London -- The Cotswolds -- Paris
May 15-29, 2005
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This is the last leg of a three-city trip taken in May 2005.
We spent two nights at the Sheraton Prince de Galle, 33 George V, in the 8th, close to the Champs Elysees, next door to the Four Seasons. Yes, we were hob-nobbing. By Paris standards our room was huge and attractively furnished. One time I stayed in the 14th in the then-two-star (now three-star) Hotel Daguerre with Maritza. The room was so small that there was nowhere to place our closed luggage, let alone open unless they were lying on our beds. I do not mean to belittle the Hotel Daguerre as we have fond memories of our stay there; small is common in Paris. Anyway, our "superior" room at the Prince de Galle offered air conditioning (thank goodness), a large closet, numerous bathroom amenities, and bathrobes and slippers. No bureau or drawer space whatsoever...also not unusual for Europe. The bathroom was small but adequate.
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There was a slight mix-up in our reservation and they gave us complimentary buffet breakfasts one morning in way of apology. This was especially generous as we were staying there on Starwood points to begin with, and the cost for the two of us to eat at the buffet would have been $100. Additionally, the hotel sent up a tray of macaroons with a welcome note. The hotel's posted rate for a "Superior" room was 720 euros (it cost $1.24 for a euro while we were there).
When I made the reservation I was able to get two nights confirmed at 12,000 points per night. Shortly thereafter they raised the point value to 25,000 per night; we got in just under the wire.
We brought heavy clothing as temperatures were to be on the cool side. Not in Paris. Not while we were there. We were in Paris for two full days and an additional evening. I brought only one lightweight shirt and had to buy a shirt to get by. The hotel concierge said one day's temperature reached 33.5C. That's about 92F. Making it worse was the high humidity. We were very fortunate to be staying in an air-conditioned hotel.
