Explorer's and random Paris question

[pouncingpluto]

Has anyone stayed at this hotel? What do you think?

My boyfriend and I will take a trip to France and Italy in the fall, and I'm thinking of booking a couple nights there.

As a random Paris question:

I've been to Western Europe a number of times (including a year as an exchange student in Germany), but my boyfriend never has. I'd really like to take him to see a castle, since he's never seen a real one. We're sticking to public transit or possibly a guided day trip... any suggestions for something in the vicinity of Paris?

 

[disneydavey]

me and my GF were going to stay in the Explorers but decided on the seqouia, it was roughly the same price as well, plus it was nearer the parks, about 5-10 mins walk through disney village
u can also arrange a bus trip from ur hotel paris as a guided tour where u can apparantly hop on and off the buses

not sure about castles tho sorry

 

[MinnieYC]

When you say "castle," it seems you're thinking of a medieval castle in the middle of a field kind of thing. This is not quite the same, but if you should go see Versailles, which was the palace of the French royalty during the days of Louis XVI. Very grand! Even though there are organized tour groups to go there, I think it's cheaper and easier just to go on your own. Public transportation goes there, and it's easy to follow. The guided tour on tape (included in admission price, available in English) is very informative.

Also not a "castle," but if you're going to Venice, you'd probably like to see the Doge's palace.

 

[TinkBoo&ElliesMum]

We stayed at the Explorer's in October 03, I'm not sure I would recommend it.

Our first trip was in Feb. 2001 and we stayed at the Sequoia and it was great! Perhaps it's because the Explorer's is fairly new, but we weren't impressed with the level of service there. It was slow and not nearly as orginized as the Sequoia.

We chose the Explorers's because there were 6 of us, my DH and I, our two kids, and my in-laws. Next time we're either leaving the in-laws at home or we're getting two rooms. It was a nice room, but the staff was awful to deal with! Even my DH who is French had a hard time dealing with them! The Sequoia was a well oiled machine when we were there, everything moved quickly, the staff was awesome. Breakfast at Sequoia was a dream, a nice table by the fireplace. Explorer's was hectic - there was a lack of staff, hardly any food left even at 8:00!! Finding a table was impossible, you were to clear your own table, but they weren't clearing out the racks so there was no room for anything and on more than one occasssion they were just out of plates, bowls, and silverware!

I've told DH that next time we're staying at the DLH and that's the end of it!

Good luck and have a great trip! We had a great time despite the problems at the hotel