Review: Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile

It's now been a few days since we landed in Paris, and I managed to get the work part of the trip done early today. That also means I'm going to be largely silent on the blog for the remainder of this trip - the vacation part.

That said, now's as good a time as any to update you on my stay at the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile.

Index of posts

Introduction: Hello Paris

Review: Chennai to Colombo on Sri Lankan A320 regional business class

Review: Serendib Lounge, CMB airport

Review: Colombo to Paris on Sri Lankan A330-200 international business class

Review: Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile

Review: Le Meridien Etoile, Paris

Review: Sri Lankan's lounge at Paris CDG

Review: Paris to Colombo on Sri Lankan A330-200 international business class

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile review

For reasons explained in my introduction post, I'm staying in two different hotels during this trip. The first, which is where I currently am, is the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile.

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - exterior

The hotel itself is located at the edge of Zone 1 of the local metro services (the Metro and RER trains are accessible through the Palais des Congres connected to the hotel), and is also very conveniently located right next to the Porte Maillot stop of the Le Bus Direct service (Cars Air France) when coming in from CDG.

I'd requested for a suite upgrade using my Hyatt Diamond status (which I got) and early check (which I didn't because the hotel was completely full).

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - entrance & lobby

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - check in desks

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - Priority check in desk

However, the check in agent suggested that I head to the lounge and relax for a bit until my suite got ready.

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - priority check in desk

So off I went to the 30th floor, where the Hyatt Regency Club lounge is located.

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - Club lounge on 30th floor

My first impression of the lounge was of the colour scheme! It was quite painful on the eye, but I've grown used to it now!

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - Club lounge interiors

This was just around noon time, so there was no active service in the lounge. However, they had soft drinks and juices on offer, as well as some cookies (if you're ever here, do not miss the chocolate cookies - they're actually sinful brownies in disguise).

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - Club lounge drinks and snacks

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - Club lounge cookies

The lounge also offered some great views of western Paris and the La Defense area.

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - Club lounge views

In due course, I received a call from the front desk indicating that the suite will take time to get ready - almost till 3 pm. However, the hotel was happy to accommodate me in a standard room as a courtesy, no charges, until the suite was ready. This was quite generous of them, I thought, as we could use the opportunity to freshen up, which is exactly what we did. Lunch wasn't on our minds in any case, after the morning's breakfast on the plane and refreshments at the lounge, so no worries there.

We finally got our room assigned around 2 pm. The room was on the southern side of the hotel, on the 29th floor.

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile Suite - entrance

The "suite" is just two of the standard rooms joined by a sliding door. That said, the extra space was really useful given there were three of us.

One of the rooms had a king sized bed, with an attached bathroom.

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile Suite - bed

The other, which was a mirror image of the first room, had a convenient couch and a sofa that could be converted into a spare bed (we needed it, so that was really useful). There was also extra storage space.

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile Suite - couch and seating

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile Suite - seating

Each room had a separate TV, which is quite convenient if you want to watch the telly without disturbing your roommate.

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile Suite - seating and TV

One advantage of having two standard rooms combined into a suite, is that you have two full-fledged bathrooms! With three of us in the room, this helped reduce the time to get ready in the mornings.

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile Suite - bathroom

Bath supplies were Pharmacopia branded, and were of pretty high quality (says the missus).

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile Suite - bathroom

Both rooms were provided with a little fridge (labelled minibar) that was empty.

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile Suite - minibar

And a safe.

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile Suite - safe

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile Suite - bathrobe

Interestingly, there was no coffee machine or electric kettle in the rooms. I had to ask for this specifically, and it was provided to me as a Diamond Amenity, which I found very surprising (in the end, they posted extra points as a separate Diamond amenity, so I'm not complaining).

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile Suite - coffee

But the best part of the room would have to be the view.

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile Suite - View from the room

Breakfast

When I was at the lounge on the day of arrival, I noticed the buffet area for breakfast was on one side of the food services. This alone told me in no uncertain terms, that breakfast options would be limited, so I haven't had breakfast at the lounge (or plan to).

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - lounge breakfast

Instead, I went down to the La Fayette restaurant on the ground floor, where breakfast is served.

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - La Fayette restaurant exterior view

Breakfast is a pretty decent spread, and the service staff is very attentive, so I found no issues there.

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - La Fayette Restaurant - seating

I do have a problem, however, with the fact that the items on offer at breakfast are the same every day. Absolutely no variety. That said, what was on offer was good.

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - La Fayette Restaurant - seating

There are separate sections for various foods. A see-through cooler display contained varieties of yogurts, butter, margarine, cheese and fruit pulp. Next to that were dispensers for fresh juice - three varieties.

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - breakfast

Then there's a separate section for cold cuts - usually turkey and ham, with cheese to go with it.

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - breakfast

Then there's the hot food section comprising sausages (veal), hash brown potatoes and pancakes.

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - breakfast

Next is a bakery section, with varieties of pain, croissants, Danishes, and the like, as well as what seemed to be freshly baked bread.

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - breakfast

Salads, fruit and cereals made up the final part of breakfast.

Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - breakfast

Lounge evening service

We've been to the lounge on two days so far, and it has been rather interesting. Club lounge offerings can be quite varied (anything between just snacks / hors d'oeuvres, to full fledged dinner). This was sort of in-between.

Soft drinks, tea and coffee are available throughout the day. The evening menu additionally features fruit...