A tale of two hotels

We chose to fly with Korean Air (again) because they offered the best return fare from Wellington to Paris. It involves an overnight stopover in Seoul and we were fortunate enough to be taken to the Hyatt Incheon which is a 3-minute shuttle bus ride from the airport. This is the third time we have stayed at this hotel and it is a very pleasurable experience. Some people have to endure a 1 hour drive into a hotel in Seoul city, which is not really what you want between two long-haul flights, when you don't have enough time to explore.

The number of staff who pleasantly do all they can to be of immediate service is a real joy. There is nothing obsequious about the attention, just a real desire to help in any way possible. In remarkably quick time, a bus load of people have been checked in and have access to their rooms, as well as getting any assistance they want with their luggage. The hotel is modern and in keeping with Hyatt Regency standards - it must hve at lest four, if not five, stars. The rooms are large, with big picture windows. They are light and tastefully furnished with a super king sized bed. There are tea and coffee making facilities, and a fridge with bar options (not covered by Korean Air, of course!) The bathroom is similarly large and luxurious - plenty of room for cat-swinging here! There's a shower over the bath, a good vanity arrangement and a toilet with features that most of us are not used to. The toilet seat is heated and the bidet has two spray options both of which use warm water. A muted light at ground level lights your way to the toilet if you have to get up at night. Perhaps the oddest feature was the window between the shower and the bedroom next door. It did have a blind drawn down over it, which we left in place but those with more exhibitionist tendancies could have a field day!

Three meals are included in this arrangement: a dinner and breakfast at the hotel, and vouchers for lunch at the airport. This is a good arrangement because if you have to check in luggage, and we did, you can do that and then go and fill in some time having lunch. The breakfast is a stunning series of smorgasbords with every eastern and western breakfast options imaginable. Eggs are cooked to your specifications while you wait.

The Hyatt is a relatively new hotel and so there was the luxury of being able to plan every detail and build on a large site. We don't know how much it would cost to stay for one night if we had to pay separately and so the following description is meant to give a comparison rather than be a criticism.

By the time we reached Paris we had been awake for 20 hours, the last 12 in the air. Before we left NZ, Catherine had spent hours on the internet trying to find affordable accommodation. She booked us into a hotel near the Gare de Lyon because that was the station we would travel from on our way to Dijon. It involved a fairly painless train journey from the airport to the Hotel de France near the middle of Paris. We have stayed in a few 2 star hotels in France so we have knew more or less what to expect. Our room pretty much was representative of other stays. (Remember these are very old buildings!)

Checking in was easy, if somewhat off-hand in terms of approach. Our room was on the 4th floor. The lift stopped at the third floor. The stairs to the 4th floor were narrow, windy and very steep. It was hard work lugging the suitcases up to the room, especially when we were so tired. Unlike Seoul, there was no-one to offer to help cart the suitcases up the stairs.

When we opened the door to the room, we were unable to see the promised bathroom. Catherine searched the floor to see where the 'shared' bathroom might be but couldn't find one. Eventually we found our bathroom behind the 'front' door, which when we opened it hid the bathroom door entirely. Really it was a mini en suite, absolutely tiny. All plumbing was visible and with bath, shower and toilet crammed into a confined space - no room to even share with a cat, let alone try and swing it! Cleaning the various nooks and crannies would be almost impossible, assuming there was a will in the first place. The bath was less than a metre long with very high sides (a real mission for the short legged one to get into and equally difficult for the long-legged one to fit in). The shower was over the bath. There was no shower curtain and the rose had to be held all the time. True to the spirit of French hotel plumbing, the hot water took an absolute age to come through and filling the bath (even with its reduced dimensions) would have taken the best part of a day.

The main room was big enough, larger than some we have been in, but utterly airless when we arrived. It was necessary to go back downstairs to get a handle to open the window. With a bit of less-than-gentle persuasion, it eventaully opened out onto 3m x 3m 4 story high shaft, allowing in a lovely dose of fresh air. It was quite safe to leave the window open all the time. That was a real bonus as was the fact that it was surprisingly quiet given that we were in the middle of a big city.

We opted not to pay 8 euro for breakfast in the dark, windowless room on the ground floor, choosing instead to pay little less to sit in the sun at the Terminus Cafe enjoying a breakfast of fresh orange juice, baguette, croissant and lovely hot coffee.

We spent some time wandering the streets nearby and didn't find a similarly priced hotel that was any better. We had room number 403 and would be prepared to stay there again but if we do, we'll certainly ask not to be on the 4th floor.