Our first time in Paris, we stayed in a lovely boutique hotel in the 17th arrondissement, near the western edge of the city - it was really nice but other than the Arc de Triomphe, we had to get on the Metro to see any of the sights. Our second trip, we stayed in a charming old hotel in the Marais which we loved, but it doesn't have an elevator, i.e. not baby friendly. In the interests of keeping it easy, we decided a big, American chain hotel was our best option and cashed in a bunch of Starwood points to stay at the Westin Paris - Vendôme.
TIP - when you're searching for hotels on TripAdvisor, you can look for hotels that have wheelchair access. Wheelchair access means there's an elevator, which means you're not carrying a stroller up and down 4 flights of stairs.
The other great thing about the Westin is that it's right in the center of Paris, steps away from the Louvre and the Tuileries Gardens. The Paris Metro is decidedly stroller unfriendly. Lots and lots of stairs, and you'll often have to go up one set of stairs and down another while in the same station. No elevators, no ramps, and if you want to push a stroller through the turnstile, it may require human intervention from a Parisian Metro worker who may or may not be enjoying his café au lait at that moment. Given the Westin's location, we figured we could walk to most of the touristy places.
The downside to the Westin (and in fact, most of the hotels in Paris) is that the standard room is TINY. With the bed and then the crib for FDR, there was kind of nowhere to stand other than the shower. Upgrade the room if that's an option.
No comments:
Post a Comment