Prince de Galles, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Paris — Hotel in Paris

As an SPG Platinum, I have been fortunate to have stayed in some truly extraordinary Starwood Luxury Collection hotels. But among those hotels, The Prince de Galles is in a class by itself. When you walk in the door for the first time, the warm and lustrous art deco ambiance simply takes your breath away. Our stay there, celebrating our 25th anniversary, was simply superb, and perfect.

Although we arrived several hours prior to check-in time, our suite was already ready for us, and the front desk staff was graciously welcoming. We were then given a very personalized tour of the hotel by the charming Guest Experience Manager Alexandre, who introduced us to the gorgeous restaurants and public spaces of the hotel, told us a bit about the history and the recent renovation, and then personally took us to our Makassar Suite.

As we entered our suite, the Makassar ebony and Saint Laurent marble-floored circular foyer let us know that no detail in this suite had been overlooked. And indeed, the quality of all of the furnishings and fittings, supervised during the renovation by Pierre-Yves Rochon, was exceptional. The suite itself was warm and inviting, and we really felt we had found a home in Paris. I'm not sure I have ever been in a suite where the details have been so perfectly designed and thought-out, from fabrics, furnishing, lighting, down to the Bulgari bathroom amenities. (And the additional powder room was very handy to have.) The bed, soft and outfitted with highest-quality linens, was a Parisian dream after a 16 hour international flight. The sound proofing of the windows is amazing -- the noise from the busy Avenue George V below becomes absolutely silent when the large windows are closed. (I want windows like this in my own house in San Francisco!)

The hotel is intimate, at only 159 rooms, and the intimacy also comes through from the service of the staff, who are friendly, gracious, warm, and extremely efficient. If we made a phone call requesting anything, it was always followed up by another phone call to make sure we had received what we needed. If you ask for ice, it is there in 5 minutes. If you order breakfast, 20 minutes. And unlike many luxury hotels who cut off breakfast room service with military precision, the Prince de Galles is happy to serve you breakfast in your suite at 12 noon, if you have slept in late and are having a leisurely morning. On a rainy night, we asked the very friendly front doorman to get a cab to take us to dinner. Instead, he instantly arranged for the hotel's driver to take us to the restaurant in the hotel's car. Our stay was filled with thoughtful touches like this.

Last, but certainly not least, the location is incredible. Two blocks from the Champs-Élysées , but far enough down Avenue George V to be away from the hustle and bustle. In the other direction down Avenue George V, it is a 10 minute walk to the Seine, and the Tour Eiffel in all its glory. Cross the bridge, and you are in the midst of the 7th Arrondissement's many fantastic neighborhood restaurants, and the walk back to the hotel in the moonlight, after dinner, is sheer bliss. Everything else in Paris is a quick walk or taxi ride from the hotel, and Metro access is nearby, and easy as well.

Paris is a magical city, and when you visit Paris, you want your trip to be perfect. Unfortunately, one often hears stories that other people's dreams of a perfect Parisian adventure have been felled by less-than-wonderful hotel stays elsewhere. This will not happen to you at The Prince de Galles. It is a place of which dreams are actually made. We cannot wait to return. With many thanks to Alexandre and the entire staff, who made our stay so wonderfully memorable! Merci, from...

As an SPG Platinum, I have been fortunate to have stayed in some truly extraordinary Starwood Luxury Collection hotels. But among those hotels, The Prince de Galles is in a class by itself. When you walk in the door for the first time, the warm and lustrous art deco ambiance simply takes your breath away. Our stay there, celebrating our 25th anniversary, was simply superb, and perfect.

Although we arrived several hours prior to check-in time, our suite was already ready for us, and the front desk staff was graciously welcoming. We were then given a very personalized tour of the hotel by the charming Guest Experience Manager Alexandre Germain, who introduced us to the gorgeous restaurants and public spaces of the hotel, told us a bit about the history and the recent renovation, and then personally escorted us to our Makassar Suite.

As we entered our suite, the Makassar ebony and Saint Laurent marble-floored circular foyer let us know that no detail in this suite had been overlooked. And indeed, the quality of all of the furnishings and fittings, supervised during the renovation by Pierre-Yves Rochon, was exceptional. The suite itself was warm and inviting, and we really felt we had found a home in Paris. I'm not sure I have ever been in a suite where the details have been so perfectly designed and thought-out, from fabrics, furnishing, lighting, down to the Bulgari bathroom amenities. (And the additional powder room was very handy to have.) The bed, soft, beyond luxurious, and outfitted with highest-quality linens, was a Paris dream after a 16-hour international flight. The sound proofing of the windows is amazing -- the noise from the busy Avenue George V below becomes absolutely silent when the large windows are closed. (I want windows like this in my own house in San Francisco!)

The hotel is intimate, at only 159 rooms, and the intimacy also comes through from the service of the staff, who are friendly, gracious, warm, and extremely efficient. If we made a phone call requesting anything, it was always followed up by another phone call to make sure we had received what we needed. If you ask for ice, it is there in 5 minutes. If you order breakfast, 20 minutes. And unlike many luxury hotels who cut off breakfast room service with military precision, the Prince de Galles is happy to serve you breakfast in your suite at 12 noon, if you have slept in late and are having a leisurely morning. On a rainy night, we asked the very friendly front doorman to get a cab to take us to dinner. Instead, he instantly arranged for the hotel's driver to take us to the restaurant. Our stay was filled with thoughtful touches like this.

The location could not be better. Two blocks in one direction to the Champs Elysee, four blocks in the other direction to the Seine (and the most perfect Eiffel Tower view), and beyond that easy and gorgeous walks to the fabulous neighborhood restaurants of the 7th Arrondissement (like our favorite, Cafe Constant.) Moonlit walks back to the hotel were idyllic.

Paris is a magical city, and when you visit Paris, you want your trip to be perfect. Unfortunately, when you read reviews of many other illustrious Paris hotels, you discover that many people's dreams of a perfect Parisian adventure have been felled by less-than-wonderful hotel stays. This will not happen to you at The Prince de Galles. It is a place of which dreams are actually made. We cannot wait to return. With many thanks to Alexandre Germain and the entire staff, who made our stay so wonderfully memorable. George Daugherty and David Wong,...

A cash and Points stay over this weekend.

Just finished a 2 night stay with C&P (USD275) and used suite awards to maximise chances of an upgrade (although, as Plat, we've been upgraded to a suite the last two times)

Upgraded to a Macassar suite. Nice, very nice, but preferred the old design. New Art Deco design is very severe, very male. The feeling from the beginning is of coldness and aloofness, although the staff were neither of these.

In fact B&W photos on the walls are all of women, (except in Male toilet areas!) installed intentionally as everyone thought it was too "male" when the refurb was taking shape (or so we were told)

Some quirky things that we noticed

The TV in the lounge area of the room was hidden behind a mirror. Very cool, very clever, but the speakers were also hidden, giving a boomy, treble cut, unlistenable sound.

The night lights (small low power lights low down) were a great idea, but they stopped before the toilet in the bathroom, meaning that the lights had to be turned on to use the toilet in the night.

Lights are controlled by groovy clicky chrome switchgear, and like a lot of groovy gear, it compromised function. The switches click on (downward action) then click off (downward action) therefore it was had to work out which switch did what. The switches were on the outside of the bathroom meaning that you had to turn on the bathroom lights to use the toilet from the outside. You didn't know which was which, hence inevitably woke up your partner.

Toilet was enclosed, shut off from bathroom by a glass door. Good idea, but it was a clear glass door.

Meals used be in the Swans restaurant. Lovely, decadent (champagne at brekky) buffet but is now in bar. Admittedly main resto was closed for the summer so this may change late August (what is it with the French and closing during max tourism time anyway?)

Basic brekky was free to SPG plat (menu indicated 36 euro) and was juice, coffee, tea or chocolate and pastries/bread.

We could upgrade to bacon and eggs etc for 10 euro, which we did first day. Eggs Benedict Florentine was selected and what came was poached eggs on spinach on a muffin (as expected) but covered in a white sludge that claimed to be Hollandaise but resembled stovetop cleaner.

Erk

Needless to say, we stayed with the basic menu for the second day.

Service was wonderful (didn't experience any of the aloofness referred to elsewhere, in fact quite the opposite) and Suite was fabulous, but not gorgeous, the assault on our architectural preferences making the difference. It could have been in New York. It certainly wasn't Paris Art Deco.

The design means that it's more of "oh yeah, another hotel" now than it was.

Amazingly, minibar is complimentary for suites.. Pass the Laurent Perrier please.

Still a great place, but it's one that you do once, rather than the old design which you kept coming back to for its charm.

Whilst hotel pools are a rarity in Paris, I would have thought that such an inclusion would have been a no brainer during refurb.

What about a pool suspended in the void? Protecting the restaurant in the void below and allowing filtered light to play on the diners below.

Or have I watched The Great Gatsby...