We had travelled on the red eye from Miami and arrived into CDG around 9AM. Courtesy of Flying Blue Petroleum I was awarded some (complimentary) goodies at the transfer desk:
A breakfast voucher
Day use of a local hotel
Lunch voucher ( to be used in said hotel)
I thought this was a pretty good offering; the only qualifier is that the layover has to be in excess of six hours.
I picked up my goodies from the transfer desk and asked for directions to the hotel. I was informed that the hotel was near the train terminal. It transpired that this was not quite true; the train terminal was the location of the bus stop where I could board the courtesy bus that would take us to the hotel. My hold luggage was (luckily) tagged through to EDI however it was a bit of a task moving Mrs TF (Travel Freak) and 3 JTF’s (Junior Travel Freaks) with buggy (stroller) and a million bits of hand luggage.
We didn’t wait long for a bus however as the same bus stops at a number of hotels (6 I think) it took a good 20 minutes or so to be get to the Best Western; it’s also the last stop on the bus route which means the bus is full of guests (and luggage) who have got on the bus to go back to the terminal by this point.
Anyway I digress. I presented myself a check-in along with my “ticket” from Air France. I was greeted by a very well dressed gentleman ( it is France after all) and was given my room key and a voucher that stated I had 25 euros to spend in the restaurant. So far; so good.
Now I should be honest and explain that my experiences of Best Western hotels are somewhat mixed; I spent some months of my life in Brighton. I used a number of websites to secure the best deal on hotels ranging from £14 per night (seriously, breakfast was included) to the Hilton Brighton Metropole (breakfast was not included). I also spent a lot of time in the Best Western Brighton Hotel which, honestly, was not an overly exciting place to be. Overall I wasn’t sure what to expect.
The lobby was modern, fresh and obvious t was obvious that a great deal of time had been spent ensuring that your first impression of the hotel was a good one. The bar and restaurant were similar, they looked modern and seemed to be trying to appear “cool” or modern at least.
As soon as I stepped into the room my memories of Brighton came flooding back to me. The room was really old. The nice man (yes there is an arch rival to come) at reception had given me a family room with two doubles. Imagine a three star hotel from 1960 and you might be close – the room was not really very nice. The bathroom was similar and even had a dispenser for soap / shower gel. The TV was kinda small and alas didn’t have any kids TV channels (even French ones!). We did manage to find the BBC News channel in English which I explained to the JTF’s was much more educational; they were not convinced.
I went back to reception to acquire some Wi-Fi (free in lobby only) and was forced to meet The Evil One (TEO). TEO was about 30, slim, pretty and grumpy as hell. The more I smiled and the nicer I was to her, the meaner she became. I mean she was MEAN. One day I might return to the hotel to take a picture. She really needs to learn some customer care skills.
Anyway – I eventually got my internet access and wasted an hour; it was surely lunch time.
Check out (our scathing) review of the restaurant here.
We left the hotel after lunch and made our way back to the airport (where I managed to spend my “breakfast” voucher on a beer and a croissant; happy days).
This hotel was selling at 130 EUR during our trip – we really wouldn’t have paid that; even for all five of us.
My view of Best Western is still pretty much what it was before; not really very good.
Best Western CDG Airport, 1 Allee du Verger, Roissy En France, 95700. Website
