Renaissance Paris Vendome Hotel — Hotel in Paris

We stayed in multiple rooms during our stay. Check out the image attached to this review. This young woman's 36" square (or more) photo was a disturbing find, mounted directly above the bed in each of the rooms we stayed in. What an odd choice, especially for a hotel chain owned by Marriott. ||Pros: Location (central to all the things we wanted to see - Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Notre Dame, etc.). The lobby was clean and well-kept though if you're taller than 5'6" you may struggle getting up from any seat in the lobby. The staff were all quite friendly, multilingual, and as helpful as humanly possible. The beds were comfortable, too many pillows and little space available to put the overflow. Classic high ceilings and other than street noise, the rooms were quiet. No clocks or speakers so plan accordingly. Surprisingly well-timed elevators given the age of the hotel and the number of guests. Rarely had to wait for an elevator. The breakfast buffet was a good value - but I'll swing back to this in the why we wouldn't come back section.||Cons: Room service - inconsistent. You won't get any beef cooked beyond medium rare no matter how much you ask - but that seemed to be a Paris thing in general. Street noise. If you don't want to be awoken every morning before 7 by delivery trucks, ask for a room facing the inside corridor (your view will be of the glass roof of the lobby, but it will be quiet). Also - there's something about the traffic pattern at the corner of the building - constant beeping from vehicles backing up day and night. Smoke. Everyone stands out front to smoke and if you like to have your windows open and have any sensitivity to smoke - then get a room facing the inside corridor. Size. These seemed to be small rooms even by European standards. There was very little room in the room to get around or relax. Look carefully at the photos in terms of surface space and the chairs if you intend to do anything in the room before or after your day of sight-seeing. Our first room had a tub (why? It was small and the enamel worn - what a waste of space), a tiny main area with dual sinks (the facade betweent he two sink drawers kept falling off), and the tiniest water closet and shower I have ever seen in a hotel. If you're 5'8" or less, you'll be OK. I couldn't wash below my knees without banging my head on the wall and eventually had to step out of both the shower and the water closet to 'get the job done'. I'm 6'4". The first room also had ample closet space, but one of the closet doors was falling off by day 2 (it had clearly been reattached to the particle board as many times as physics would allow). The second room was an "accessible" room so the bathroom had more space - open concept no tub - but here were the problems with that. First, very little counter space, second no drawers to put your things, third a shower curtain that was a good 4" off the floor and after you took a shower, there was water literally all over the entire floor. If we hadn't learned to put down a barrier of towels on the floor each time, I'm not kidding when I say the water would've easily made it to and out the bathroom door. Fourth, the toilet was so close to the wall, if I were left handed - it would've been a problem. As for the room in general, the A/C didn't work (and there are no vents in the bathroom at all). You get two bottles of mineral water in the rooms - that's it. No sodas in the mini fridge - just the water. House keeping may or may not remember to replenish. Now, you can get all you like from the front desk - but it was odd. Housekeeping was inconsistent. There was a foot print in our room for 3 days from a shoe that didn't belong to either of us so they clearly aren't mopping every day and the streets are filthy (if you have feet bigger or equal to a US size 12 - pack your own slippers). I walked in on housekeeping just wiping the glasses in the room with a hand towel and never saw fresh ones on the carts - so I don't think they replace your glasses with clean ones. And they crushed the hose of my pap machine. That was a first in 15 years of traveling with the thing. And one other thing about the accessible room - if you truly require one from a physical limitation - the door to the room easily required about 40lbs of pressure to open. There is no way you could manage it in a walker or wheel chair and there's no auto door opener.||Why we wouldn't stay here again: They lied to us. When we first arrived towels included bath, hand, and face. One day, no face cloth. So we called down "I'll send a colleague right up with more towels!" We got more towels, but still no face cloths. So we called again. They said they'd send someone. No one ever came. So we called again, "Oh, we're all out." Turns out they knew that from the start. Was a bit like calling for shampoo and getting 5 bottles of conditioner. No matter how much conditioner you bring me it's still not shampoo so just tell me the truth - you're out - we'll move on with our day. It was a thing throughout our stay. So if you like face cloths, pack your own. The other thing they lied about was the HVAC. Bold faced lie about someone having looked it at and it was fine. It wasn't fine. The next day they sent another person (qualified) to look at it - we lost 90 minutes of our day babysitting the process. At least he told us the truth - that it was broken. Said he'd go check the unit up on the roof - and then we never heard another peep. So another call to the desk, this time they confirmed it was indeed broken - but didn't offer to do anything about it. Weird and unnecessary. It was cool enough that we tried just opening a window - but then the cigarette smoke and noise became an issue. I don't tolerate being gaslit or lied to. Just be honest. Finally - the breakfast buffet. Honestly - it could've been a bit in a sitcom. The coffee service was just bizarre and poorly managed. There's no other way to describe it. One day we came in, the hostess remembered our coffee order from the day before "I'll get it for you!" it never came. We asked 3 people in total and it took (not exaggerating) 40 minutes for us to get a cup of simple brewed coffee (they don't have urns for some reason). All the guests were complaining about it. Such a simple thing, integral to breakfast, and a complete miss. The nail in the breakfast coffin was the mouse. The day we waited 40 minutes for the coffee I had a lot of time to look around and saw a mouse run along the toe-kick of the buffet counter and pop through a hole in the wall near the hostess stand where they hang the serving trays. ||I imagine the hotel will offer some response - but there's no need. We intend to return to Paris, but would not return to the hotel - even thoug the staff (other than the breakfast folks and the people around the weirdness with the face towels and the person who lied to us about the HVAC having been checked the first time and being fine) were...

I'll start with the punchline which is "Avoid this hotel at its current price and star rating level", in other words you are getting very little in return for your money.

ISSUES Starting from least to worst, the hotel is very bare bones. There are absolutely no amenities to speak of, not even a nice lounge to speak of. But whatever, no one goes to a hotel to look at a pretty lounge but as a 5 star hotel you'd think they would have something to make a good impression with.

The hallways are drab and look old, the elevator is slow and creaky and there's only one of. There are paint chips across the hotel, dirty carpets, you get the picture.

Their restaurant which doubles as their breakfast location is closed which in of itself is a non-issue, but in its stead they turned the lobby and an adjacent conference room into a buffet style breakfast offering. Quite embarrassing honestly but it could have been forgiving if not for the horrible quality of their offerings. A single pod machine coffee maker and some supermarket quality pastries and thats pretty much it. To those who are familiar with the brand, Howard Johnson would've blown this out of the water. What they could have done better? Maybe just provide everyone with in-room breakfast? I think that would've made worlds of difference.

Finally the rooms themselves which of course are the most important. Again, if this was a 3 star hotel? I would be singing it praises. But when its rated as a 5 star hotel with a price to match, expectations have been set. And definitely not even close to met. The rooms are as bare bones as they come. They barely include any toiletries. The shower was the worst part, there is no shower head. Instead they have one of those plastic hoses that run from the bathtub faucet. And the hose is was super short and ran literally in the middle of the shower so it was in the way of actually showering its hard to explain in words I should've taken a photo. The water was weak and had barely any flow. I had a better shower walking through the mist in Paris.

The room door had zero sound insulation, I constantly heard my neighbor opening and when their door closed, my room literally shook. I could hear them moving their clothes in their closet. I'm just glad I didnt have someone who was actually noisy as a neighbor, I can imagine that'd probably have been a nightmare.

All in all, I will absolutely avoid this hotel, if anyone stays here hoping to have a magical Paris experience, this is not it. There was no deal breakers here, but just a huge star rating and price tag for a 2-star hotel.

PROS

I will give credit where its due to the staff here. They seem to be some of the most well trained employees in hospitality I have come across. Unfortunately friendly and helpful smiles do not make up for a below mediocre hardware product.

The location is fine. Convenient, but so is the 30 other hotels just in...

We spent five nights at Renaissance Paris Vendome and enjoyed every moment of our stay in this comfortable and safe hotel. ||The location is perfect: a block from the Tuileries Gardens and a metro station, a short walk to the Louvre, Place de la Concorde, Musee de l'Orangerie, shopping, everything you would want to see is within a walk or a metro, you will not need a car if your stay is within Paris.||The front desk is multi-lingual, and will welcome you with English, but try to learn at least a little French to enhance your stay. The rooms are nice with a great layout of bed, wardrobe area, small refrigerator, big bathroom, tv. A few rooms have a small balcony that overlook the Parisian side-street below; our room had an inner courtyard view which we appreciated as we are light sleepers. ||The lobby provides couches, chairs, a morning coffee service, afternoon complimentary wine/drink on most days (I believe Tuesday through Saturday afternoon, but double check), a few French magazines to enhance/practice your language skills. Next to the lobby is a concierge desk that readily helps with directions and suggestions.||The hotel has a small gym on the underground level - weights, a sauna and steam room, men's and women's lockers with showers, towels, and sandals. The hidden gem at this hotel is the pool. It is beautiful. It is not a lap pool, but more a spa sanctuary, with exquisite green tiles, wood wall accents, a skylight, five lounge chairs with towels. There are two jets that allow some swimming against a current, but really it is a space of luxury, contemplation, immerse yourself in aquatic relaxation. The space is a unique and unexpected addition to the stay.||The hotel also has a restaurant at ground level across from Reception. The buffet breakfast can be included in many room rates, I recommend you eat breakfast here. There is a vast, vast array of baked goods, baguettes, meats and cheeses, yogurt, fresh fruit, coffee/tea/water, plus you can order cooked to order items such as eggs, pancakes, omelettes. Definitely see if you can include breakfast with your reservation. Eating a hearty morning meal allows you the freedom of a happy day in Paris without quickly becoming hungry during your visits to museums, shopping, etc. The staff at breakfast are authentically welcoming and personable - especially Reuey and Sofiane, who go the extra step to enhance your morning entry into the Parisian world. One of us celebrated our 60th birthday in Paris, and the hotel on multiple occasions added to the celebration with marking of the day. We enjoy memories of a lifetime of our trip including the stay at Renaissance Paris Vendome.||We highly recommend this property to you...