Review: Bulgari Hotel Paris, France

That looks like a very nice hotel and very much out of my league. I do want to mention, if you like water pressure, the strongest shower water pressure I've experienced was at the Eastern And Oriental Hotel in Penang. I don't remember anything about the water pressure in any other hotel shower I've used.

So what was the rate you actually paid?

Is this brand truly worth paying over 1000$+

While one can easily look up online the cost of the executive suite, I think it would make the review more complete if you mentioned that the executive suite you stayed at cost 5500 euros per night. With that said, what a beautiful hotel. My preference would still be the Ritz or Cheval Blanc but this is a great alternative.

This looks like any hotel in any city in the world. I can’t ever imagine choosing to stay there vs the George V or the Crillion or even the Park Hyatt

Those prices!

Scared me off.

To whom is this review supposed to appeal? Serious question. I’m guessing people considering a stay at a property on this level are not reading a blog like this.

Good to see a luxury hotel in Paris that isn't into pretending it's in the 1930s. It will be a very cold day in hell before I pay these sorts of prices for a hotel room, but I am happy to see these places becoming more popular and attracting price-insensitive clientele away from the mainstream 4-5 star hotels that I do patronise.

You didn’t tell us whether you booked the base executive room (and got upgraded to the suite) or the suite. If the former, any chance that they actually did recognize your Ambassador status even if it’s not officially recognized with Bulgari? Or did they upgrade you because they knew Ford was a travel agent? This info is critical for the review.

I can see why the hotel doesn't have the exclusive "palace" rating.

I think (and this is not a complaint, just a personal observation) that the blog is getting more and more into the stereoscopic levels of luxury, that are probably not all that relevant to that many readers. I understand that it may represent a new stage in your life as a family man, or Ford's access to properties at a heavily discounted price or anything else. I am just noticing that the relevance of the blog to me has really dropped recently.
Also kudus on the full disclosure part. I am wondering though how comfortable you'd be commenting on negative aspects of a property that's absorbed a big chunk of the cost///
Specifically, this hotel holds zero appeal for me. The location is very yawn - kinda where you'd go on your first day ever in Paris for a lot of landmarks and very little atmosphere. The building and decor is not at all my taste, but that's obviously a personal thing .
Paying 50EUR for continental breakfast is ludicrous, especially in Paris where the local boulangerie will sell the freshest pastries for practically nothing

yes and since for the n-time, the request to disclose the % amount of the "travel agent" discount has been completely ignored, I do find this review not realistic at all. For your reference, from my industry knowledge, these discounts can go as low as 90% and the establishment in question goes above and beyond to take care of the "guests". I know some people that paid as little as 100 USD equivalent for a couple in a suite for a full weekend in London, including food + wine pairing at the in-house Michelin starred restaurant. I am therefore CONVINCED that there will never be anything overly negative and I know for a FACT that these "guests" are shadowed by a PR or Marketing person of the hotel for the entire stay. Therefore, any mention of "the hotel has not checked our review" is mostly moot, because A) any problems would have been solved during the stay, B) the price, if at all, paid, would be ridiculously low and C) there is no incentive to leave a bad review.

I am a big fan of Bulgari and Bulgari hotels. Top class hotels in Paris are ridiculously expensive and the cheapest room - without breakfast - often costs £1500+ It is partly due to French regulations. But obviously there is a demand and lots of people are happy to pay that kind of money. On the other hand I agree most readers won't be able to afford to stay in such hotels or they can but don't want to pay let's say £10 000 for a weekend !!!

@ joe -- It's really hard to argue "value" with hotels nowadays, as it all comes down to what you're willing to pay, and how much you value an amazing experience. I mean, the Westin Paris Vendome charges $600+ per night, is a mega hotel with 440 rooms, and gets not-great reviews, but seems to be able to sustain those rates. Luxury hotel rates have changed post-pandemic, no doubt.

@ JetSetFly -- Fair point, thank you, and I'll try to do that in the future!

@ Foster -- Obviously it won't appeal to everyone, and I get that. But I think you'd be surprised by how broad the readership of the blog (and interest in miles & points) is.

Miles & points attract all kinds of people. Some people just want to travel as inexpensively as possible (which is great), while others want to learn how to use miles & points to fly first and business class on long haul flights, so they can splurge more on hotels.

@ Daniel M -- My information wasn't in any way on the reservation, as this was done through Ford. When a travel advisor rate is offered by a hotel, the assumption is typically that it's for a base room. Sometimes that's exactly what you get, while sometimes they offer great upgrades, depending on occupancy.

@ Mike -- I respect your take and appreciate your feedback, and I'm sorry you find the blog less useful than in the past. Let me just add this...

I'm doing as many flight reviews as I've ever done in the history of the blog, and I'd like to think that's useful to the average person, since these are all reviews of airlines that anyone can redeem on.

As far as hotels go, I understand there are more true luxury properties that are not bookable with points, and I understand that's not appealing to everyone.

However, I'm also reviewing lots of points hotels. During my last series, I reviewed the St. Regis Hong Kong, and during my next trip report series, I exclusively stayed at points hotels in Japan, and will be reviewing four of them.

As far as commenting on negative aspects of the hotel goes, a couple thoughts on that. First of all, the non-points hotels I review are generally ones that are very high quality, so often there aren't that many negatives. That being said, I also commented on several of the minor negatives in this review, from the property lacking a sense of place, to a single sink in a suite.

And yeah, hotel breakfast prices are crazy. But for those staying at these properties, they can at least book in a way that includes breakfast.

@ Matrix.SG -- It sounds to me like you're talking about some sort of an influencer marketing stay, with mention of the meals and being shadowed by a PR person? That's not typically how travel advisor stays go...

Ben, I too have noticed that your hotel review selections are peppered with the more than the occasional ultra luxury non points properties. I realize that many influencers/bloggers routinely promote these type of hotels, oblivious to (or, perhaps, intentionally despite) the fact that they are out of reach to mere mortals. But I suspect while many of your readers enjoy seeing reviews about aspirational properties, the unlocked value they seek is mostly for those hotels where the currency can be in points, not cash. It is easy to find and book 2,000E nightly rate hotels if you have deep pockets. What is not so apparent is how to stay at these hotels if you lack the means. I toiled away at a consulting gig for many years and had many competing demands on my resources—-spending thousands per night on a hotel was way down the list. The only upside to being away from home so much was the accumulation of points so that I could travel as a king on my personal time, but on a beer budget. That is why I have enjoyed reading your site all these years (for instance, trading 12 weeks of stays at the Marriott Des Moines for a week at the Ritz in Tokyo). For reviews of hotels that cater to the very well heeled, I can read the Rob Roy report (or the current digital equivalent).

Thanks Ben. Does Ford have Marriott status, and could that have played a role in the suite upgrade? In any case, I think your readers are all curious whether Bulgari offers upgrades to elites despite not having to - for example, Ritz Millennia Singapore has given me suite upgrades numerous times despite not officially participating in Marriott Bonvoy. It’s disappointing that we don’t get a good impression of that because you used the travel advisor rate, though if using the travel advisor rate is the only reason that you reviewed the hotel, then it’s still worth it on the whole.

Obviously it's somewhat subjective, but I pretty strongly disagree with the idea that this is a good location. I guess if you're solely interested in being close to the major tourist sites near there (mainly the Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower), it could be an ok location. But you're still relatively far from the center of Paris where most of the main attractions are (the Louvre, Notre Dame, Musee D'Orsay, the Marais, and the Latin Quarter), and the neighborhood is soulless and pretty dead.

Anyway, as a Parisian, I would never recommend someone to stay in the Golden Triangle or really anywhere close to the Champs Elysees unless they are dead set on staying in one of the ultra luxury hotels around there. Much better to stay somewhere closer to the center of the city or in a neighborhood with actual life.

This specific trip report series is very useful for people who want and can afford to drop $10k on 3 nights in Paris.

or in Milan

Even though it should.

It looks like it's in Milan, and it's ultra-luxury. Way better than a pretend parisian 1930s hotel. Feeling like you're in Milan is way better, and not too bad when you're in paris lol.