CDGVAL

The front door of the hotel is at street level if that's your question.

No, that is not really my question. The Ibis website says it has a link to the CDGVAL. Since that is a metro or train shuttle, I need to know if we have to go underground by steps to get on or take a flight of stairs to an elevated platform to board the CDGVAL.

In a word, no. You walk out the door, literally a few steps; and you are at the place where the shuttle stops.

I think what's happened is that both Rosalyn and I didn't connect the header to the text of the question. The Ibis lobby, the street, and the shuttle BUS are all on the same level and the bus pulls up just outside the door. I've stayed at the Ibis and used the bus, it works as you'd expect it to do. The Val is a different critter. I've only ridden it twice, and then both times in the same hour to run from T2 to T1 to pick up some folks and get them back to where I had the car. What happens in the middle (around the Ibis) is deduction (and a little bit of guessing), but I'll bet I'm correct. The Val is the newest piece of transportation on the airport. It has only a few stops: the three terminals, two long-term parking lots, and Roissypole (the northern hotel complex where the Ibis is located). It runs in an open ditch, passing under buildings and roadways through tunnels/underpasses. It is lower than the surface roads essentially the whole way. The Ibis is a couple or three hundred yards from the Roissypole station. The trains are on a lower level than the bus station above. I've only walked around that station once and don't remember it at all, but there are bound to be escalators and probably an elevator as well. I looked at the Ibis web site for CDG and saw the words about the Val. It doesn't make sense unless there is a tunnel or some kind of passage through existing basements that connects the hotel to the station - - higly improbable. You've got to get lower somehow and it seems like it would happen at the station. If you consider stairs and issue, distance might be as well. Consider the bus - - I assume they're still in use on the north side of the airport since they're so common on the south side. Hopefully somebody can connect the dots a bit better.

Thank you for your research and time. Yes, you and I are both wondering the same thing about that IBIS connection to the VAL. I also suspected it had to go lower or higher than the street somewhere. You are probably right in surmising that there is an elevator at the station. Here in the states I have seen hotels connected to the aiport, at least it looks that way from inside the terminals. But now that I have gotten a map of the airport grounds, I see that this hotel is off on another road. Just as well as far as I am concerned.
I did not know about a bus????? airport shuttle bus? Does it require reservations?

No reservation and they're frequent.

It's my understanding that the CDGVAL driverless shuttle train has replaced the landside buses that used to connect the terminals. The CDGVAL runs 24/7 and is free.

As usual, I'll bet on Tim rather than myself. The last time I was on the north side of Roissy the Val was new and busses were still around- - they're apparently gone by now. It'd be intersting to know what happened (if anything) to all the bus bays at Roissypole.

Ed should hedge his bet. I just checked the Aeroports de Paris site and found that a person going between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 should use the free landside shuttle bus for an international connection and the CDGVAL for other connections. For a person going between Terminal 3 and either Terminal 1 or Terminal 2 the CDGVAL is the only option given.

We made the decision to stay at the Ibis at the terminal. I checked out more airport info sites and along with your comments think I understand much better about the CDGVAL. We will arrive early evening so a few of us will check out the CDGVAl. If a few of the group cannot do that route they will arrange other transportation. This is going to be an adventure (??)with eight!!! I will post what I learn after I return. (June). Thanks all. This is a great way to share information.