Review: Park Hyatt Paris Vendome

For our four nights in Paris we booked the Park Hyatt Vendome using points. This is typically considered to be one of the most aspirational points properties out there, and I hadn’t yet stayed there.

The Park Hyatt is a Category 7 World of Hyatt property, meaning that a free night redemption here costs 30,000 World of Hyatt points per night. Since I’m a Globalist member I could use a Globalist Suite Upgrade to confirm an upgrade at the time of booking. This was an excellent use of points compared to the paid rate of about $800 per night for a standard room.

What makes this redemption so accessible for many is that World of Hyatt is a Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner, so that’s an easy way to acquire World of Hyatt points.

The Park Hyatt’s exterior is beautiful, but then again, just about all architecture in Paris is, so that doesn’t set it apart that much. 😉

Park Hyatt Paris exterior

Park Hyatt Paris Vendome exterior

At the door to the hotel the bellmen helped with our bags and escorted us to reception. The main part of the lobby is along a hallway that goes pretty deep into the hotel. The desk inside the entrance is just the concierge desk.

Park Hyatt Paris entryway

Park Hyatt Paris lobby

There are a couple of small sitting areas along this hallway, though the main public spaces are the lobby lounge, bar and restaurant, which I’ll talk about in more detail in a bit.

Park Hyatt Paris lobby seating

Park Hyatt Paris lobby seating

Reception was located towards the end of the hall, near a bunch of pillars, and there were three separate check-in podiums.

Park Hyatt Paris lobby

The check-in process was efficient and professional — it only took a couple of minutes, yet we were familiarized with all the basics of the hotel, as well as the Globalist privileges we would receive. While we were confirmed into a Park Suite we received a further upgrade to a renovated Prestige Suite. I suspect this is because the hotel was sold out, in which case they often have to move room assignments around. It’s sort of like an operational upgrade on a plane, when cabin is booked out and they need to upgrade someone.

Park Hyatt Paris reception

We were escorted up to our room by the front office employee. The elevators are right next to reception, and our room was on the second floor.

Park Hyatt Paris elevators

Our room, #241, was towards the end of the hallway. As we walked down the hall I picked up on the Park Hyatt’s very nice signature scent, which Matt has written about.

Park Hyatt Paris hallway

Park Hyatt Paris room exterior

Park Hyatt Paris floorplan

WOW, this suite was beautiful. The hallway inside the entrance led to the living room, with the entrance to the bathrooms on both the left and right side.

Park Hyatt Paris prestige suite entryway

The living room was large, and featured two couches and a chair around a center table, as well as a desk near the door to the bedroom.

Park Hyatt Paris suite living room

Park Hyatt Paris suite living room

The desk had several outlets, including USB outlets and also international outlets, which is thoughtful.

Park Hyatt Paris suite desk

On the living room table was a welcome amenity consisting of a bottle of wine, some mixed nuts, and some cheese.

Park Hyatt Paris welcome amenity

To the right of the desk was a Nespresso machine as well as the minibar.

Park Hyatt Paris suite Nespresso machine

Park Hyatt Paris suite minibar

Then the door next to the desk led into the bedroom, which had a comfortable king size bed. My one complaint with the bed is that I wish the pillows would have been bigger.

Park Hyatt Paris suite bedroom

The bedroom had a second desk with a chair, as well as a chair with a legrest next to it, in the corner.

Park Hyatt Paris suite bedroom

The room had two bathrooms, which is how you know you’re in a nice suite. The bathroom next to the bedroom was the larger of the two.

Park Hyatt Paris suite bathroom

Park Hyatt Paris suite bathroom

It had a sink, toilet, and shower compound.

Park Hyatt Paris suite sink

Park Hyatt Paris suite toilet

The shower had both a bathtub and a walk-in shower with a sink and mirror in it, so you can shave easily while showering (personally I don’t shave in the shower because I’m not coordinated enough to do that, but it’s something Ford appreciated).

Park Hyatt Paris suite shower

The second bathroom was across the hall, and featured a sink, toilet, and a smaller walk-in shower.

Park Hyatt Paris suite second bathroom

Park Hyatt Paris suite second toilet

Park Hyatt Paris suite second shower

Toiletries in both showers were branded after the hotel’s address. I’m not sure who exactly makes them, but I loved the scents.

Park Hyatt Paris 5 rue de la Paix toiletries

Both bathrooms also had boxes with all kinds of toiletries. It’s always nice to have these handy, rather than having to call down to request individual items.

Park Hyatt Paris toiletries

Our room had a small balcony that extended the length of the room.

Park Hyatt Paris suite view

Park Hyatt Paris suite view

Funny story. One afternoon we tried to take a nap due to jetlag. We had just gotten back to the hotel, and 10 minutes after getting in bed we thought the traffic seemed awfully loud. It kept getting louder. After about 10 minutes I got up and looked, only to find a massive protest (or something) had shut down the street. #Paris

Protest in Paris

Protest in Paris

Protest in Paris

Overall I thought the room was fantastic. That’s not just because we got a great upgrade, but because I think the hotel did a thoughtful job with their renovation. Many hotels renovate and completely lose their charm, while I think the Park Hyatt did a brilliant job — everything in the room was in immaculate condition and modern, yet maintained a classic feel. There aren’t many hotels that can achieve such a good balance when renovating. For example, Nick has written about a classic Fairmont that had a bit of a botched renovation.

Now that I look at the pictures of our Park Hyatt Suite, I think they don’t even do justice to just how beautiful the room was. I was expecting that this hotel would be nice for a points hotel, but in reality I found it to be objectively nice for any five star hotel. Anyway, color me impressed.

One of the things to really look forward to at the Park Hyatt Paris as a Globalist member is breakfast. This is included either in the restaurant on the lobby level, or via room service. Our first morning we ordered room service, though on subsequent mornings we went to the restaurant for breakfast.

The room service breakfast menu read as follows:

As a Globalist member you receive the American breakfast, which retails for 110EUR for two (though you pay nothing, not even a delivery charge). I both love and hate food in Paris. I end up eating so much stuff I don’t need to eat, but at the same time, damnit, it’s worth the calories, because it tastes so good. The breakfast was exceptional, between the fresh fruit, the high quality eggs, the cappuccino, and the breadbasket.

Park Hyatt Paris Globalist room service breakfast

Park Hyatt Paris Globalist room service breakfast

On subsequent mornings we had breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant, located off the lobby. Breakfast is served daily here from 7AM until 10:30AM. The restaurant where breakfast is served is so beautiful, including the interesting mirror display behind the buffet, as well as the glass ceiling.

Park Hyatt Paris breakfast restaurant

Park Hyatt Paris breakfast restaurant

Park Hyatt Paris breakfast restaurant

Park Hyatt Paris breakfast restaurant

The restaurant breakfast menu read as follows:

The Globalist breakfast here is also the American breakfast option, which includes anything from the buffet, as well as your choice of eggs with two accompaniments. Instead of the eggs you can also order pancakes or waffles, if you prefer.

Park Hyatt Paris Vendome breakfast buffet

The buffet itself was high quality but not huge, which is exactly what I’d expect it to be. It included all kinds of tasty carbs, fresh fruit, cold cuts, cheese, cereal, yogurt, and more. I’ll let the pictures speak mostly for themselves.

Park Hyatt Paris Vendome breakfast buffet

Park Hyatt Paris Vendome breakfast buffet

Park Hyatt Paris Vendome breakfast buffet

Park Hyatt Paris Vendome breakfast buffet

Park Hyatt Paris Vendome breakfast buffet

Park Hyatt Paris Vendome breakfast buffet

Park Hyatt Paris Vendome breakfast buffet

Park Hyatt Paris Vendome breakfast buffet

Park Hyatt Paris Vendome breakfast buffet

Park Hyatt Paris Vendome breakfast buffet

Park Hyatt Paris Vendome breakfast buffet

Park Hyatt Paris Vendome breakfast buffet

The fruit was excellent — mango, pineapple, and strawberry are among my favorite fruit, and the buffet had all three.

Park Hyatt Paris Vendome breakfast — fresh fruit

One morning I had a salmon and avocado omelet — yum!

Park Hyatt Paris Vendome breakfast — salmon and cheese omelet with avocado

Ford had scrambled eggs each morning.

Park Hyatt Paris Vendome breakfast — omelet

By our last morning I decided to mix it up, and ordered pancakes.

Park Hyatt Paris Vendome breakfast — pancakes

We were presented with a check each morning to sign, though the entire amount was deducted at check-out.

Park Hyatt Paris Vendome breakfast — breakfast bill

Right next to the restaurant was the lobby lounge, which consisted of two main sitting areas around a fireplace.

Park Hyatt Paris lobby lounge

Park Hyatt Paris lobby lounge

Park Hyatt Paris lobby lounge

Then in the back corner of the lobby lounge was the entrance to the hotel’s bar.

Park Hyatt Paris lobby bar

Park Hyatt Paris lobby bar

Next to all of this was the courtyard. The weather was perfect when we were in Paris, so this was a great place to grab a drink before dinner.

Park Hyatt Paris courtyard

Park Hyatt Paris courtyard

While the drinks weren’t cheap, at least they came with good snacks. 😉

Park Hyatt Paris courtyard drinks & snacks

The hotel’s other feature is the spa and gym, located on level -1. While the gym had good equipment, it was on the small side, and also had no natural light. I’d say the gym was my one (very small) disappointment with the hotel.

Park Hyatt Paris gym

Park Hyatt Paris gym

Park Hyatt Paris gym — bottled water and apples

There are two other things I want to discuss about the Park Hyatt — the location and the service.

I’m no expert on Paris, though I thought the Park Hyatt had a perfect location. Last year we stayed at the Shangri-La, which has incredible Eiffel Tower views, but the downside is that we couldn’t really walk to most places we wanted to visit. The Park Hyatt’s location is ideal, as far as I’m concerned, as we were within walking distance of most of the places we wanted to go.

Lastly I wanted to mention how great the service at this hotel was. Across the board I found the service to be exceptional. I find service in Paris can be hit-or-miss, though without exception I found every employee at the Park Hyatt that we interacted with to be professional yet personable. Ford had emailed the concierge a few times about meal reservations, and he commented to me how good the concierge was, that he always heard back within a couple of hours.

I had nothing but great service in the restaurant and from the front office staff. By the second morning they had remembered our drink orders at breakfast, and we were proactively offered coffee refills, rather than having to flag someone down for them.

I was even impressed by their attention to detail when they sent us a letter confirming dinner reservations. It’s not like I’m offended when it says “Mr. and Mrs.” (as I’m used to), but it’s still really nice when they pay enough attention to customize a letter like they did.

Impressive attention to detail!

When we checked out the guest relations manager greeted me and thanked me for being a Globalist member, and she asked a question that I think more people in hospitality should ask. She didn’t ask “how was everything?” or “did you enjoy your stay?”

Instead she said “what can we do to improve?” That’s a great question to ask, in my opinion. While I’d almost always have a list of things that can be done to improve (after all, no hotel is perfect), I was sort of at a loss for words, since our stay was so perfect.

Park Hyatt Paris bottom line

The Park Hyatt Paris so greatly exceeded my expectations. I was expecting it would be a nice luxury hotel for a points hotel, but in reality I found this to be a great luxury hotel far beyond that.

There are two things I love. First of all, stays like this really make you feel a sense of loyalty to a program again. As much as I’ve been tough on World of Hyatt at times, this stay made me love the program even more. When you’re able to not only redeem points at this hotel, but also confirm a suite upgrade and get a free, amazing breakfast, that’s pretty awesome.

But then the hotel as such really impressed me as well, between the beautiful decor, exceptional service, and great location. I can’t recommend this hotel enough.