Every now and then another travel deal comes around that makes you think it must be a misprint. A Las Vegas hotel can not possible be that cheap or a round-trip flight from New York to Ft. Lauderdale costs how much? Well this time around, it's deals to Paris, France that might make you say, "C'est impossible!"
Go-Today (tel. 800/227-3235; www.go-today.com) just announced a three-day getaway to the City of Lights for just $399, air, hotel and daily breakfast included. Just think, for the price of a nice suit or a decent handbag, you can go to Paris instead. What's better than that? Six-night's to Paris starting at $499, that's what. The $399 three-day "Paris Getaway" is good for travel from November 1 to December 15, 2005 and then reconvenes after the Christmas-New Year's holiday for travel from January 6 to March 25, 2006. What's the trick? There isn't any, except you have to book early, as early as August 25, 2005. The price increases depending on the quality of the hotel you choose, which starts at the $399 price with accommodations at the Holiday Inn Express in Porte D'Italie (near Montparnasse) and goes up to $819 for the three-day trip at Hotel Lutetia, a large and popular Left Bank hotel close to Notre Dame, the Louvre and smack in the middle of St. Germain des Pres.
Perhaps the best price-location hotel available on this deal is the
Husa Calais Montmartre Hotel, a boutique hotel just a ten-minute walk to Sacre Couer for $429 for the total trip. Another price for location deal can be had at the Comfort Gare de L'Est Hotel for $419 for the trip. Directly across the street from the transportation hub Gare de L'Est train station from where you can reach every attraction in the city, the hotel is a short walk to the Marais quarter and the Centre George Pompidou, both popular people watching hotspots for natives and tourists.
If you do stay at the Comfort Gare de L'Est Hotel, there's a funky Tex-Mex restaurant located within the 12th century courtyard of a major Parisian dance studio very close by. Called Le Studio (41 rue du Temple, 75004 Paris), the restaurant attracts local Parisians and American ex-pats tired of the French fare looking for a great, fairly inexpensive meal, in an incredible, almost medieval setting. Watching the dance classes go on above you and next to you only adds to the flavor of your tasty burrito.
Go-Today's weeklong trip to Paris starts at $499 and has similar restrictions as the $399 trip. Travel is good for the same dates and you need to book your trip by August 25, 2005, as well. The choice of hotels differs slightly with one of the best deals at $589 for accommodations at the Pavillon St. Augustin, a Right Bank hotel just a short walk from the Champs Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre. If this isn't enough, Go-Today has a six-night Christmas special to Paris starting at $599, a six-night New Year's deal starting at just $699 and a three-night Thanksgiving deal starting at $399. Like the above trips, these prices must be locked in by Thursday, August 25, 2005. All of the above prices are based on double occupancy hotel rates and do not include airport security or departure fees.
Not to be outdone, France Vacations (tel. 800/332-5332; www.francevacations.net) has five and seven night trips to Paris in similar price ranges. A five-night package to Paris starts at $549 per person when booking for two people. The trip includes round-trip airfare from a number of U.S. departure points, all accommodations and hotel taxes, daily breakfast, and a discount card for the Galeries Lafayette. The seven-night trip starts at $639 per person out of Philadelphia. (Prices out of New York are $649. See the France Vacations Website for total trip costs from your closest departure city.) Hotels for these trips range from budget to luxury with prices for the seven-day trip going up to the $2,000 range for the finest hotels available. France Vacations also has a five-night Thanksgiving special to Paris or the Riviera starting at $549. The Paris package includes a Seine River cruise and a Thanksgiving dinner. This trip needs to be booked by August 31, 2005. Booking dates for the other France Vacation trips are also August 31, 2005.
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