Review: Sheraton Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport Hotel
On airport hotels are essential for layovers, one of the worst things during a layover is having to find transportation to and from an area hotel. I rely on them often when I'm traveling, and I tend to choose connections based upon my layover hotel options.
As a frequent SkyTeam flyer, I usually find myself connecting in Paris or Amsterdam. For a recent 24-hour trip to Paris, I decided to stay at the Sheraton on the Paris airport to make my short trip easier.
Booking
I had an expiring free night certificate that was utilized during this trip and was only responsible for 8.13 EUR in mandatory taxes that wasn't covered by the certificate.
If you wanted to pay cash, it will cost you from 195 EUR to 356 EUR per night or from 43,000 to 70,000 points per night depending on the season. During the high cost times it seems quite uneconomical, but if you're on a short layover nothing beats being able to walk from the terminal to the hotel without having to leave the airport property.
Location
The hotel is located in the middle of the massive Terminal 2 at the Paris airport. The sprawling complex is massive with multiple sub-terminals. But is easily walking distance from anywhere inside the terminal. The rest of the airport is served by an internal train system that is fairly well put together.
For me, as I was departing from Terminal 2 in the morning, it was a quick 10-minute walk from the entrance of the hotel to the Air France check-in.
Check-In
I arrived on an early morning flight to Paris, thus was unsure if they'd be able to accommodate such an early morning arrival. However, thanks to the awesome check-in staff they had a room available to me and were easily able to get me accommodated in the morning.
The lobby area is pretty well open with a variety of seating, and the hotel bar on one side along with the hotel dining room on the other. These are utilized as the breakfast area in the morning. While there is a club lounge, they don't serve breakfast or dinner, and instead give you coupons for the hotel dining room.
The Room
I was booked into a 1 King room, which to note is really two twin beds pushed together. It was a little awkward to feel the seam between the beds when you're in the bed, but it wasn't overly bothersome.
The bed was pretty comfortable and a nice balance between firm and soft. There was more than enough storage in the room, including a luggage rack and a full iron and ironing board in the closet.
Views out over the airport were limited from my room, mostly obstructed by a structure that looks down over the inter-terminal train station.
The bathroom was quite unique. There was standard bathtub, a nice vanity with ample supplies, and a unique shower. The shower was elevated up a good 6 to 9 inches, it put my head touching the ceiling when I stood up straight. It was quite awkward to duck my head under the shower head and try to maneuver in the tight camped spot. I suspect this was a remodel of the original showers.
I was not overly impressed with the cramped shower area, and feel like out of the entire room it could be improved upon just by creating a larger shower area. If I was designing the room, I would remove the rub and replace it with a larger standup shower.
Service
Compared to hotels in America, the front desk staff was eager to help me get checked-in early and were apologetic that they weren't able to get me on the Club Level floor, which doesn't really bother me much.
It's quite interesting that you look down over the terminal area and can see the people moving below you. There is a separation of glass that insulates the hotel from noise, but you could sit on the balcony outside your door and watch the people moving below you.
The Club Lounge was well stocked with drinks and open throughout the day for guests to come and enjoy snacks and self-service drinks.
And while I didn't participate in the dining room, I did have a glance at the menu and everything seemed very reasonable in price and quality. There was a nice mix of French and Western dishes.
Final Thoughts
For a layover hotel, nothing beats being able to walk from the terminal to the hotel in under 10 minutes. The staff were very friendly and willing to help all that they could, including accommodating an early check-in due to my flight's arrival time. While the European style king bed, and cramped shower were certainly something to note, it wouldn't deter me from staying here again on a layover and will certainly rank up there if all you need is a place to sleep that is convenient to the airport.
