French “Palace” Hotel Status Updates: Three Losers, Five(ish) Winners

Hotels take a lot of liberties with how they market themselves, and the categories they put themselves into (“five-star,” “boutique,” etc.). While it has geographic limitations, arguably the most prestigious “official” hotel distinction in the world is that of “Palace” status in France.

For the first time in roughly six years, we’ll see updates to the list of these hotels. This also includes hotels having their status taken away, which is the first time in history that we’ve seen that happen (thanks to Ralph for flagging this).

Basics of the France “Palace” hotel concept

France is known for luxury and gastronomy, and by connection, some amazing hotels. This is where France’s Palace distinction for hotels kicks in. Since 2010, Atout France (France’s official tourism development agency) has been awarding certain hotels Palace status.

This is a much higher honor than being a five-star hotel, as there are currently only 31 hotels in France with this distinction. Note that a French hotel having Palace distinction doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s in a former palace (though several properties are). Rather, it’s intended to describe just how grand these properties are, and that they excel at all criteria being judged, including service, gastronomy, etc.

This program is intended to encourage hotels to be their best, all while increasing the profile of these properties on the international scene. I know many Francophiles go out of their way to stay at Palace properties, and for good reason.

I’ve written in the past about the 31 current Palace hotels, so check out that post for more background.

France “Palace” hotel changes coming on June 2, 2026

France’s Palace hotel list was last updated in 2019, so we’ve known that we’ve been due for an update. While the list is supposed to be updated every few years, there was a bit of a gap during the pandemic, given how hotels modified their service for some amount of time.

French paper Le Figaro now provides an interesting update, which is that the new list of Palace hotels will be announced on June 2, 2026. This isn’t a one-time award, but instead, hotels have to renew their Palace distinction with each cycle.

First, the expectation is that three hotels will lose their Palace distinction, which is the first time that hotels will have this honor taken away from them. According to the report, the three hotels that will lose their status are the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme, Mandarin Oriental Paris, and Hotel du Palais Biarritz (Hyatt Unbound Collection).

Suffice it to say that this is really rough for Hyatt, with two of the three hotels belonging to the chain:

• The Park Hyatt Paris is a great points property, but there’s no denying it hasn’t really kept up with the competition in the past decade; maybe this is the push they need to finally renovate
• Hotel Biarritz is a charming property that I very much enjoyed staying at, but yeah, it’s probably not quite to the top French hospitality standard nowadays
• I haven’t stayed at the Mandarin Oriental Paris, but that seems like a pretty rough loss

The expectation is that a “handful” of new hotels will receive Palace distinction, but it’s not yet clear what those are… we’ll have to wait a couple more weeks. A few thoughts and guesses here:

• The Ritz Paris is one of the most iconic hotels in the city, but hasn’t actually been awarded Palace distinction until now, due to a variety of factors (including the impacts of a fire back in 2016); could that finally change this time around?
• Sticking to Paris, Bulgari Paris and Cheval Blanc Paris have both opened since the last round of Palace distinctions were awarded, so I could see one or both of them qualifying
• Airelles is probably my favorite hotel group in the world, and both Airelles Val d’Isère and Airelles Château de Versailles don’t yet have Palace distinction, as they opened since the last round of awards, but seem like they should qualify
• There’s also talk of Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa possibly getting the distinction, as it’s another very well regarded property

So it’s anyone’s guess how this plays out, but I’d be surprised if at least a few of the above don’t get awarded this time around.

Bottom line

On June 2, 2026, Atout France is expected to announce an updated list of “Palace” hotels. Media reports suggest that three hotels will lose their status, including two Hyatts and one Mandarin Oriental. Meanwhile a handful of hotels are expected to be added to the list.

Palace distinction is about as prestigious as it gets in the hotel industry, so this is a big loss for the hotels that are losing the recognition, and a big win for those that are gaining it. Hopefully this causes the Park Hyatt Paris and Hotel du Palais Biarritz owners to invest a bit in their properties, in hopes of regaining the status.

What are you expecting from these Palace hotel updates?