We are a family of six who will be in Paris in November (mom, dad and four daughters ages 16, 14, 11 and 3). We will fly in to CDG then drive to a place in Lugano for a week, then back to Paris to stay in an apt. The problem is, when we fly in , we would like to spend a night in a nice, inexpensive hotel near Paris that could easily accommodate us for just one night before we begin our drive.
We have stayed in the Marriott out by Disney and loved it...great townhouses, big enough for all of us and very inexpensive...BUT they do not have any availablity for our date (Nov 3).
Any suggestions without having to go totally no-frills?
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Just bumping in hopes of a response....
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You could stay in the Chantilly area which is just North of the airport and visit Senlis as well. Google Chantilly, as I know of nice places there with swimming pools etc. (resort type) but cannot remember names. Chantilly has a castle and stables. A lot to do with horses.
Senlis is a quaint village with coblestones and charming streets.
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If you appreciated the Marriott in Disney, it means that staying away from Paris, with nothing interesting to do at night and in a sanitised environment does not put you off. In this case, why don%26#39;t you choose one of the many airport hotels? All price ranges are available, even the cheapest ones: think Etap, Ibis, even maybe Formule 1. All these brands belong to the same hotel group, Accor, you can easily book online (www.accorhotels.com), they%26#39;ll give you all the options. Staying in Senlis or Chantilly can look nice on paper, but it%26#39;s relatively difficult and expensive to get there from CDG.
Another thing: I suppose you chose CDG as the pick-up location for your rental car, right? Because you are afraid of driving in Paris, right? Well, there is nothing to be afraid of, it%26#39;s just normal big city traffic. Plus, Lugano is South or Paris and CDG is North. So, if I were you I would rearrange to pick up the car in some agency in the centre of Paris, this way you would: 1) spend the night in a normal Paris hotel, not some chain establishment in the suburbs; 2) be much closer to you final destination and save yourselves 50 miles of driving.
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Bob, wow you sure are harsh.
1. They are flying into CDG so why wouldnt they pick up their car there?
2. Senlis and Chantilly expensive to get to from CDG? What are you talking about? They will have the rental car and can just drive over there.
3. Yes the Marriot is what it is, they are looking for a place to rest for the night as they clearly will spend the meat of their time in their apartment in Paris after return from Lugano.
4. Scared to drive in Paris? Who knows but why even bother going into Paris when you just want to rest?
I dont think you read their post well before you lashed out.
Deb, Wish I had a suggestion but I really dont. hopefully others can give you some ideas. Have a great trip!.
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Sorry, Morgan, I didn%26#39;t want to sound harsh (OK, maybe about the Marriott, but it%26#39;s part of the fun... ), just wanted to addrress some of their logistical problems:
1. They are flying into CDG so why wouldnt they pick up their car there?
Yes but it doesn%26#39;t matter since they want to spend the night. So they can go anywhere, they are %26quot;CDG free%26quot;.
2. Senlis and Chantilly expensive to get to from CDG? What are you talking about? They will have the rental car and can just drive over there.
They said %26quot;before we begin our drive%26quot;, so I assumed they would pick up the car the next morning. Hence my suggestion of leaving CDG, etc. But if they pick up the car on the day they arrive, then, OK, Chantilly, Senlis, Amiens, Parc Astérix, Disneyland, whatever...
Or, since Lugano is a long drive, they could try and start their progression on the boring A5 autoroute and stop somewhere on the way, maybe Troyes or something.
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A few years ago we flew in to CDG a day ahead of friends and instead of staying a night at a bland airport hotel, we tucked into the Chateau d%26#39;Ermenonville:
www.chateau-ermenonville.com/frameuk.htm
It was a blast. We had a rental car and spent our %26quot;extra%26quot; afternoon around Meaux (as in Brie de) and the countryside right around the chateau. It is quite reasonable and we had a lovely dinner right there as well.
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Try the Novotels. They are great for families and very affordable. They are also located near highways, so you can choose one that is en route from CDG to Lugano.
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Thank you so much for the advice (la photographe, Tellurian and phread)...some good suggestions.
And thank you especially to MorganB for defending me. I guess Bob did not read the original post well enough. Yes, we will be in Paris (7th) for a week later on our trip, so do not need to get into the city. And, sorry, Bob, big city driving does not intimidate us...have done it in Paris several times and we live in Los Angeles...it is an every day occurance for us. Have even driven all through Italy (Rome, Florence, Positano)...so %26quot;afraid of driving%26quot; does not even come close to describing us.
And to defend the Marriott.....yes it is sanitized, yes it is remote....but we are only looking for a place to rest our travel-weary heads that night. And with six in our family, accommodations that fit us do not come easily. When using traditional hotels, we would need to get connecting rooms...a rareity in Europe. The Marriott has two-bedroom townhouses with full kitchens and two and one half baths that fit our family wonderfully. Just wish they had one available for us that night.
And of course we would pick our car up at CDG...why have the hassle of picking it up somewhere else and dragging all our luggage with us? Better to pick it up where we land. And CDG is our only option with our airline....we are happy with our choice and will pick our car up as planned at the airport we fly in to.
We would not mind starting our driving trip right off the plane....but would have no idea where to stay enroute. And since we are six, we would not want to risk not getting a place that could accommodate us somewhere between Paris and Lugano. Better to book something now, stay the night and get some rest, then begin the drive the next day. Hence the reason I asked for advice.
Is there a reason you were so harsh? Were you having a bad day, or was lashing out all %26quot;part of the fun%26quot; for you?
I will check out the reasonable and helpful options given by the others and take you comments with a grain (or two) of salt.
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OK, I apologised, I just got the feeling by reading your post that you were going to pick your car up the following morning, so your question did not make much sense in this hypothesis.
That said, you%26#39;ll be travelling in November, very low season, no need to book. If I were you I%26#39;d start heading towards Troyes, and around 19h00 start stopping at one of the many clusters of no frills motels to just hit the sack. I%26#39;d be damned if they are booked solid in November in the middle of the Aube or Haute-Saône, and since you are not looking for charm, just convenience, vous devriez trouver votre bonheur as we say. If you want to book, the Accor web site is still valid. Novotels also belong to this group.
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Apology accepted.
That said, flying by the seat of our pants, with four daughters, is not my style! I will check with Accor and Novotel and see if they can get us all in some sort of adjoining room
Thanks all.
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