Hôtel Ritz Paris

César Ritz engaged the architect Charles Mewès to update the original structure of 1705. Lady de Grey, the Duke and Duchess de Rohan, Calouste Gulbenkian and Marcel Proust attended the inauguration in 1898. The hotel says it was then the first luxury hotel in the world with electricity on every floor, and it offered rooms with private bathrooms; Auguste Escoffier was its first chef. The building was extended in 1910; after César Ritz's death in 1918 his son Charles Ritz succeeded him. Proust, a regular from the early days, favoured a spot near the fireplace in the lobby, Marguerite Duras was among the other writers who frequented the hotel, and Coco Chanel made it her home for decades.

César Ritz wished to 'serve the world's most exacting women' and devised details for their comfort: a grand staircase for descending gracefully in evening gowns, little hooks beneath the armchairs for handbags, lamp shades lined in apricot-pink silk. The tulip lamp was designed in 1898 from one of his ideas. Marie-Louise Ritz is remembered by the hotel as a decorator with a rare feel for colour and light, and 78 colours were created exclusively for the rooms and suites, a chart now protected by copyright.

The hotel closed for the first time in its history on 1 August 2012 for an extensive restoration. A major fire broke out in the roof on 19 January 2016, and the hotel reopened on 6 June 2016 after four years of work. The architect Thierry Despont was asked to improve the building while staying true to its character; he raised ceilings and added windows in places and installed a retractable glass roof above the Espadon restaurant. Today the MICHELIN Guide gives the hotel three Keys.

The word 'ritzy' comes from César Ritz's name and those of his hotels, and the Ritz-Carlton brand also traces its story to him, through his management of the Ritz in Paris and the Carlton Hotel in London. The Ritz Paris, however, is not associated with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, today a subsidiary of Marriott International; it joined The Leading Hotels of the World instead.

The address is 15 Place Vendôme, in the 1st arrondissement. The hotel comprises two buildings, Vendôme and Cambon, with rooms overlooking the square. Charles de Gaulle Airport lies 25 km away and Orly 23 km.

The Grand Jardin is a formal French garden in green and white, planted with lime trees, boxwood parterres, magnolias, white roses and jasmine. A trellis gallery provides alcoves and shaded corners for coffee or tea. In 1904 and 1908 the Swiss painter Pierre-Georges Jeanniot painted the Ritz garden café.

Every room is individually decorated, and bathrooms carry swan taps and peach-coloured towels and robes. Above each bath hangs the original Valet & Maid bell, used since 1898 to call for service. The Superior Room, 35 m² for two, has a marble bathroom, a desk and a reading corner, and a king-size bed or twin beds on request. The Executive Room, at 40 m², has both a shower and a bath.

The Deluxe Room, at 45 m², sleeps up to three. So does the Grand Deluxe Room, at 55 m², where a small salon is arranged around a marble fireplace and the dressing room has gold-leaf finishes. Among the junior suites, the Executive Junior Suite has a lounge area and a separate walk-in closet, and the Deluxe Junior Suite a defined living area. The Executive Suite has a separate living room, and the Deluxe Suite looks onto the Grand Jardin.

The Prestige Suites take the names of famous guests and residents, among them F. Scott Fitzgerald, Frédéric Chopin and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and the hotel describes them as a world of 18th-century panelling, allegorical ceilings, old masters and antique furniture. The Suite Chopin has a grand piano, and its painted ceiling is a listed monument in its own right. The Suite Opéra has a view of the Opéra Garnier, the Suite Mansart a view of the Eiffel Tower and a private terrace, the Suite Ernest Hemingway a terrace, and the Suite Charlie Chaplin a view over Place Vendôme.

The Suite Coco Chanel, with two bedrooms, is designed to evoke Chanel's apartment at 31 rue Cambon, and Coromandel lacquers feature in its décor. The Suite Windsor has a private lift. L'Appartement Ritz occupies the entire seventh floor, with its own kitchen and terrace; the Suite F. Scott Fitzgerald has a hammam, and the Suite Maria Callas, on the sixth floor, four balconies.

Charles Ritz established L'Espadon in 1956, naming it after the swordfish. Today it is the gastronomic dining room of chef Eugénie Béziat, awarded one Michelin star in March 2024 and three Ecotable macarons in February 2024. Menus of three, five or seven sequences change with the seasons and favour local produce, with herbs and edible flowers from the hotel's aromatic garden and vegetables from its kitchen garden in Versailles. The dining room plays on copper tones beneath a crystal-leaf ceiling light depicting an imaginary herbarium; at its entrance, large bay windows look into the open kitchen, and the tree-lined terrace overlooks the Grand Jardin. Espadon opens Tuesday to Saturday, 18:30–21:30.

Executive Chef Jérôme Legras, in post since 2019, oversees some sixty cooks and every kitchen in the hotel except Espadon's. Pastry Chef Olivier Lainé, formerly a teaching chef at the École Ritz Escoffier, took over in January 2026 and oversees six pastry menus, from breakfast to banquets. His Tea Time à la Française is served daily, 13:00–19:00, in Salon Proust: a savoury course, a savoury-sweet bridge, then seasonal and signature pastries. From 18:00 the salon becomes a Champagne bar. Le Grand Brunch is served on Sundays, 11:45–14:30, and Florian Guilloteau has been Head Sommelier and Director of Sommellerie since June 2022.

Bar Hemingway, the writer's favourite bar and the claimed birthplace of the Bloody Mary, keeps 25 seats and no music, only the sound of ice and conversation. Among its best-known cocktails are the Serendipity, created at the bar, and the Dry Martini; it opens daily 17:00–00:00 without reservation, with tapas 17:30–22:30. The Ritz Bar, where Director of Mixology Romain de Courcy presents his creations, opens Tuesday to Saturday, 17:00–23:30, without reservation. Bar Vendôme, the hotel's brasserie, serves breakfast, then a resolutely Parisian lunch or dinner of revisited classics, beneath its great glass roof; it opens daily 09:00–00:00, its terrace 12:00–22:00 without reservation, with 'Live at the Ritz' evenings on Wednesdays from 20:00.

The pool of the Ritz Club & Spa took its inspiration from the baths of Ancient Greece and Rome. A mosaic in the pool depicts two mermaids dancing, a celestial trompe-l'œil fresco is painted overhead, and the water is heated to 30°C, with music played underwater. Pool, sauna and hammam open daily 07:00–22:00; the spa itself runs 09:00–20:00 by reservation, offering La Prairie treatments in rooms named after the flowers of women from the hotel's history, among them Iris for Colette and Rose for Ingrid Bergman.

Three fitness rooms, two of them private, hold high-tech equipment, and hotel residents can use the fitness room at any hour. The David Mallett hair salon opens Monday to Saturday, 09:00–19:00. The Nail Bar was created with Kure Bazaar, and an exclusive polish named 'Ritzy' was launched for its opening. The Floral Bar serves floral cocktails and detox juices.

Breakfast is optional, with a choice of American, Japanese or detox menus, served 07:00–11:00 in Salon Marie-Louise or in the room. A concierge service is at guests' disposal, and arrival and departure times can be made flexible when requested at booking.

Children are admitted to the pool only for private lessons, from the age of five and by appointment, with dedicated children's hours on Wednesdays 13:00–18:00 and at weekends 08:00–13:00.