"The Ritz is the ultimate Parisian grand dame hotel, an opulent, superb and jewel-like classic that never goes out of fashion."
Sandwiched between Cartier and the Ministere de Justice on the Place Vendome, Paris's Ritz stands in the very heart of the Quartier Cartier, in the world’s densest and most opulent shopping district. This luxury hotel is near where the Rue de Rivoli, a river of necklaces, meets the Rue St. Honore, sparkling with diamonds. It's a zone where no shirt retails for under a couple of hundred, where a kiddie’s T could set you back fifty (took out bullion phrase too repet.). The Ritz is their ideal refuge, made for the Duty-Free junkies, its corridors bulging with the monogrammed and logoed bags of weary bullion-converters.
The facilities
Today the Ritz looks like it has been out doing a bit too much shopping itself. It occupies quite a small slice of Paris’ best real estate, but so richly is it larded with wealth, so profuse with extravagance, that no private palace could ever match it (took out cholesterol phrase)– no one could live long in such surroundings. It's the Liberace of luxury hotels, draped and gilded and festooned and positively glutted with the accoutrements that money can buy, overloaded with the luxury of the ages. Paris has been the world capital of gilt ever since Louis XIV took the throne. At the Ritz the vice has yet to die.
Luxury hotels like the Ritz used to play their part in the world's cultural life. Hemingway lived in the Ritz for a while, as and drank in it for more than a while. Monet painted from its windows.
Still, there are some things the Ritz does to perfection. Like dinner, a delicate feast of morilles and coeur de filet de boeuf, delivered in a choreography worthy of the stage at L'Opera. Or a haircut and shave, a production involving no fewer than three people, the incomparable Monsieur Joseph himself, one of the world's great scissor-and-strop maestros, with two of his immaculately drilled assistants. They dance around me with hot towels and decanters of eau de cologne, as well as cups of steaming cafe noir to keep me on my toes. This is pampering for a prince.
Address: 15 Place Vendome, 75041 Paris, France
Booking info
Departure: Tue 9 Sep 2008
No. adults: 2
Check Availability
Who stays here
The fame of the Ritz has been owed at least in part to loyalty by celebrities such as Marcel Proust, Coco Chanel, Winston Churchill, Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed and Ernest Hemingway. (Hemingway claimed to have liberated it from the Germans in World War II and was rewarded by having a bar named for him.) The clientèle is still A-list, and it's a hotel that everyone should stay in at least once.
Come for
- Extreme pampering
- Famous clientele, now and then
- Gardens and terraces
- To quote Hemingway: "When in Paris the only reason not to stay at the Ritz, is if you can't afford it"
Not suitable for
- Paparazzi and casual gawpers
- Small budgets
Awards
"Gold List", Conde Nast Traveller 07
Children
The Ritz is a very family-friendly hotel. Children are offered a special welcome gift, bathrobes, slippers, and a teddy bear. They can take part in swimming lessons at the pool, or cooking lessons in the kitchen. There is also a special kid's menu at the hotel restaurant. The hotel offers a multilingual babysitting service for their guests.
Eating in
Extremely glamorous, L'Espadon is the famous gourmet restaurant offering the ultimate in French gastronomy. During the summer months, afternoon tea, cocktails, and dining are available in the garden at the Vendome Bar and at L'Espadon.
