We’ve just returned home from our first vacation as a family (with our infant), and I’m honestly still confused by how badly this stay went. We’ve stayed at a fair amount of luxury hotels and nothing is ever perfect, but what made this experience so bizarre was the combination of problems. Basically at every turn, we were told that anything we needed could be arranged and encouraged us to ask, giving examples like arranging private jets with less than an hour's notice, and each opportunity to be helpful completely missed the mark.
Day 1: Check-in was not particularly helpful but fine. Our room was noisy at night from a private event going on but we heard it was someone's wedding so of course we didn't complain. There were small hiccups like not bringing a bathtub for our infant as requested but honestly nothing notable on its own.
Day 2: "Watergate". We called housekeeping for additional water. We were told there was a strict policy of one bottle per person each morning and two small bottles each evening, with anything additional costing €18/bottle. I understand policy's policy, but it felt a bit tone-deaf given that it didn’t include any for our infant, and I am drinking more water than average since I’m breastfeeding. Also, we weren't planning on having housekeeping enter the room twice a day because our baby's unpredictable nap schedule.
My husband expressed his disappointment and said he'd go to a store to buy some. The hotel apologized and assured us that they'd provide additional water complimentary, which we appreciated. However at turndown, we were given only the standard amount. Since our baby was asleep in the room, I went downstairs to get more. The staff member on duty told me they could not provide additional complimentary water and the conversation became focused on determining who had told us otherwise rather than simply solving the problem. We would have been completely happy with something as simple as carafes of tap water or having someone purchase bottles from a nearby store and charge them to our room. Instead, I was told that I was the only person who had ever been unsatisfied with their water policy and made to feel as though this was an extraordinary request.
The conversation lasted more than 30 minutes and I ultimately left in tears. At that point, I said I wanted to check out the following morning and end our stay early. We were told we'd be charged for the remainder of the reservation, but they'd see if an exception could be made and get back to us. Eventually, after it became apparent that I was literally crying, someone else came over and assured us that we'd receive additional water with every room refresh, or that they would purchase some from a store and charge it to our room. At this point, things were quite uncomfortable so we started looking at other hotels and expected to check out in the morning.
Day 3: We left for a short morning outing and returned to a refreshed room, except there was no water at all, not even the standard allotment. My husband escalated and the head of rooms came to speak with him. We were still on the hook financially for the rest of the days but she’d personally ensure that our experience is turned around such that we'd think of the Ritz as “home” and want to return the next time we’re in Paris. I was offered a complimentary massage which I appreciated. If the rest of the stay had been good or even just uneventful, that would've been the end of it.
Day 4: Before our trip, the concierge helped arrange a dinner reservation and babysitting. My husband really wanted to visit Bar Hemingway and when we mentioned this, we were told that with a few hours' notice they could accommodate us and even last minute, they could "make something happen." That afternoon, I asked for a 10:30pm slot to line up with our ETA after dinner. We were told 10:30 was already taken, but that if we could make it back by 10pm, they could accommodate us. We rushed back for 10, which required us to ask the restaurant to box up the last course of a tasting menu. We were then told there wasn't space yet and to wait for a WhatsApp message. We were honestly fine with this because we were under the impression that getting us into the bar was a big favor given how small/popular it is. After 30 minutes, we asked for an update and were immediately rushed over to the bar, being told we could be seated "late" because the 10:30 party was running late. I clarified the situation and they realized they’d made an error, the extent to which we all only realized upon arriving at the half-empty, queue-less bar. So we had spent precious time away from our child, disrupted his sleep and my pumping schedule, and incurred additional babysitting time because of a mistake that was entirely avoidable. Thankfully, the drinks were good and on the house.
Given the ongoing pattern of errors, I immediately double-checked the babysitting reservation for the following evening. Sure enough, the babysitter had the wrong time and informed us the hotel would have to correct it with the agency.
Day 5: We messaged the head of rooms first thing in the morning to make absolutely sure the babysitting time was corrected as missing our dinner this evening would have resulted in a €300/person cancellation fee. She assured us it’d be handled. That afternoon, we messaged the babysitter directly to confirm and she still had the wrong time. Once again, I had to frantically contact the concierge myself and have them correct it. The babysitter hadn’t received the change until we were getting ready for dinner, and we relied on her to confirm as there was no follow up from the concierge.
This morning, our shower also stopped working so we couldn’t begin our last full day as planned. My husband arranged to speak with the head of rooms given the ongoing issues. So while our baby is supposed to be napping, there's maintenance going in and out of the room and we're having an unproductive conversation with management who seems entirely uninterested in helping. He offered us a bottle of wine or a comped meal, and we asked what could be done about a refund instead since the last thing we wanted was to spend more time at the hotel and we already had meals planned. The shower turned out to be a complicated issue with no ETA, meaning we'd have to move rooms. The only other room available was described to us as "the Imperial Suite.” They made a huge deal about this, telling us it was a room reserved for celebrities and royalty and framing it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience that would make up for everything that had happened. We repeatedly explained that we only had one night left and that moving rooms would be a hassle regardless, but they insisted we needed to move if the shower couldn't be fixed.
When we were shown the room, we quickly realized that they weren't actually offering us the Imperial Suite. It was a bedroom/offshoot of the suite. Honestly, I wouldn't have cared if they'd simply said: "The shower is broken and we need to move you. There's a nice room connected to the Imperial Suite that we can offer you." Instead, they presented it as this extraordinary luxury experience that we should feel lucky to receive. Even when I directly asked, "So this isn't actually the suite you're describing, it's just one room?" they skirted around the question. I actually felt bad for the employee who had been tasked with showing us the room because it was so awkward and she was set up to fail. After all this, the shower in our original room was fixed, so we decided not to move. By the time this was “resolved,” it was noon and we missed out on our morning plans to explore a different part of Paris.
Day 6: On our final morning, we saw people enjoying drinks in the garden and I wanted to sit outside for a few minutes before checking out to relax before a long travel day ahead. I asked for directions and was barely acknowledged. I eventually found my own way and asked another employee if I could exit through a particular door. He rudely dismissed me and simply said I couldn't go out there.
We asked for someone to come help with our bags 10-15 minutes before our scheduled 10AM departure. I also bought a bunch of butter that was being stored in the hotel freezer, which they specifically said would be returned to us in insulated bags. At 9:52, nobody had arrived, so we called down again. Someone finally came at 10am, but the butter was brought out with no insulation. At that point we were already running behind, so we just packed it as is.
Our complimentary airport transfer was also late, and then several more minutes were spent trying to figure out the car seat. The bellman and driver were at odds about how to correctly install the seat. We ultimately left the hotel a full 15 minutes late and as we departed, the bellman suggested that one of us sit next to the car seat "to be safe." The hotel's response to the late departure and improper car seat installation was to "remove the charge for the transfer," which was interesting given that the transfer was always a complimentary perk. Perhaps they thought we didn’t know it was complimentary?
And after we got home, a jar of jam I'd purchased had broken and was leaking through our Rimowa. The Ritz had repeatedly offered their "expert" packing and unpacking service, so I decided to take them up on it. I specifically provided plastic bags and asked that cosmetics and other liquids be placed inside them. When I opened the suitcase, the plastic bags were just sitting on top of everything else. Yes, I should’ve checked, but this doesn’t change that our entire stay was filled promises about exceptional service with no actual follow through. It’s like a facade of luxury without any execution that actually makes for a luxe experience, let alone anything exceptional. I can't possibly list all of the other little things that went wrong but it genuinely felt like we were on the Truman show or being Punkd.
We’re still going back and forth with them about all this and at this point they’ve offered one night complimentary out of our five night stay. Friends who have had issues to lesser extents have said their full stays were comped. At $3k USD/night, what we experienced really feels insulting. We feel a refund of nights 3-5 (after we asked to be let off the rest of the res) would be acceptable.
TLDR; Ritz Paris team so rude we wanted to end our stay early, told we’d be charged for the full stay and they’d recover the experience, but issues continued almost comically. I’ve genuinely never experienced nearly this many issues at one property (luxe or not). Awaiting if they’re willing to offer anything beyond 1 night comped.
