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What a dichotomy. There was significant hype around the 4 year renovation project of Hotel de Crillon, but for once it lived up to it. What a superb hotel in almost every regard. The design was just spot on, with a beautiful blend of old and new. Every detail was clearly thought through to give them an edge over their competition; just the focus on in room amenities and toiletries reveals that, but every other area of the hotel is simply wonderful, from the bar, to the pool, courtyard and lounge. I rarely see a presidential suite worth paying for, but after some long negotiation and maybe for a truly special occasion, I'd consider it here. The downside was my normal nemesis in food, although it fared a lot better than most: we had a wonderful dinner and breakfast, but followed it up with a rather substandard lunch, only saved by the pastry chef being a gift from god. Definitely worth the hype and I would definitely return.

The Ritz, on the other hand, felt like it had already past its best before date. I feel it exists in the realm of properties like Burj al Arab in that the desire to stay is more a box ticking exercise, but one that you know will leave you disappointed. The only one who gained were the hotel accountants. There is a complete lack of value for money here, ranging all the way from the obscene €76 for a caesar salad, to €40 for a coffee, to €48 for a club sandwich which tasted worse than a packaged one from Pret, to €25 to watch Die Hard. It is all well and good charging obscene fees, but you then have to deliver on them and The Ritz only delivered bad news. Even the free breakfast felt like a rip off.

Housekeeping must have been on strike, as we had a spiders web by the side of our bed, dust everywhere and the terrace uncleaned during our stay. The spa was absolutely packed and the pool truly the busiest I've ever seen in a hotel (whereas at Crillon it was empty the entire time), the room completely lacked any resemblance of blackouts and even lacked a door to punish the eyes even more, half the hotel feels like a shopping mall and just to emphasis it, I will repeat once again how bad the food was. I already knew that I did not like the design, so normally I would forgive it, but I just cannot. Those golden swans will haunt my dreams until the day I die. There was clearly a lot of money spent here, but it could have been better spent by giving it to charity. It was one of those properties that the more time I spent there, the less I liked it.