When César Ritz opened his hotel on Place Vendôme in June 1898 — with Auguste Escoffier in the kitchens — he introduced ideas that now define luxury hospitality worldwide: en-suite bathrooms in every room, electric lighting, telephones, and a staff trained to anticipate rather than react. The English language absorbed the result: ritzy.
The 2012–2016 restoration
The hotel closed for four years and reopened in June 2016 after one of the most ambitious hotel restorations ever attempted in Europe. Room count dropped from 159 to 142 to create larger suites; the Grand Jardin was replanted; and every stucco moulding, parquet panel and Louis XV chair was catalogued, removed, restored and returned. Crucially, nothing looks new. The house feels like a great private residence that has simply been very well kept.
Rooms and suites
142 keys, including 71 suites — the highest suite ratio of the five hotels in this guide. Interiors are in the eighteenth-century French taste: pale blue, celadon and powder pink silks, marble fireplaces, canopied beds and unlacquered brass swan-neck taps in the bathrooms. Fifteen Prestige Suites are named for figures who lived here: Coco Chanel, Marcel Proust, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Windsor, Vendôme.
- Superior Room — 30 m², courtyard aspect, marble bathroom.
- Deluxe Room — 35–40 m², garden or Vendôme outlook.
- Executive Suite — 55–70 m², separate salon.
- Prestige Suite — 80–150 m², individually themed and named.
- Suite Impériale — classified as a national monument by the French State.
Bars, dining and the garden
Bar Hemingway, under head barman Colin Field, is regularly named among the best bars in the world: twenty-five seats, no music, and a cocktail list built on conversation. Ritz Bar is the livelier alternative. Dining centres on Table de L'Espadon, holder of one MICHELIN star, while Bar Vendôme serves all day beneath a retractable glass roof and spills into the 2,000 m² Grand Jardin in summer — the largest hotel garden in central Paris and a genuine luxury in the 1st arrondissement.
Bar Hemingway does not take reservations. Arrive at 18:00 on a weekday; by 19:00 the queue along the Rue Cambon corridor is real.
Ritz Club, spa and school
The Ritz Club occupies the lower ground floor: a Michelangelo-frescoed swimming pool, hammam, sauna, gym and the Chanel au Ritz Paris spa — the only permanent Chanel spa in the world. Upstairs, the École Ritz Escoffier runs half-day and full-day cookery and pâtisserie classes open to non-residents, a rarity among Paris palaces and one of the best-value luxury experiences in the city.
Key facilities at a glance
| Facility | Detail | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurants | Table de L'Espadon, Bar Vendôme, Ritz Garden | One MICHELIN star |
| Bars | Bar Hemingway, Ritz Bar | No reservations at Hemingway |
| Spa | Chanel au Ritz Paris | Only permanent Chanel spa worldwide |
| Pool | Ritz Club indoor pool | Frescoed ceiling, poolside dining |
| Garden | Grand Jardin, 2,000 m² | Largest central Paris hotel garden |
| School | École Ritz Escoffier | Classes open to non-guests |
| Shopping | Place Vendôme jewellers at the door | Cartier, Boucheron, Van Cleef & Arpels |
Pricing and value
The Ritz carries the highest lead-in rate of the five, opening near €1,800 and frequently exceeding €2,900 in high season. Prestige Suites begin around €5,500. Value is easier to find sideways: a cookery class, a poolside afternoon or a drink at Bar Hemingway delivers much of the experience for a fraction of the room rate.
Strengths
- The most storied hotel name in the world, credibly restored
- Highest suite ratio of the Paris palaces
- Bar Hemingway and the Ritz Club pool
- The only permanent Chanel spa anywhere
- A 2,000 m² private garden in the 1st arrondissement
Considerations
- The highest entry rates in this guide
- Place Vendôme draws heavy pedestrian and photographic traffic
- Décor is resolutely classical — not for modernists
- Bar Hemingway queues can be long
Our verdict
The Ritz is not merely a hotel; it is the reference point against which the others are still measured. Choose it for the history, the garden and the suites — and accept that you are paying a premium for a name that earned it more than a century ago and has been careful never to spend it carelessly.