Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook or Twitter!
- Introduction
- British Airways First Class Lounge – Boston
- British Airways First Class – Boston to London
- British Airways Concorde Room – London
- Park Hyatt Vendôme Paris – Park Suite
- Around the Park Hyatt Vendôme Paris
- Park Hyatt Vendôme Paris
- Day 1 in Paris – George V, The Champs-Elysées, and the Arc de Triomphe
- Day 2 in Paris – Notre Dame & the Paris Opera
- Park Hyatt Vendôme Paris – Park Deluxe Room
- Day 3 in Paris – A Lazy Day & Dinner in the Eiffel Tower
- Day 4 in Paris – Versailles and Rue Cler
- Day 5 in Paris – Sainte-Chapelle, the Louvre, & Emily’s Favorite Evening
- Day 6 in Paris – Park Hyatt Paris Buffet & a Day of Shopping
- Day 7 in Paris – Emily’s Allergic Reaction and our Last Day in Paris
- American Airlines Admirals Club – Paris
- Hilton Heathrow London, Terminal 4
- British Airways Concorde Room
- British Airway First Class – London to Boston
- Air France Graf Lounge – Boston
- Conclusion & Blog Giveaway
The Park Hyatt in Paris is on 5 Rue De La paix (street of peace) and runs from the Place Vendôme to the stunning Opéra Garnier. Wikipedia also notes that Rue De La Paix is the most expensive property in the French version of Monopoly, so expect to see lots of well-dressed people and expensive shops around here!
Getting There
You can take the Roissy bus, for 10 euros per person, from Charles de Gaulle airport to Opéra (Corner of rue Scribe and rue Auber) and walk 7 minutes from there to the hotel.
You can also take a taxi for around 50 to 60 Euros from the airport to the hotel (we paid 60 euros) or you could arrange for a private car from the hotel or a car service company.
I wouldn’t take the RER train from the airport to Paris-Châtelet les Halles and then connect to the metro and get off at the Opéra stop and walk to the hotel, unless you had no luggage and lots of time.
Shopping
Place Vendôme is famous for its really high-end shops and the famous Ritz hotel is on Place Vendôme.
We didn’t go into any of the famous shops on Place Vendôme except for…
I’m not much of a shopper, but I did enjoy seeing how well merchandised (displayed) the products were – be it a shop selling food or shoes.
You can also walk 8 minutes to the largest department stores in Paris – Printemp and Galeries Lafayette. We (Emily) explored the Galeries Lafayette, but didn’t have time to see Printemp (my aching feet are grateful).
Dining
There are a few cafes and restaurants in the streets around the Park Hyatt in Paris. You can get everything from a cheap sandwich to traditional Parisian cafes, or ethnic food, but who goes to Paris to eat a hamburger?
Since this is in the heart of the tourist area (the Louvre is only 10 minutes away), almost everyone spoke English, though I would try to use my pidgin French.
We usually had a heavy breakfast at the hotel, and ate lunch and dinner while sightseeing, so we didn’t sample many of the culinary choices by the hotel.
I suspect that you’ll get better food and lower prices by the Left Bank or away from the tourist core around the hotel, but there are lots of options by the hotel including a pedestrian plaza with many restaurants in case you’re too tired to go elsewhere for food or want to save time.
We ate in a café on the pedestrian plaza on our last day in Paris since we wanted to be close to the hotel. It is about 8 to 10 minutes from the hotel to Place du Marché Saint Honoré which has lots of cafes and restaurants.
The food wasn’t great, but it was decent and we were meeting Emily’s friend from Barcelona, so we weren’t there just for the food.
Emily Jablon: I actually loved my pasta with cheese sauce. I was looking forward to the rich white sauces in food in France and this was just what I wanted.
There was an outdoor farmers’ market and a food truck serving American food which had a long line of Parisians waiting to try tacos and cupcakes!
There are also lots of bakeries around the hotel, for those of you who aren’t Hyatt Diamond members and don’t want to spend 49 euros for breakfast at the hotel. Eric Kayser is about a 2 minute walk from the hotel down Rue Danielle Casanova and has a much cheaper breakfast.
On our first night, we asked the concierge for recommendations to a traditional French Cafe by the hotel. He suggested Le Castiglione which was 4 minutes walking from the hotel. The restaurant was more expensive than traditional French cafes and I suspect that’s because it is in the heart of the tourist area in Paris.
The food was acceptable for a French cafe, but the prices were more than what a traditional cafe would charge.
We ordered Foie Gras as an appetizer and a glass each of the house wine. I had steak tartare (raw beef) which was very well prepared with just a hint of mustard in it. I thought Emily wouldn’t like it, but she did!
Tourist Stuff
Just to the side of Charvet is a Vélib‘ station where you can rent bikes. In my experience, American Express credit cards without a Chip worked as did US issued credit cards with a chip (Chase British Airways, Hyatt etc.).
The Louvre museum and the Tuileres gardens are only a 10 minute walk from the hotel
We also walked 40 minutes from the hotel to the Arc de Triomphe via the Champs–Elysees. We took a taxi back to the hotel late at night which cost about 10 to 12 Euros.
The hotel was an excellent base from which to explore Paris!