Jour 6 Paris: Hotel Renaissance Arc de Triomphe

We flew from Nice to Paris instead of taking the train to save some time and some money. We arrived in Paris just before lunchtime.

We flew via Easyjet for about $75 per person. The flight was just over one hour; it was nice and quick.

I collected over 200,000 Marriott rewards points when I was working in Baltimore in 2011 and I decided to cash a good chunk of them out over a good cause. So, for our Paris stint, we stayed at the Renaissance Arc de Triomphe.

It was literally just a few steps from the Arch.

The hotel was super flash. It was really new and modern and comfortable. We were greeted with a giant smile and due to my Elite status, we got a few perks.

Our room was pretty humongous with a decently sized balcony.

The bathroom was v. modern and my sister and I made great use of the bathtub (you know, separately).

The hotel provided us with bath salts (like actual bath salts, not the drug) so we each had a lovely soak every night to soothe our aching feet and muscles.

The hotel provided Tokyomilk brand toiletries, which were so luxe.

And the cushy soft bathrobe was like wearing a comfortable cloud.

Okay, so for the perks! As an Elite member, you're offered either champagne, wine, or juice and either chocolates or a salty snack. We went for juice (as baby sister and I are not the biggest fans of bubbles or vino) and a salty snack. The rice cake chips came with a red pepper dip, which was delicious and it totally hit the spot.

Another perk of being an Elite member was the free breakfast. There was bread, pastries, cold items, hot items, and all of it was really delicious. Normally it's €30 but we got it for free!

We loved staying at the Renaissance. It was super luxe and comfortable and I said to my fellow travelers that staying there finally gave me a taste of what it felt like to be a rich person. It is a more expensive hotel - on the range of €395 per night - so I probably wouldn't have stayed here if not for the freebie. And actually, I feel a little guilty even sharing this hotel on my blog because I'm always preaching affordability and whatnot, especially when it comes to hotels since you're not on vacation to spend time in your room. But then again, this was free for me and what's more affordable than that? However, if your budget seriously allows you to stay here, I would definitely recommend it. The staff are so friendly and accommodating, the rooms are amazingly comfortable, and the location is superb.

All right, now that we've got the hotel review out of the way, I'll start sharing the Paris goodies.

xoxo.