During my review trip to Bangkok, I had a couple of nights in Paris, where I wanted to check out new hotels. For the first night, I stayed at SAX Paris, Hilton LXR, which was not for me. The second night, I stayed at Hotel du Louvre Paris, Hyatt Unbound Collection. As a Category 7…
Continue reading: Hyatt’s Hotel Du Louvre Paris: Solid Old World Hotel, With Lots Of Suites
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
The Park Hyatt has a Palace rating which is the highest rating for French hotels and a whole tier above 5 stars. Given it’s about the same price (at least in points), you would be stupid not book it.
Plus, the location is marginally better. The Louvre is probably the better tourist trap area in Paris other than the Eiffel Tower.
I need to look but does this hotel even have a 5-star rating from France’s hotel regulator?
As for the decor and furnishings, this is a consistent problem with Hyatt. That decor would be fine for a 4-star airport hotel but not a historic hotel. It doesn’t even look nice.
IIRC this used to be a Cat 5 hotel, so it was positioned as the upper mid tier value option to Park Hyatt's top tier expensive option.
Ben I'd love your thoughts on a few things. 1) with the hotel having so many suites, do you think the overall suite experience is diluted and downgraded vs other properties? 2) I realize the Park Hyatt is marginally more expensive, what are some of your booking strategies for a hotel like this that is frequently blacked out for awards bookings. 3) unrelated, how are you enjoying the Atmos Infinite card? Does it stay in your wallet or the sock drawer? Thanks!
This is a very dramatic take lol. I have visited both properties countless times, and HdL is a very nice hotel, definitely 5 stars by French standards. Rooms are bright and airy (unlike the PH), the bar is visually stunning (also unlike the PH where the common areas are kind of a time warp to the 90s), and I personally find the location more convenient and overall better, especially if you want to eat out. The PH is in the middle of the hyper luxury shopping and restaurants area so if you want good food that's not overpriced, you have to walk quite a bit.
I love the PH as well to be clear (although I do question its Palace qualification with a fairly hit or miss service), but they're just 2 very different properties - and anyone will be just fine staying at either.
Having so many suites is great, but I was disappointed that the standard suites only allow 3 occupants at most. As someone looking to book a suite for a family of 4 (two young children), that is a deal-breaker.
I love this hotel. The Brasserie offers great food and delightful service. The staff, as you have stated, are friendly and helpful. It is not a Paris stand out but neither am I ! I love the Bourgogne et Montana and Horel Du Louvre as comfortable, nice and reasonably priced hotels. I always make a point of dining at the Brasserie at least once whether or not I am staying there.
@ TimF -- Thanks for the questions!
1) It seems like in general this hotel isn't spending a ton on furnishing, or perhaps they're just at the end of a cycle before a renovation. I don't think that's specific to suites, though. If you're talking about some sort of suite specific amenities beyond that yeah, there's nothing really too it, there's just more space.
2) Honestly, I just check back very very frequently, and I find that as the arrival date approaches, availability almost always opens up. So I'll sometimes book a backup with a flexible cancelation, and check back constantly.
3) Yep, I've been using it a lot, including on this trip, for 3x points on all international purchases.
@ Super -- Yeah, the category inflation at Hyatt has really made it tough to love properties like this. Because if it were a Category 5, I'd say "awesome hotel, what a steal." But when it's one category down from the Park Hyatt, it's tough to get excited. But at least Hyatt still has categories, I guess (in other words, at least the Park Hyatt doesn't cost 100K points per night, which is otherwise the direction things would probably go).
In the same boat, I booked the Hyatt Regency Etoile and used a SUA and was able to add my kids to the reservation with the hotel.
@ BradStPete -- Happy to hear the Brasserie is good, maybe I should've had lunch or dinner there!
“ definitely 5 stars by French standards.“
Apparently , you have no idea about hotel ratings - number of stars also define number of amenities and HdL by not having pool and spa can’t be five stars hotel according to any standard. Please , educate yourself before you make similar statements, Clem(ent).
It's actually in a pinch, the Brasserie that is, quite good. It's very popular for lunch.
Agree. But as a globalist with 2 young kids they were very helpful and willingly accommodated all 4 of us after a few minutes of discussion of ‘3 is max’.
Thanks for reviewing it! I requested it in the earlier "what should I do in Paris" post
I was able to sneak a fourth person into the hotel through a side door (not the main entrance!)
I have very fond memories of this hotel. I stayed here September 2021 when travel started to open up after the pandemic. Paris had very few tourists and we had a marvelous stay. I thought the service was very friendly and attentive. The breakfast and restaurant was excellent. For a tourist, you can't beat the location in terms of convenience--- it is literally steps away from the Louvre, Tuilieres Gardens, and the Royal Palace!!!
Absolutely loved my stay at this hotel. I had a very nice suite, bigger than the one pictured here, looking directly over and into the windows of the Louvre. I had a balcony and there was lovely live music playing outside in the evening. It was magical.
I have a soft spot for this hotel, as this is where I stayed during my first ever visit to Paris.
The location certainly seems quite good to me for tourists. I personally liked their breakfast quite a bit, but it is quite pricy for relatively average facilities, none of the furniture or appliances seemed very high end to me.
Dear Stan(islas) P - you should visit the website of the organization that assigns star ratings for hotels in France as well as the Palace distinction, and you will find out that HdL has, in fact, 5 stars (link below). They also publish a detailed list of all the required criteria, and there is some nuance to the spa/pool criteria, but I'll let you figure that one out.
HdL was a Concorde hôtel (Hôtel de Crillon, etc).
It does still reflect that in a way.
PH as been created Hyatt from the beginning.
So some differences exist.
Nice review and completely agree with your assessment of this hotel. We’ve stayed there a few times and had a few different suites. Actually, we were in Paris the same nights as you and wondered if we might run into you but we were at the PH. The husband always pushes to stay there and I typically relent as there’s not much to complain about other than the cost!!! We have become well-acquainted with the bar tenders and several front desk people and our stays are flawless. They have quite a few suites as well and no two are alike so we enjoy the subtle differences. Heading back after Thanksgiving with the Stepmonster. Christmas in Paris never gets old. Have you ever booked the river cruise Le Calife? Definitely try it some visit. Cheers!
Love your initial thoughts here and look forward to your full report. I do think this hotel is arguably the best place to use the Hyatt cat 7 award in continental Europe (I think it’s more aspirational than PH Vienna). PHPV is awesome but it’s a C8 hotel. Lucky, what would be your top recommendation to use a C7 award in continental Europe?
Completely agree. I think Hyatt overall has made the least worst negative changes compared to the other chains, but the category inflation has been a tough pill to swallow regardless. Cat 1-4 certs are essentially useless.
Actually Hotel Du Louvre got a complete renovation just a few years ago (it was definitely tired before that happened). I’ve stayed before and after and it now looks much better than before but I agree that it’s kinda bland