Vertus Marais (Paris, France)

Since my earliest Paris sojourn in the late 1970s, I have long wanted to stay in an apartment in Paris, but that wish was never fulfilled as I never had a friend who resided in Paris. Or if I did have a friend living there, it would be too much of an imposition to stay with that friend because I was sure the apartment was going to be smaller than a walk-in closet in a New York Park Avenue apartment. As a result, I ended up staying for most of the time in a small hotel in the Quartier Latin in the 5th arrondissement. This time around, I decided it was time to change that old habit and to explore other options.

While searching for a short-term rental apartment, an agency was recommended to me: AbsoluLiving.com. I went to its site and had a look through its listing, and found one that I fancied. I inquired about the property, and within minutes I received a reply through e-mail. I was already impressed with its speed of service. After deciding on a studio, I had to put a 30% down payment as a guarantee that I would show up. I was asked to send my credit card numbers via either mail, fax, or e-mail (unfortunately they did not have a web-based reservation system, but the security issue of sending the credit card number could be solved by different methods). Per e-mail they sent me a contract that I had to sign and return back to them (by fax or e-mail), and that was it until I arrived in Paris.

As I arrived before their office hour, I stood waiting in the cold of winter (early January) until someone came to open the office, apologized for making me wait, and offered a hot cup of tea. There was no need to apologize, really, because I did not alert any of them that I would be arriving super-early. The owner, Hèrvé, was a young, no-nonsense but very fraternal gentleman. I just wanted to adopt him as a big brother; then again, he could be several years younger than I was. Guy (rhymed with "key") was the person who handled Internet inquiries; most likely one would get an e-mail correspondence from him. He too was very informative and welcoming; then again, shouldn't they all be?

Check-in actually would not be until noon, but my unit was already ready, so they processed me immediately. All I had to do was sign more receipts for the remaining 70% plus a deposit in the case that there occured any damage caused by moi while I was there. My particular apartment on Rue des Vertus was not too far from their office on Rue St. Martin.

The apartment was on the 4th floor of a 5-story building. The small compound was equipped with a security-coded entrance gate. Thank goodness there was an elevator, as I carried two heavy carry-ons (no checked-in luggage), and the stairwell was interestingly uneven and narrow. As a matter of fact, when I just entered the building, I was aghast at the public area, which consisted of nothing more than a corridor and a stairwell. I was afraid of how my unit would look like, BUT...

When I entered my apartment, it was just as the pictures on their website had looked: WYSIWYG, basically (What You See Is What You Get). This tiny studio had a full-size futon with surprisingly comfortable mattress and a warm comforter. Two sets of "towel sets" (bath, hand, and face towels) were provided. There was a sofa that could be turned into a bed for one skinny person; two nesting coffee tables; a television set (satellite dish feed), a DVD player, and a WiFi high-speed Internet cable modem (free of charge). The Internet worked well except for the last two days, when there was disruption in my section of Marais. When that happened, one could just go to the AbsoluLiving office basement and use one of their two available terminals there, also free of charge.

On the kitchen counter was a welcome-kit that consisted of mini guide-books and magazines, a fold-out map of Paris, guide to gay venues (rubbers included); and a bag of mints. Behind the counter lay a kitchenette with a range with two burners; a microwave; a coffee-maker; electric hot-water boiler; plenty of plates and dinnerware to entertain at least 6 people; a good mini-size refrigerator; and a washer (unfortunately, when I used it, it spun but no water was involved; I thought, hmmm...this could not be what they called "nettoyer à sec" or "dry-cleaning", d'accord?). They also included a feedback survey of your stay.

The bathroom had one commode and one bath, but no shower curtain. If you take a shower standing up, you will splash water all over the floor. I did my best impersonation of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon:" crouching while showering, or hidden (immersed) during my baths. Hot water filled up the tub, but after that, one had to wait for some time for the water-heater to replenish. They provided a very small sachet of shampoo, conditioner, and soap that would last only for two showers/baths at the most. Treat yourself with local ammenities from L'Occitane, available in travel size.

My first experience of renting an apartment in Paris was extremely satisfying. I would highly recommend AbsoluLiving.com for a starter. I will definitely use their service again the next time I will do this. Prices varies from one apartment to another; discount starts being applied for a stay of at least 7-days.


AbsoluLiving
236 Rue St. Martin
75003 Paris (Métro: Réamur Sébastopol or Arts et Métiers)
France

Tél: +33 (01) 4454-9700
Fax : +33 (01) 4454-9717

Hyatt Regency Long Beach (California, USA)

Awmygawd! Don't let the pictures fool ya! Call me spoiled, I do not care, but I shall never return to stay at this hotel. I think the raison d'être of this hotel was to provide lodging for convention attendees (the hotel was located not too far from a convention center). I had high expectations from this hotel based on the pictures they posted on the company website; boy, was I in for a surprise...

When I drove my car into the driveway of the hotel, my sixth sense told me that there was something amiss about the hotel. Don't ask my how, but it felt ominous. My suspicion was confirmed when I stepped into the lobby: a vast area with huge pillars and cheap-looking bars that you could find only in small resort towns. How this happened in the rather nice city of Long Beach I did not know. Giant pillars and a vast interior with high ceiling were supposed to make one feel in awe of the space, but a lack of coherent design made me feel like someone had just come in and looted the place empty.

It got worse as I arrived on my assigned floor: the very long corridor was so borrrrrrrrrring that it almost put me in a somnambulant state while walking to my room. How could it get even worse? Just open the door and you would find out soon: bad layout, old carpeting, sorry furniture, dowdy furnishings, and windows that started at the height of one's hip, just like the ones found in cheap seaside motels. The television was put inside an armoire that faced a wall. To watch the tele, you have to bring it out from the armoire and swivel it to face the bed. Even then you did not get a full view of the screen.

I am surprised to note that even the Hyatt Regency in Surabaya (Indonesia) is much better and more desirable than this one in Long Beach (the surprise being that the former is in a third world country, if we still call it that; while the latter is found in a prosperous California city). I invited some friends to stay in another room which I had reserved for them. They were to arrive much later, but when I found how our rooms looked like, I called to tell them not to bother to show up. I told them that I would stay overnight just to see how it was, but I could only swallow so much of this ugliness. Four hours after I checked in, I gathered my belongings and checked out. The same receptionist who checked me in was surprised to see me leave before the night's end. I did not want to hurt her feelings by saying that her hotel left much to be desired, so I fibbed and informed her that there had been some changes and I needed to depart.

Let me save you the trouble by not putting up any information of the hotel the way I have done with other properties reviewed in this site. Should you ever be in the spirit of masochism, then find out how this dowdy hotel could inflict pain to your senses.

Park Hyatt Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

The Park Hyatt Saigon opened just this past July 2005. I checked in four months later, staying in 3 different rooms (2 standard and 1 suite). The prime location in District 1 (considered most desirable in Ho Chi Minh City [or HCMC], the city formerly known as Saigon) makes most of the landmarks available within walking distance. The hotel is next to the Opera House, close to the "Hotel de Ville" (French for "City Hall"), and not too terribly far away from the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Independence Palace. In addition, the upper-end shopping malls are located in this area as well. Most taxi drivers do not know where Park Hyatt Saigon is because it is quite new, but because of its close proximity to the well-known Caravelle Hotel, the latter became a convenient point of reference.

The standard room was quite small. In the first room that I occupied, there were crumbs inside the folder of the hotel information; and no clock (alarm clock). When we came in, there was no welcome bowl of fruits. They were to come much later. Even the Grand Hyatt Jakarta sent one staff member to bring the welcome bowl of fruits immediately after I settled down. The Hyatt Regency Surabaya already had fruits waiting in one's room upon check-in.

The second room, another standard room, had an alarm clock (which made me realize that the first room was missing one). These standard rooms are not the most perfect for a two-person occupancy, unless one devices a schedule for bathroom use (there was only one basin). Even a standard room at Ritz Carlton would have two basins.

The suite definitely worked better, with ample amount of space, a walk-in closet, a writing desk that doubled as a vanity table (right before the bathroom). The suite I had was at the end of the hall. Because the hotel had a curved outer wall, the suite occupied a rather odd space. As a result, the living room area did not look as pleasing as it could be. Alarm clock was again missing from this room. The hotel needs to work on consistency.

Check-in was done in the room, but there was no offer for an express check-out, and I forgot to ask about such service.

Room Service was excellent: I was rather picky in how I wanted my Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) served, but when it arrived, it was exactly as I had instructed it to be served. Other services such as turn-down and shoeshine were very satisfactory and timely.

For some reasons, I was always placed in the 7th floor (there are a total of 9 floors). Standard rooms are rather small but cozy. Noise from the streets in front of the hotel is carried all the way up to my rooms, day and night. At night, it is common for the electricity to fail. The explanation that came from the hotel was that the electricity was supplied by the State, but at night, the State switched it off and therefore the hotel had to turn on its own generator. They apologized the first time it happened and promised that it would not happen again; that it was not a usual thing. Well, luckily I was not born yesterday and knew better. Every night there was a black-out, sometimes more than once. If they knew that the State was going to turn it off every night, the hotel should anticipate it by getting the generator already going to provide a seamless transition from one power supplier to another.

Both the spa and the gym were very nice, clean, and well-attended (in the late afternoon until late night). Both the steam room and the jacuzzi were big. The pool was great for lap swimming. Third-floor guests with pool view actually had a small patio area between their rooms and the pool area. They had French windows so they could step out and go to the pool directly from their rooms. I tried the spa on the first night: ample amount of space for a Thai massage. There was a shower stall inside the treatment room. I took a shower but was surprised that they did not change the bath/shower mat between treatments. Apparently, someone had previously showered there, and no one had bothered to change the mat for a new client.

There was a lot of miscommunication:
- Before I left Saigon, I informed the staff that I would return quite early one day and asked if I could do an early check-in. I was assured that there were plenty of rooms for that day and that one room was confirmed for my checking-in early. When the time came, I was told that there was no room for early check-in. A group of people had just come and had used all the rooms. I had to wait for more than an hour to have a room ready. When finally it was ready, a staff took me to a 3rd floor-room, which was not my preference. So, she moved me back to the 7th floor. While chatting with her, I found out that occupancy that day was only 45%. So, why was it that they said there was no room available?
- I re-checked in to a standard room on a Thursday, but would move to a suite on Friday, and depart on Saturday. I made sure that the limo reservation was for Saturday, and to remind them of the room change. On Friday, I was told that my limo was ready. I had to explain to them that it was not until Saturday that I would need it. By instinct, I checked back on Friday night, and right enough, no limo was reserved for me for Saturday. So, I re-reserved the limo for the departure date. It was confirmed. Much later at night, I got a call, asking if I would need a limo for Saturday, and I told them that I had indeed reserved one earlier. The next day, on departure date, the staff was surprised to find out that I had booked a limo. There was none in the system that noted that.
- The staff charged me double for the first stay, not taking into account that I had prepaid for the hotel via the Internet (the hotel knew very well that I had prepaid because there was a credit on top of the folio). While both sides (the hotel and I) caught the mistake, there was no courtesy call to let me know about it. I had to go down with my laptop to show all the paperwork, and the assistant manager came up with a receipt for a credit already done that very same day (but did not tell me about it.) This was an honest mistake, perhaps the staff members were not yet used to the system.
- Postscript (and take this as a Caveat Emptor): Goldpassport.com never did a perfect job. Something was always missing, and this time it was no exception. They did not calculate Platinum points correctly, including omitting the prepayment in the calculation of the points. However, upon notifying the customer service, the problem was corrected. This blew my mind because usually I would get a courtesy acknowledgment e-mail, followed by the actual correction few days later. This time, it happened within minutes!

There were two things that in my mind I had allowed all this to pass:
1. The hotel was relatively new, only 4-5 months old.
2. Although they made several mistakes, the staff members were extremely friendly and accommodating.

If and when I return to Saigon, I would not hesitate in staying at the Park Hyatt again. While I was in that city, I visited different hotels, saw the lobby areas and observed their atmospheres, and I definitely prefered the Park Hyatt over the other hotels. There was an elegance and tranquility about the Park Hyatt that was not to be found in the other hotels, at least for now.