF line at La Défense also is direct to Versailles.

CarlosSandoval

Patty,

I just stay at a Marriott in Paris. La Defense is out of the way from Paris, you are in zone 2 with the Metro. Coutyard DeGaulle is also out of the way, as well as Marriot's Village. Your best option might be Courtyard Paris Neuilly.

However, have you tried the Marriott Rive Gauche Hotel and Conference Center. It's only 30 minutes walking distance to Notre Dame, and 5 minute walking distance to the metro station LINE 6 which takes you to the Eiffel Tower and many other connections to major sites. It's also in a quite location and walking distance to many restaurants.

Christina

If I had to choose one, I would choose La Defense, also, for convenience. I do like that shopping center, and it has excellent transportation options.

As I recall, the Courtyard in Neuilly isn't that close to a metro stop -- maybe 6 blocks or so. So, maybe the neighborhood would be "quainter", but I'd go for convenience. I still wouldn't do any of these unless I were dirt poor and really couldn't afford a vacation or trip otherwise, then I could see it. I think you have too much invested in a vacation with the other costs and possible vacation time expenditure to affect the value of the vacation by doing this -- but some people don't care about where they stay that much and just want to sightsee during the day. IN which case, it would be fine.