It’s taken me a few months, but I’m getting back around to writing up some of the reviews of our trip to Europe over the European winter earlier this year, and as part of the trip we stayed at the Hilton Paris CDG airport hotel before flying out of Paris back to Sydney.
Although only one night at an airport is never going to be an experience, I did a fair bit of research around which hotel to stay at Paris Charles De Gaulle, knowing how much luggage, associated small people and logistics we would have to contend with, and you may be interested in the process. I ended up pleased with the outcome – the room and location were exactly what were required, and I ended up accruing a small chunk of Hilton Honors points to be used in the future.
Research & Booking
The firm plan everything was hinging around was our booking on Malaysia Airlines A380 the following day, out to Kuala Lumpur and then onto Sydney. This is around a midday departure, and we were staying in the Alps (closest airport Geneva) in the week prior.
This meant very little hope of getting to Paris in time to connect on the same day. It would be logistically doable, but very tiring with an early morning wake up call to get down to Geneva in time to catch a 7 or 8am flight. With two kids and all our luggage in tow, I didn’t like our chances of coping with an early morning, followed by three flights to get all the way back to Sydney – so I began researching airport hotels with the plan of driving, training or flying to Paris the day before.
It quickly became clear that most airport hotels at CDG are connected via the light rail to the airport, so I confirmed which terminal Malaysia Airlines flew out of and started scoping out which hotel, with these considerations in mind:
- The right room set up – preferably a 2 bedroom suite or good interconnecting rooms
- A logistically sound location
- Loyalty program or elite benefits (Hyatt or Hilton for me, or Starwood for the points)
The Hilton came up trips, with some Flyertalk reviews outlining that the King Junior Suite was very generous in terms of space, the Hilton being easy walking distance to the airport train, and my Hilton Gold giving us free breakfast.
I sat on the decision for a few weeks, and then a Hilton sale email popped into my inbox offering 40% off for a few days on a non-cancellable sale rate, and the deal was done – 290 Euros for the King Junior suite. I figured this was just a little less than the cost of two small standard rooms at normal rates, so while expensive at face value, the sanity the additional space brought was well worth the money,
After making the booking I confirmed the room configuration was as per the Flyertalk reviews with the hotel directly by email – which they replied and let me know it was a two bedroom suite, just as hoped.
The Stay
The drive from southern France took 3 or 4 hours longer than expected with holiday traffic and poor weather all round. But as an aside, we did have a pretty handy Skoda Yeti rental car to do it in which coped well when picking up a head of steam on the Autoroute.
On arrival at the hotel, there was no-one really around to help us get bags out of the car and into the hotel, but such is life. We checked-in, and went straight to the room for room service for a feed. The food was good, and quick to arrive.
Doors to our epic King Junior Suite
The first bedroom
The second bedroom
Another view of the twin bedroom
A view from the second bedroom through to the master, large entry hallway in between
Looking back through a work area to the second bedroom
A small lounge seating area beyond that work area
A welcome snack
Large master bathroom
One of the main reasons to book this hotel for an aviation fan though? The views of the tarmac in the morning – not available from all rooms, but I requested, and got, a room with a view.
View of CDG morning operations
The breakfast buffet the next morning was passable, but not great due to limited options.
Finally, after eating we decided that to get to the airport with more bags and children than we could carry was easiest with the Hilton’s airport shuttle bus, vs the train, which was easy enough (and free).
Conclusion
The King Junior Suite was epicly large and very comfortable, and absolutely the right choice. With so much space available, it felt very good value for money compared with booking two rooms, so on that basis, it was a great stay.
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Have you tried Zurich airport? Unlike CDG, Heathrow and Sydney you can literally walk through customs and baggage without stopping, it is so efficient. We usually catch a bus then train to Zurich from the French Alps; the swiss rail website SBB.ch can calculate any rail trips needed across Europe so you can see how to get from France to Switzerland.
Thank you for the tip on Malaysian enrich; we have booked business for four from SYD to CDG in December and will get off the plane onto a TGV to Cannes where we have an apartment booked for the week! Coming back from the Alps in January we will catch altibus to the train, then fly out of Zurich after an overnight stay at the highly recommended Movenpick Zurich-Regensdorf. For the same number of points as 4 in business on Malaysian we have 1 business for my husband and three economy on Singapore! I will see if Malaysian business is worth tackling CDG for the trip home next time….
Did you have any trouble using English? I heard all these horror stories how French are very snobbish and pretend they can’t speak English, which made me a bit hesitant in doing a stop over in Paris.
Can’t wait for your review on MH business class. As a matter of fact, to return to Australia on a date we want, MH seems to be the only one with good availability. All other airlines are a tricky to get award seats leaving on weekends.
I don’t think it would be the French pretending they can’t speak English – it’s not just as common to learn English in France as say, Scandinavia. Just the way it is.
MH Business class review has been a long time coming – next!