richarddd

We go from a 9 minute walk to a 16 minute walk, which somewhat cuts down on the spontaneity of "let's browse the Louvre for a bit", but is not all that bad.

La Reserve at 25 minutes is starting to be a noticeable distance. Le Bristol is about the same. Too bad Grand Hôtel du Palais Royal doesn't have better rooms.

EDIT: the service issues reported at the Crillon in 4 night stay in a suite at Hôtel de Crillon, Paris seem worse than the ones I noted above.

Fc912

I stayed at the Crillon twice this year and found the service to be quite good (butler team exceptional). I think I posted a brief review in the previous Paris hotel thread. Tried Cheval Blanc this time because it’s shiny and new but will likely return to the Crillon next time I’m in Paris.

Pausanias

There was an excellent documentary about the FS George V shown last night on Channel 5 in the UK. Some useful historical background, especially during the WWII period, and fascinating footage and photos of the recent rebuild. Plus access to various suites, the restaurants, amazing wine cellar, the floristry department and the private roof garden where The Beatles were famously photographed. Worth searching out.

sophialite

Staying at the Cheval Blanc now. Some thoughts:

+ Clearly no expense spared.
+ Clearly a grand hotel
+ Attention to detail is absurd
+ Very generous with free stuff

- Sound insulation from the street isn't great
- A lot of room electronics don't make sense:
a) There's no way to turn off the bathroom light without turning out the lights for the whole room
b) When the dimmer is used with the lights, they make a barely perceptible but irritating whine
- It's a place to see and be seen, but that's truly irritating. I love staying at a hotel where I can drop by the lounge or library or breakfast/restaurant with my hair down and relax. Every space at the CB is so grand that the spotlight is on you wherever you go, and breakfast is filled with people dressed to the nines. Makes what should be a relaxing stay somewhat stressful
- Room designs are thoroughly unimaginative and generic. This could be a room in any city, and the layout is akin to many other hotels I've stayed at in the world. What the hotel invested in glitz the hotel lacks in soul. It's as if Bernard Arnault tapped into the culture mileau of an over-gelled, over cologned-man wrapped head-to-toe in Louis Vuitton.
- Some service mishaps. When I checked in I asked for shaving cream and they forgot to bring it to my room.
- Toto toilet is good, but they really should use a neorest at this level. The bidet water loses its warmth in a minute!
- Back to electronics... only EU plug ports. And old USB ports. This hotel was built yesterday... they couldn't do USB-C?

I'll be headed back to La Reserve for my next stay. Far more discreet, but service is superlative and getting cos d'estournel by the glass tickles me silly. Also the courtyard is splendid in summer

Aventine

They seemed to have a missed a few details there.

sophialite

Yeah they remembered to make the pen pads and body moisturizers shaped like the building. Ok cool…

But the light switches are slightly illuminated just around the edges, making it impossible to see what they mean in the dark. Clearly, trying to light the symbol on the button would have been the right move. The upshot is that when I wake up I’m clumsily pressing a few buttons to get the result I need because I can’t read them in the dark.

things like that

Aventine

The lack of soundproofing was the major one for me. It's obvious that the architects or designers would never have to stay in their own room.

sophialite

I’m a little sympathetic to that one. The developers could do only so much with the building. And it’s compounded by the fact that the area can be very crowded.

all in all, left this morning. Have zero desire to return to the hotel except for the Dior Spa, where I had an amazing facial.

Pierre&Cédric

Bulgari Paris will open on December 2nd, jut opposite to FSGV.
Choice is more and more difficult

sophialite

I might actually be down to try the Bvlgari hotel. Not a huge fan of the brand but have always found the designs to be interesting.

vuittonsofstyle

This was not a documentary. This was marketing, which rather surprised me, as I did not expect FSGV to follow the dubious trend these days of hotel hyping and naming past guests.

Pausanias

Well, it certainly wasn't a Panorama investigation into bed lice at French hotels. But as a profile of a hotel with a great and glamorous history I thought it did the job very well. As for past guests, I wonder if ABBA remember us as the guests who checked in just ahead of them back in 1979 . . .

offerendum

In this Splendido Portofino is the king with half of the walls containing of pictures of former guests. Never saw so many pictures, second comes Grand Hotel du Cap Ferrat. But it's different to show it inside a hotel than in a TV show. I never saw a good documentation about the present time of a hotel and I think the reason is quite simple: Most people who watch it are not the peer group.

Pausanias

As Charity Hope Valentine said, "That's me!"

vuittonsofstyle

If it were a factual documentary, then they would have mentioned the fact that Charles Forte used to manage the hotel before FS. The Beatles stayed during this period. I also noted that a couple of important high-ranking staff remained silent, such as flower-guru, Jeff Leatham and Executive Chef, Christian le Squer. They also failed to mention how many of the hotel's original antiques were auctioned off when FS took over and how this is now the second major refurbishment/renovation since FS took over. I suppose you have to expect this sort of thing from 'reality TV' which rarely seems to have anything to do with reality.