STAFF HOTEL REVIEWS

Le Meridien Piccadilly
21 Piccadilly
London, W1J 0BH, United Kingdom

By: Dave Grossman
HotelMagician.com
May 2009

For a short one night stay in London, I chose the Le Meridien Piccadilly for two primary reasons. 1) it has a perfect central London location – right off Piccadilly Circus, and 2) because I had heard that the hotel had done extensive room renovations and that the staff had stepped up to a new level of service.

The stay went 1 for 2.

The location is indeed spectacular. Arriving in Heathrow, you can either take the tube for about 50 minutes to Piccadilly Circus and exit a 2 minute walk (if that) from the hotel. You could also take the Heathrow Express to Paddington and the Bakerloo Tube line to Piccadilly Circus. Or you could take a taxi. In any event, it’s easy to get to and about as centrally located as you can be. It’s the equivalent of staying just off Times Square in New York City.

Upon arrival, I waited about 10 minutes to check-in. I was finally taken over to a desk to check-in only to be told my room wasn’t ready yet (it was about 2:30). I expressed that I was here for only one day, had work to do, and would appreciate if he could find an available room. And he did – I’m not sure why this wasn’t done automatically. Then some confusion began. The room I’d booked, a Junior Suite with a rate of 569 British Pounds, should have included internet access free of charge. I was told it did not when I checked in. A phone call to reception confirmed it was not included. But in the Club Lounge later, the gent in charge did some checking around for me and found out that it was indeed included. At 30 dollars a night, it wasn’t small change and by this point I’d already spent a couple of hours working on the computer in the lounge when I could have been in my room. I’ve emailed the GM in hopes that communication can be sorted out among staff to avoid this confusion in the future. To add to the confusion, if you try to login from the room, it will tell you that you are being charged – it’s just that the front desk will take it off at checkout. Confusing.

The water in the Club Rooms and Suites are also complimentary, though no signage in the room expresses this. Again, it would be nice if the water were placed on a card that said “With our compliments” or some similar wording. Who wants to phone down to find out if the water if free or not?  The staff overall was hit or miss. The gentleman running the club lounge was wonderful. Many of the other staff seemed indifferent. At a hotel in this price point, I expect a bit of “How are you, sir?” How is your stay, sir?” But there was none of that. Even at checkout, I was not asked about the quality of my stay – a bit surprising.

Anyway, let’s move to the room. Despite many of the regular rooms being freshly renovated this year, the Junior Suites apparently were last renovated 10 years ago and are not part of this recent renovation. You may be better off booking a Club room and asking to be given a recently renovated one. I hear they are quite nice although I didn’t see one myself.

Still, the Junior Suite was very spacious and very nice in a classy way. Each room had a flat panel TV and the room had many classical touches, as you can see in the photos. It had a fairly modern but classic, old world feel to it. The bathrooms were plenty spacious (the suite had two full baths) and, although the lack of a hair dryer was notable, they had plenty of room and the showers worked well.

The air conditioning was a bit old and clunky and a bit difficult to figure out. Part of the classic charm I guess!

The beds were VERY comfortable – so a big thumbs up there.

A huge amenity in this hotel is the Health Club. In fact, for some, it may well be a reason to choose the Le Meridien Piccadilly for your London stay.  In the basement, you’ll find a complete health club with plenty of aerobic machines, a large swimming pool, a hot tub, a steam room, and even a “relaxation room” – all of which I sampled and all of which was quite nice and relaxing. If you are here on business, the health club will certainly provide you some respite from your stress. Bring a pound coin with you for the locker as a deposit then simply go downstairs, sign in with your room number, and you’re all set. I would say this area was the highlight of my stay – in addition to appreciating the wonderful location.

(From left to right, the pool, hot tub, and steam room)

Would I stay again? On a good rate, yes. But there is a lot of competition in the area and I’d be likely to give nearby hotels a try – such as the Ritz-Carlton London or the Hilton London on Park Lane.

-DG

Hotel Le Royal
Place Bellecour
69002 Lyon, France

A 100% Smoke-Free Hotel

By: Dave Grossman,
HotelMagician.com
May 2009

I found the Hotel Le Royal to be an absolutely perfect choice for my 3 days in Lyon.  Really very well done all around.

To start, the location is wonderful, right in the city center on the Place Bellecour (a large open square).  If you are arriving by TGV it’s just two stops on the Metro from Perrache TGV station to Bellecour. If you come in from the airport, you can either take a cab (pricey at over 60 Euros) or take the Satobus to Perrache and again it’s two stops on the Metro. They are working on linking the airport by rail by that was not completed as of my 2009 stay.

From Bellecour, you can also walk nearly everywhere. During my stay (I admit I walk a lot!) I walked west to the old town (Vieux Lyon), north to Hotel De Ville, Northeast to the Park D’Or and eventually to the shopping area at Part Dieu. But even if you don’t choose to walk everywhere, the metro is outside your door and is on two central lines.

The checkin was very smooth. The desk clerks and concierge all speak perfect English (and also indulged my French) and were very helpful in suggesting local sights (I never would have visited their wonderful park without the guidance) and even where to go at night as well as suitable day trips.

The room, as you can see in the pictures, was very elegant. I had a single so the room itself wasn’t massive, but for a single room in Europe, it was a good size.  There was a very nice bathroom with full shower/tub and room on the sink for all my things. The room had a flat panel TV with an assortment of French channels as well as CNN and BBC World in English.

If you book a rate that includes breakfast (most don’t, but mine did), you can take breakfast in the dining room, in your own room (no extra charge) or if you’re in a hurry to get out the door, they will do a “light” breakfast (coffee, juice, croissants) in a box for you. You’re also not held to having breakfast by a set time – if you wake up late, it’s no problem. As a night owl, I really appreciated that.

I can usually think of at least something that bothered by during my stay in any hotel, but I really can’t fault anything about the Hotel Le Royal. I only wish I had booked the Jr Suite (pictures below) as those rooms are really quite breathtaking.  I never encountered rude staff, all requests were accommodated, and the room itself was nicely appointed. I’d stay at the Hotel Le Royal again if my travels took my back to Lyon.

-DG

Pictures of Jr Suite

Hotel De La Sorbonne
Paris, France
A 100% Smoke-Free Hotel

By Dave Grossman, HotelMagician.com

May 2009

The Hotel de la Sorbonne had gotten good reviews on sites like TripAdvisor, so when I was choosing between a variety of hotels in Paris’ Latin Quarter, I chose this hotel over roughly ten in the area, The Hotel de la Sorbonne is located directly adjacent to the Sorbonne (the most famous University in France) in the heart of the Latin Quarter and while a first time visitor to Paris might choose to be nearer the more posh Champs Elysees, I have been to Paris many times and wanted someplace more “in the action”.  Although the Hotel de la Sorbonne is only rated 2 stars, I chose it on the reviews, location, and the fact that it has recently completed a major renovation. I am a sucker for new or freshly renovated hotels.

The arrival was not spectacular. Fresh off a flight where the handle had been broken off my luggage, I was given a room key for a 4th floor room and then informed that the elevator was under repair. It was due to be fixed shortly following my stay, but it was an inconvenience, nonetheless. On the plus side, the reception was very friendly and spoke perfect English.

The room itself was tiny. Granted I booked a “single” as I’d be by myself on this trip, but even for a single room, it was like a closet. The worst part was certainly the bathroom. The shower was small enough that I could not turn around without accidentally either shutting off the water or changing the temperature to cold or scalding. I guess there wasn’t room for a larger one, though, given that you could rest your head on the sink (if you chose) from the toilet. An extra few feet in there would have made a massive difference.

It was certainly not all bad, however. The room is indeed freshly renovated and includes an iMac computer complete with free Internet access (a somewhat spotty WiFi signal is also provided for free by the hotel) and also acted as the room’s television with access to more than 20 channels including CNBC Europe and BBC World in English.

And to be fair, the rate for such a central location in Paris (and the 2 star rating) indicated I might not feel the luxury of a 4 star hotel. I paid a total of 195 Euros for two nights or about $260. That’s a great price for central Paris and the cramped quarters are not unusual for a lower priced hotel anywhere in Europe. (I’m just not personally very used to it!)

Lobby

The hotel is easily reachable from Charles de Gaulle airport on the RER “B” line (stop “Luxembourg”), sits right off Place de la Sorbonne and is a 5 minute walk to the famous Luxembourg Gardens. The touristic area of Rue St Severin is a 10 minute walk down rue St. Michel and about a 15 minute walk away is the fun Rue Muffetard with an outdoor food market 5 days a week and a nice collection of downscale shops, bars, and restaurants.

I should also add that I was specifically looking for local nightlife and figured that it would be hard to miss in an area with four universities. The hotel staff unfortunately could not recommend anything (yes, it was a Sunday and Monday night but I knew there had to be SOMETHING open and busy). On my own, between the hotel and Rue Muffetard, I stumbled on an English pub (of all things in Paris!) that turned out to be the busiest watering hole I’d walked by. The staff was extremely friendly and I found myself there past closing time. If you’re not stuck on a traditional French bar, I highly recommend “Bombardier” (2, place du Pantheon – tel: 01 43 54 79 22), open 7 days a week. Tell Barry or Jerry that Dave, the hotel guy from New York, sent you. They’ll take good care of you.

PS: The Hotel De La Sorbonne is a 100% Smoke-Free hotel.

-DG