Pullman Paris Rive Gauche (ex Sofitel Porte de Sevres) Hotel Paris: the hotel I dread and hate staying at..

by Gary Bembridge

The Pullman Hotel Rive Gauche in Issy in Paris is an awful hotel. And you must avoid staying here if you possibly can.

I have the unpleasant task of staying here about 50 times in the last few years and every one is nasty. The hotel is a large, impersonal and ugly building in the suburbs in an area full of large corporate offices.

Despite being a Platinum card holder and also being there so often, they still ask me almost every time I go if I have stayed before and ask me to fill out my address. It is the most crazy and useless system and hotel.

The rooms are small, tired and brown and always too hot and too bright from the spotlights beaming onto the building. The food is terrible and the service even worse. On this last stay all of us had problems with the TV and I have now asked 3 times for someone to fix it, and still no joy.

I am probably the mad one, as I stay here. It is close to the office and so I keep going back thinking I am exagerating..but realised when people at work can tell me if I am staying there based on my mood in the morning that I should not go there. I will not…

Sofitel Porte De Sevres Room 622, originally uploaded by garybembridge.

This hotel was relaunched in December 2007 as The Pullman after being a Sofitel. The strange thing is that although they speak about a whole new concept and it is now a business traveller focused hotel….. it is exactly the same as it was before. I suppose they could have been transitioning over the many months I was staying there but there is almost no change…

Unfortunately, this is also now a hotel that I stay at virtually every week these days as I am now working part between London where I live and Paris, where I am now managing a team as part of my new role. The closest hotel to our office is this one. Although I am not sure that I will be able to stay there every week as this hotel is not the greatest place to stay, although it tries. Part of the problem is the location which is you are staying there a lot makes you feel very isolated – and there are so few options of places to eat (and I just can’t cope with the same old food!)

This is one of the hotels that is neither good nor bad. It is overall just a place to stay and meets the needs of the business traveller who has a night or two to stay and needs an room with a good bed, good place to work, somewhere to work out and not much more.

I saw that there seemed to be a lot of tourists and tours staying at the hotel as I suspect that they discount a lot for these parties to fill the rooms (this is a very large hotel with over 600 rooms). However, it is not a good place to stay as a tourist – unless you value getting a good rate over location and convenience. The hotel is not at all well located for access to the tourist spots although it is fairly near a Metro station that in twenty minutes takes you into town but then you will still need to work your way around to get to the tourist spots. It is also a good hour by cab to the hotel from the airport which will cost you anything up to 80 euros or a few changes on the metro as is on the opposite side of Paris to the CDG airport.

As a business traveller it is fine if you are doing business locally in one of the major businesses starting to locate to this part of town or attending an event at the conference centre.

The rooms have been renovated and although small are comfortable and seem to be well soundproofed. The bed is massive and comfortable, there is a good desk to work at and a good sized bathroom. This looks still a bit dated and does not seem to have had as much attention as the rooms. There is a flat screen TV.

I have found through my stays that you really need to be careful about what type of room you book. The standard rooms are awful and tatty. It is important to book a Delux room as they have been renovated and have the new beds. These include internet access, movies and drinks from the minibar in the price and so it can balance out.

One REALLY ANNOYING thing is the spotlights that blaze all night onto the hotel making the rooms very light (so bring eye shades!) or insist on a room as high as possible!

There is a very good gym and pool on the 22nd floor. One side it has a good view across to the Eiffel Tower (although to get there is hard unless you use a taxi).

The room service at the hotel was limited but amazingly fast taking about 15 minutes from order to delivery. The breakfast options are not great as either you pay a lot and go to the 23rd floor scenic restaurant or have a small (3 pastries and coffee) in the bar. There was no middle ground which seemed a missed opportunity.

There is a massive leisure centre/ water park next door but other than that there are no shops or much else around.

I stayed here as the offices I was meeting at were close by, but I think I will next time probably stay in Paris more and just get the Metro out as it is very isolated and there are no options to even pop out and eat other than in the hotel.

Sofitel Porte De Sevres Room 622, originally uploaded by garybembridge.

Here are videos of some of the rooms that I have stayed in:

Room 633 (a deluxe room)

Room 2163 (probably best have stayed in other than the suite I was put in once)

Room 622

Room 1219 – a very nice suite
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px65ys1ZSVk