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).
In this post:
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?
New list went out last Tuesday
Several surprises!
I'm not surprised by the PH Vendome downgrade. I have spent countless nights there, and always wondered why it had the palace label. The lobby/bar/reception areas are a time warp to the 90s, although they renovated Pur very nicely. The rooms are also quite dated, although to be fair they are keeping them in great condition. And service is by no means palace level, except from a few senior employees (their senior guest managers are...
I'm not surprised by the PH Vendome downgrade. I have spent countless nights there, and always wondered why it had the palace label. The lobby/bar/reception areas are a time warp to the 90s, although they renovated Pur very nicely. The rooms are also quite dated, although to be fair they are keeping them in great condition. And service is by no means palace level, except from a few senior employees (their senior guest managers are fantastic but other than that it's a crapshoot). I hope this gives them some motivation to take things to the next level, because I developed a relationship with some of their staff over the years so I obviously have a soft spot for it.
Funnily enough, there's a documentary on Youtube from 2004, unrelated to the hotel but part of it is filmed in it, and it looks exactly the same as today.
I'm not surprised by the PH Vendome downgrade. I have spent countless nights there, and always wondered why it had the palace label. The lobby/bar/reception areas are a time warp to the 90s, although they renovated Pur very nicely. The rooms are also quite dated, although to be fair they are keeping them in great condition. And service is by no means palace level, except from a few senior employees (their senior guest managers are...
I'm not surprised by the PH Vendome downgrade. I have spent countless nights there, and always wondered why it had the palace label. The lobby/bar/reception areas are a time warp to the 90s, although they renovated Pur very nicely. The rooms are also quite dated, although to be fair they are keeping them in great condition. And service is by no means palace level, except from a few senior employees (their senior guest managers are fantastic but other than that it's a crapshoot). I hope this gives them some motivation to take things to the next level, because I developed a relationship with some of their staff over the years so I obviously have a soft spot for it.
Funnily enough, there's a documentary on Youtube from 2004, unrelated to the hotel but part of it is filmed in it, and it looks exactly the same as today.
I am in no way shocked by the proposed downgrades and I remain sceptical that any property would refuse the designation. The 'Palace' distinction should be carefully curated and reviewed to retain the cachet that it demands.
Hyatt fully deserves this since they have screwed their customers and mostly allowed their hotels to have declining standards. Buh bye.
If I can't smoke in the room, I don't care how many French accolades a place has. I'd rather be in a Motel 6.
Maybe it's time to grow a pair and give it up?
My impression has been MO generally over-expanding, and that service has been suffering in general at the brand for a couple of years now. Their re-design of the hotel Lutetia was unimpressive, although I've never stayed at the original MO Paris.
The Mandarin in Paris has absolutely ROTTEN service. All aspects of its operations. Same for the NYC property. They are expensive properties but they're not true luxury properties. Never again. How did Hyatt Paris get on the list in the first place?
Really? It’s been a few years (2022), but the MO at Columbus Circle in NYC seemed fine to me. Great views of Central Park. Amazing spa. How did they ‘wrong’ you?
It wasn't any single thing. It was the service across the board on nearly a dozen stays.
Wow me too. Which was shocking considering the other properties MO has are excellent
This is a big blow to Hyatt, which lacks a real true luxury brand. As a reminder a palace designation isn’t necessarily about a renovation or lack thereof. It’s about a hotel having the required amenities and operating standard. The chains struggle to compete at this level because they are constantly cutting costs.
Yeah, Hyatt was ‘golden-child’ while Marriott was Bonvoying us, but they, too, will soon be on the sh*t-list, because of this pending major devaluation… (sure, fine, some nice new PH in KUL, and a few gens in Europe, and I’ve got a sweet spot for Ventana Big Sur, but…)
At least IHG has Six Senses, some of which truly are exceptional. Zil Pasyon in Seychelles, Mahlolo Island in Fiji… they got good stuff.
None of the IHG hotels are at the palace level. Not even the Intercontinental Le Grand in Paris, which is one of the oldest hotels. Even Hyatt's best Park Hyatt properties are at best a Fairmont or JW Marriott.
None of the IHG hotels are at the palace level. Not even the Intercontinental Le Grand in Paris, which is one of the oldest hotels. Even Hyatt's best Park Hyatt properties are at best a Fairmont or JW Marriott.
PH Paris should have lost it a long time ago.
I can't believe the Ibis-CDG didn't make Ben's shortlist!
I’ve stayed at Cheval Blanc Paris; it is one of the best hotels in the world. It deserves this distinction, for sure. Plénitude deserves its 3 stars, too.
I’ve also stayed at Park Hyatt Paris (using points!), and am a fan of their restaurant PUR’, but it is no palace. Likewise, Hyatt Unbound should be removed from the list; what a joke!
And by Francophiles you mean rich American and Chinese tourists?
@ François -- In the context of hotels mostly retailing for $2K+ per night, that's fair/accurate...
Americans are a significant share of Palace guests (around 25%), but they are followed by French (20%), UK/Switzerland/Germany/Italy (25% together), and Middle East (15%)... China and Brazil remain below 5%.
Ben, we had a very recent meeting with the Ritz Paris team and we asked about the Palace designation. They actively do not want it (for a few reasons) and said they recently turned it down. I would be surprised to see them on the new list.
@ pstm91 -- I appreciate your thoughts. I'm not doubting what you're saying, but that's obviously an odd explanation. Any clue why a hotel wouldn't want such distinction? Not saying it's the case here, but that sounds like a statement you'd expect from a company that was judged but was found ineligible for an award ("we didn't want it anyway!").
Presumably there are consequences to receiving the distinction such as having to commit to certain staffing levels or being charged a higher city tourism tax.
We were just as surprised to hear them say it. I wish I could give you specifics but they all they told us is that they had turned down in the past and do not have interest in obtaining it. They were quite clear. It will be interesting to see when the update is released.
The Ritz already has its reputation and actually needs this less than the Palaces need the Ritz.
I would not be surprised to learn they consider Palaces to be beneath them.
In this kind of game it's the worst "palace" that benefits from the aura of the better ones, not the other way around.