Yet another Grandes Ecoles reservation question
 

Well, it's just about the 15th and time to try to get September reservations at Hotel des Grandes Ecoles. My question is: will there be someone to talk to if I call just after midnight? Is it better to call or email? I know they book up quickly so I want to maximize my chances of getting a room. Anyone have any insights? Thanks. :)

I would suggest you follow this procedure:
Since Paris is 6 hours ahead (on the east coast, more further west), you can email anytime after 6 p.m. today and you are following the hotel's rule of reserving on the 15th (which is tomorrow).
I would not call in the evening, because the person handling reservations--Marie, by name--works during the day. Further, from our experience there, the evening attendants' English was not that good!
You might want to follow up your email tonight with a call early tomorrow morning.
Good luck!

I think Howard's rules are in general good ones to follow -- don't call in evening their time as night clerks usually cannot make reservations. Don't call at the busiest time when they may be checking people in/out (first thing in the morning). I try to call or send email so it is late morning or afternoon their time. So, I might call first thing in the morning my time (US east coast). Yes, I know rates are not lowest then but I would never expect to get a reservation made at 6 am Paris time when the night clerk may still be there. That is why I love sending timed faxes by my computer. Otherwise, it's a minimal cost to me overall, so I pay the higher phone rates.

Thanks for the adviCe! ;-) As a followup question (especially since Howard seems to be very familiar with the place), should I write my email in English or my high school French? I think I can pretty clearly say I want a room for 5 nights with double bed, but I'm not sure I'll be able to clearly request the garden buildings... :-p

Just wanted to let you guys know that I emailed at about 3:45 PST yesterday (in English) and had a positive response in my inbox this morning when I got to work! Woo hoo! We're off to Paris, the Perigord and the Languedoc in September! :)

Congrats QueenMab. I'm very happy for you. You'll love it there! Did you get the garden building?
(Just in case anyone wants the answer to her language question, I would suggest that unless you were pretty sure of your [proficiency in French, you should still to English to avoid a misunderstanding. Fear not, the manager's English is good!)

Howard, I didn't get the garden building, but my friend did (we are traveling with another couple, and we each wrote separately)! She sent her email about 2 hours after mine; I wrote in English, she wrote in French. Do you think there is any significance to that? In any case, we are very happy and looking forward to our trip. Now I am just waiting for airfares to go down...

That's a good question, but I don't have an answer for you. Obviously, your friend's French was good enough for them to understand! Considering how tough it is to get a reservation, you seem to have the right attitude that you're happy just to get a reservation there.