Hotels Archives - Rebel Flying

Hotel review – Relais Hotel & Spa (now Clarion) Paris CDG

After my two comfortable flights with Eurowings and Lufthansa I had a two night layover in Paris before continuing to the UK and Egypt.

I chose the Relais Hotel & Spa near CDG airport (now reflagged as the Clarion Paris CDG), as I didn’t feel like dragging my luggage into the city.

I had stayed at this property some years before, when it was flagged as a Crowne Plaza, so I knew roughly what to expect.

The property, along with several others on the Allée du Verger, is an easy 10-minute shuttle ride from the airport.

I had booked a Studio Double, which was comfortable and well equipped with a small kitchenette, a refrigerator and a safe.

The bathroom was a good size, with a bathtub, a walk-in shower and separate lavatory.

The room was also equipped with a balcony, which although not exactly aesthetically pleasing, was very welcome for a committed smoker like myself, even in a cold and crisp Paris December.

The first of a couple of annoyances came when I found the promised pool and spa closed.

Having promised myself a relaxing swim, I decided to head out to the municipal pool in the nearby village of Roissy-en-France. This proved to be a somewhat surreal experience, as I had forgotten the unique rules at municipal swimming pools in France. My swimming shorts were immediately frowned upon and I was wordlessly issued a bright red swimming cap and Speedos, both of which were rather ill fitting.

I will spare readers any pictures of this particular spectacle, but suffice to say I have now made a mental note to check for any pool closures at hotels, particularly in France.

Since I was in the village and having been well fed on the flights, I decided to skip the hotel restaurant and pick up some snacks to eat in my room, before an excellent night’s sleep.

Breakfast was a very relaxed and civilised affair and I stayed in the restaurant for around two hours, enjoying the full hot and cold buffet and some excellent coffee.

The hotel is located conveniently enough that I could head into the city by train for the intervening day. I have been to Paris a number of times, so I just took a short stroll along the Seine to reacquaint myself with some of the iconic landmarks.

The next annoyance came that night. Having settled down early before a morning flight to the UK, I was abruptly awoken at 1:30am by a fire alarm. After around half an hour of being kept standing in the car park, I must admit that this produced some rather ripe French from the author, suggesting that I would not be best pleased if there was no fire.

Despite the annoyances, I can say that this is in fact a good hotel. The rooms are very comfortable, the breakfast was excellent, the pool and spa are now refurbished and fully open, and I am sure that the fire alarm was an isolated event. Along with the balcony and the convenient location, it ticks all my boxes.

I look forward to returning to this property to experience it under it’s new Clarion banner.

Hotel review – Piergiorgio Palace, Sosua, Dominican Republic

I spent three weeks at the Piergiorgio Palace Hotel whilst learning Spanish in Sosua, Dominican Republic.

Piergiorgio is one of the best known hotels in Sosua and is situated in a residential area around a 10-minute walk from the centre of the town.

For this reason, it proved to be a good choice as it was much quieter than anywhere in the town itself.

The check-in process was very smooth and I was in my room within around 5 minutes of arriving.

The room was clean, comfortable and already pleasantly air-conditioned.

There was also pleasant sea view from my balcony.

Breakfast was included in my rate and there was variety of options.

I tried a couple of dinners, but I preferred to eat out on most evenings because the restaurant tended to play loud and annoying music in the evenings, which fortunately was not audible from my room.

The hotel also has two outdoor swimming pools, of which I made good use during my stay.

Overall, Piergiorgio was the right choice for a three-week stay and reasonably priced at around $72 (£59) per night.

I would happily return to this hotel if I were staying in the area again.

Hotel review – Holiday Inn Montreal Airport

After a superb transatlantic flight with Air Canada, I had a one-night layover in Montreal.

I chose to spend the night at the Holiday Inn close to the airport, using my IHG points.

Shortly before my arrival, I received an e-mail informing me that my booking had been upgraded to a one bedroom suite with a balcony.

The hotel was a short and very easy ride with the hotel’s shuttle, which was sent to collect me after a phone call to the front desk.

My suite was comfortable and well appointed, with a king size bed, living area and kitchen.

There was also a balcony, which I found convenient despite the rather cold weather.

Breakfast, which was included in my booking, was pretty reasonable and included cereals, fruit, yoghurt, juice and coffee, as well as a hot selection of bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs, potatoes and baked beans.

The hotel also has an indoor pool and hot tub, which I was not able to photograph as it was in use for most of the evening.

Photographs can be found on the hotel website.

The water in the larger pool was a little too cold for my personal preference, so I stuck to the hot tub, which was very pleasant.

Overall, this was a convenient, comfortable and good value option at 22,100 IHG points, booked during a 15% off redemptions sale.

This is a hotel I would happily stay at again.

Hotel review – Millennium Hotel, Paris CDG

7 November 2023
by thebouncer

I recently had a two night stopover in Paris between flights.

For such a short time, it didn’t make sense to travel to a city hotel when I could stay at the airport and travel to the city without my luggage for the free day.

For that reason I booked the Millennium Hotel a short distance from the airport.

My arrival was complicated slightly by the fact that CDG is very badly signposted and there is very little information about which shuttles depart from which part of the airport. A quick phone call to the hotel established that this particular bus departs from the bus stops between Terminals 2B and 2D.

A further complication was that the shuttle runs only once per hour, at 5 minutes to each hour. Unfortunately I missed one by around 10 minutes.

However, things improved once I actually got to the hotel.

My room was comfortable and reasonably sized and had everything I needed for a short stay, including tea and coffee making facilities, storage space and a mini fridge.

Some of the furniture was a little battered and scuffed and had seen better days, but this was only a minor cosmetic issue and it certainly didn’t reduce my enjoyment of the stay.

The hotel offers a small indoor swimming pool, which was heated to a pleasant temperature and provided a nice opportunity to relax.

The restaurant offers casual meals in the bar area. I didn’t actually try these and couldn’t get any decent photographs as it was very crowded due to a couple of cancelled flights from CDG.

I did, however, try the buffet breakfast, which at €20 was decent value by European standards. The price included bacon, sausages and eggs, as well as bakery items, cold cuts and unlimited juice and coffee.

Again I couldn’t get any decent photographs due to the number of people at the buffet, but it was a fairly standard hotel buffet and I considered the convenience to be worth the price.

Overall, I feel that this hotel offered a perfectly adequate experience for a short stopover and in a city as expensive as Paris, was reasonably priced at €84 per night, excluding breakfast.