I realized recently that I’ve spent over month of my life at each of the Park Hyatts in Paris, Maldives and Sydney. I focus on nice hotels where I can redeem points, and I very much enjoy familiarity away from home. It helps me relax more quickly, ‘knowing how everything works’ and knowing the neighborhood that I’m in even as I’ll travel far beyond that neighborhood when I’m staying in a major city (indeed, in Sydney my primary destination is the lower North Shore suburbs).
I don’t usually write formal trip reports, over and over each time, for hotels I’ve been to and reported on several times. Many travel bloggers will choose new places just for the content, while my writing tends to be about the things I see and learn organically.
However I was giving some thought to the Park Hyatt Vendome after my recent stay – why do I keep returning here?
- It isn’t the single best hotel in Paris, but it’s certainly one of the best you can stay at using points.
- It’s great value for a Hyatt top tier elite – confirmed suite upgrade, 4 p.m. late check-out, and complimentary room service breakfast (54 euro per person credit) or buffet in the restaurant.
- Very responsive staff, to every request. It’s no problem to ask for full housekeeping while I’m gone at dinner, and customize to ensure I receive six bottles of water in the room each evening complimentary. Whenever I speak to the desk, to room service, or to the concierge they thank me for calling and it doesn’t come across as perfunctory.
- There’s no real lobby to speak of – which means that, unlike many other hotels, this one isn’t populated so much by outside visitors. That helps give it a residential feel, and I’m more at ease the moment I walk in the door.
- I sleep really well. They have better blackout shades than almost any other hotel, so I’m able to sleep in – something I can’t really do anywhere else.
- Though many of the rooms are small, I love the large bathrooms, the great showers, and the Blaise Mautin toiletries as well as scent pumped into the hallways.
The property is far from perfect. As I mentioned, many of the rooms are small and though I’ve confirmed a suite in advance (with a suite upgrade certificate) on 75% of my stays I’ve only one time ever received separate living room from bedroom (Park Executive Suite, two categories above the base or junior suite) one time – a decade ago. Many rooms have a view of the hotel’s interior courtyard rather than the street (the end of hallway base suite does have a view of the Eiffel Tower… from the bathroom).
Hyatt’s points have let me stay at a property that charges north of $1,000 per night at times, in a suite, being well-treated and with one of the most opulent breakfasts – featuring great quality French pastries, outstanding preserves, and an endlessly-customizable set of yogurts, cereals or muesli, juices, eggs and sides like bacon, mushrooms, sausage, ham and spinach imaginable. So even as the points cost of the hotel keeps going up, I’ve continued to pay the price – even if I wouldn’t ever spend so much if I were paying cash.
In the end I am comfortable here, despite any imperfections. I’m comfortable as a creature of habit, which is also why I suppose I’ll usually have dinner a short walk away on my first night at L’Ardoise – reasonably-priced, good French comfort food that has way too many Americans because of its location right by the Westin but still delivers a consistent archetypal Paris experience every time. It was first recommended to me by the concierge at the Park Hyatt over a decade ago! And no one I’ve ever sent there with the proper expectations has been disappointed.
@ Gary — We’ve stayed at PH Paris maybe four times and at IC LeGrand maybe 12 times. At PH, our experience is similar to yours, although I do find that the hotel feels rather snobby (FCQ fits right in). At IC LeGrand, we get free Club with food and champagne all day, a very nice suite, and breakfast. We have grown to much prefer IC LeGrand since they have the Club and usually greet us with hugs. This is a great example of repeat travel. Our experience at IC LeGrand probably mirrors your experience at PH Paris.
“six bottles of water in the room each evening complimentary”
Sheesh. Maybe they should bolt a bulk water dispenser to your wall instead of the shampoo dispensers.
Just checked out last week after 5 glorious nights. Our first time there and while we didn’t get a separate living room, we did have a large separate living area and a massive outdoor terrace where we had cappuccino every morning. Loved everything about the hotel.
Park Hyatts are certainly very nice hotels. Using points I’ve stayed at 3 (Milan, Paris and Vienna). While they are certainly nice personally I don’t need anything that fancy. For whatever reasons (not based on any kind of high status) the Park Hyatt Milan gave us free breakfast for our entire stay. Sure it was nice but I’m a muffin, granola bar, or pastry type of breakfast person so other than the thought, it didn’t really register except wondering why anyone would pay $100 or whatever for breakfast.
If you got the money to burn go for it but if I was burning money I would use it for flying first class or something else I enjoy more.
In addition to the blackout curtains, you probably also sleep well because the PH Vendôme has the quietest rooms I’ve ever stayed in for a major city. The free Glob room service breakfast benefit is hard to beat anywhere.
@Robert – I’ve never had a terrace, either!
@calio I was thinking the same thing.
That is a lot of single use bottles wasted. It’s not a third world country where you can’t drink the tap water.
One of my favorite hotels we have ever stayed at. Years ago, after maybe our third stay, we convinced our three kids and their spouses to get the Hyatt Visa which came with two free nights. So they had four free nights there. We had gotten friendly with one of the front desk agents, told them our kids were coming and he took great care of them – even gave one free breakfast. As a college professor, that meant a whole lot as I remember breakfast then was 48 Euro pp! I have only wonderful memories of this amazing hotel.
I’d love to go back to Paris. Although I’ll be quite happy back at the Westin with a similar experience as before – large Jr Suite with view of the tower from open ‘French Doors’ and Room service Breakfast 🙂
We did join other Americans at your French restaurant around the corner 😉
My wife and I were upgraded to the executive suite just before Christmas – amazing. The rooms were going for 3300 Euros/night then and we had used less than 100K points for 4 nights! Lovely staff, great meals, and location location location.
We don’t want you yankee trash in paris. Stay away from la France ! Salauds!
Currently in Paris staying at our home in Herblay. I stayed at the Vendome years ago while having renovations completed. The hotel staff was amazing, the location was good for playing tourists.
@Francois – Stereotypical ignorant comments for the win.
Hotel is wonderful
If preserves are the number two breakfast item listed, must be a European hotel breakfast. I don’t care much or expect much of hotel breakfasts in Europe, same cucumbers and tomatoes, same yogurt and muesli, and so from from 3 star to 5 star. Spending two weeks mow at Radisson Blu Resort Maldives. There is a cereals corner of the buffet collecting dust.
I guess I’m just not a Park Hyatt type of person. I’ve stayed at a couple of Citidines, which have refrigerators and stoves. I go to a nearby grocery, get a liter of milk and some muesli and some blueberries, and make my own breakfast. But, I obviously don’t stay at Hyatts enough to get free nights or free breakfasts.