Hello everyone! I am wondering if anyone has stayed at a Sofitel property in Paris.
I am new here, and it looks like it is a quite active forum. I’ve been enjoying the information on the old posts! I love Rick Steve’s books and decided to check out his website🙂 Glad I did!
pre-pandemic I was a big user of the Accor lines, all of them from top to bottom.
Sofitel is pretty close to the top so you usually have a pretty good idea of what you will get. In France/Monaco, I've stayed over the years at Sofitels in Aix-en-Provence, Lille and Reims, and probably others. Many others in England, Germany, Italy.
Figure a step up from Novotel and just a tiny notch below M. Top end business class, with expensive rates and food to match.
The fanciest was in Rome, on the Via Veneto, and at Baden-Baden, and in Frankfurt. The plainest was in Lille (that was just before it was downgraded to a Mercure).
If I weren't paying for them I'd stay at most of them again - but I am paying so I tone it down a bit now.
I used to be a big Accor person myself, but as of late they never seem to be the better deal. I've since said goodbye to Accor, and tend to go more towards Hilton---but their footprint isn't very big in France but the hotels they do have are top notch. Marriott, not as much and always overpriced.
Speaking of Hilton, have you noticed how many brands they have in their family now? At least 15, it's nuts. I assume Marriott is the same.
Marriott has 30 brands.
Stayed at the Sofitel Le Scribe Paris Opéra last week for 3 nights as part of a tour. It's a very nice hotel in a convenient location near the Opera house. The room was nice though a tight fit like most Paris hotels but it had full amenities - tub, shower, Nespresso machine and a kettle, refrigerator, safe, etc. Food in the restaurant was good though we ate our breakfast buffet in a basement room with no windows. Also like other hotels in the area, you get some street noise if on the street and subway rumble not matter where you are.
Staff were nice but not totally with it. Our tour director had some issues getting answers from them. The front desk staff were given all out departure times when drivers would be picking us up and when they needed to collect the luggage but after waiting we gave up and took it down ourselves. The only person at the desk went into a side room to pull out the list which he apparently hadn't read. We had the first departure at 6:15 so hopefully the rest of our group had a better experience.
Can’t help with Paris Sofitel hotels, but I have coordinated with Sofitel staff in Washington, DC for meetings and a photo shoot. Have also eaten in the bar/lounge, and everyone I spoke with was polite, helpful, and stressed customer service. This was a few years ago. I do not know how things are at the DC hotel currently, but at the time, I was impressed with their corporate professionalism.
Thank you all for your input! We are looking at Sofitel Baltimore (husband has Accord points, at least I think that’s what it’s called! Lol). Last time we went we stayed at a smaller hotel (3 star) , since we have been to Paris in the past and only looked at a place to crash quite frankly. Being there for the holidays we are looking at splurging (2.5 years since a family vacation gives me an excuse!).
The Baltimore looks really nice from the outside, but I do not like the location very much. There is very little within walking distance, the nearest major sight is the Arc de Triomphe and even that is almost a 20 minute walk. Same for the Eiffel tower. Also, there are few interesting restaurants in that part of town. I lived just a little bit to the south until last year, it was nice, quiet and fancy, but not somewhere I'd pick for a visit.
A more centrally-located property such as le Scribe would be better in my opinion.
Must you specifically stay at a Sofitel or are you interested in other properties in the Accor family of hotels. There are many better-located Accor hotels in Paris than the Baltimore. If you must stay with the Sofitel brand, there is the Scribe as mentioned and if you are looking for another place in the same category of hotel in the Accor family, the Hotel Pont Royal in Saint Germain is very good and much better-located than the Baltimore. A few years ago, I stayed at the Bastille Boutet M-Gallery which is on the opposite side of the city from the Baltimore. The area may not be as upscale as the location of the Baltimore and is not really within walking distance of any tourist sites but it is infinitely more interesting.
