The Case of the Dirty Bowls
After the eventful flight in SQ suites, we passed immigration via the Fast-track which wasn't fast at all! There was only 1 counter open and maybe it was because it was Good Friday.
Our luggage was already waiting for us and we proceeded to buy the bus ticket to our first hotel which was W Paris.
W Paris is located across the road from the Opera House (Garnier) which is used as the setting for The Phantom of the Opera.
Although the hotel is under the management of Starwood Hotels, the feel is more boutique due to the small number of rooms.
From the airport, we took the Roissybus which only has 1 stop which is at Opera.
The convenience of the shuttle is the main reason that we chose this hotel. Finding the hotel was an easy walk from the stop.
The hotel faces the side of the Opera House and the Apple Store is on the ground floor.
The lobby is rather space-saving with only 1 counter and the concierge.
On arrival at about 2pm (before the standard check-in time), we were sad to learn that our room was not ready and the hotel was quite full.
The front desk agent spoke good English and offered us welcome drinks from a cabinet.
Most of the drinks were weird concoctions of fruit juices which I politely declined and went for Evian instead.
Since we were unable to check into the room, we deposited our luggage and went to explore the area. As it was drizzling, the concierge immediately supplied us with umbrellas.
Nicely done after the slight disappointment.
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| Front door and lobby |
There was no time to waste so we went to the nearby Galeries Lafayette and Printemps.
Thankfully, the ladies of my life were not on this trip for I am sure the entire day would be spent here otherwise.
The queue at Chanel was longer than the shop front and the whole mall was so crowded!
We returned after a short twirl around the neighbourhood and the room was ready!
The building is not very tall and one can choose to climb the beautiful staircase, but the flesh was weak so we took the lift in the end.
The hotel is quite bright despite the dark colour scheme and there were definitely no problems locating the room allocated.
I was given a Spectacular Room which is more of a 'view room' as the window faced the (side of the)Opera House.
The room itself is Parisian big (read: small but not tiny) and well furbished. Even cozier rooms are available...
I always like the charging station (known as the Sanctuary) at W Hotels, but I guess any changes to the port does make it obsolete pretty soon. Like the Apple Lightning Connector.
The luggage table can be put away, or left opened to narrow the path around the bed as pictured
The toilet is really open-concept and the shower leaves almost nothing to the imagination. Best to stay here with the significant other or an extremely close friend.
The knob in the shower is a little hard to turn (and I forgot to take a picture) and it took me several attempts to get it right.
There is no partition between the tiles and the carpet so I was careful of splashes from the shower.
Only standard European plugs are available in the room, so my adaptor came in really useful.
I particularly liked this cushion, but I can't explain why. Is it the picture, or the colour, or the size?
Or simply because it says 'W Paris Opera' on the other side?
I checked out the gym and it was reaaaally small, on the top floor of the hotel and with no view. Cute drawings though.
Just 1 lady was running on the treadmill at that time.
Anyway, after a short rest in the room, we went to visit the Eiffel Tower.
The metro ride there was really easy as W Paris is near to the Chaussée d'Antin - La Fayette station as well as the Opéra station for other attractions.
Our visit to Eiffel Tower was pretty smooth as we were not approached by any of the conmen and we watched our personal belongings like a hawk.
The sleep for the night was pretty good and everything seems to go well except the late check-in, but we got a late check-out so that evened it.
The Breakfast
We were up early for breakfast due to the time difference. The breakfast was included in our stay and I was shocked by the price!
Almost 40€ per person!
However, after spending more time in Paris, I am not shocked anymore. There was a café which charged me 16€ for 2 slices of toast and 2 cups of hot chocolate.
The buffet was good, but of course not comparable to the ones we have in Asia.
A nice range of bread and pastries, some cold cuts on the main table.
As well as some hot food on the side table.
The breakfast was taken at the Coquette restaurant of the hotel.
Being very early, we were the first to enjoy the spread that morning.
The crisp pastries were really delightful and the plates added some fun to the meal.
Finally there was a problem.
I was grabbing a bowl of cereal and I noticed the bowl was stained.
Seemed like a minor issue.
Until I noticed the next bowl is also dirty. And the one below it. And the second one below too.
The worst offender is pictured below.
Guess this stay wasn't perfect after all.
So we went sightseeing after breakfast and checked out of the hotel with no other issues.
I was hesitant to feedback regarding the cleanliness to the front desk but when the post-stay survey email came, I replied politely regarding the issue.
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From: Frederick Ee
Dear -name of manager-,
Thank you very much for your email.
First I would like to apologize for the late reply.
My stay was indeed very good and I am happy to rate the hotel a high score.
However, I would like to find out if my comment on the cleanliness has been noted.
I would like to include a photo for your attention. (The photo above)
And the reply,
Dear Frederick,
Firstly, I want to apology too for the late reply, I was off when I received your email and I just read it today.
Secondly, thank you for the time you spend to share your comment with me. I didn’t see it in my GEI application.
It’s important for our team to be aware of each problem our guest had during there stay.
I really apologized for the experience you had, which is certainly not up to our usual high service standards.
We will improve our cleanliness procedure to avoid this type of situation.
I hope that you will give us another opportunity to welcome you back at the W Paris Opera.
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Well, I would definitely give the hotel another visit when I'm back in Paris as I did have a good time.
Is the cleanliness an issue? You decide.
Happy Travels,
fred
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