Ritz Paris vs Four Seasons Hotel George V

During a recent vacation to Paris, France there nothing like a visit to Paris without staying at two of the most famous and iconic hotels in the city. There have been many debates on which is better, the Four Seasons Hotel Geroge V or the Ritz Paris Hotel. Here is our honest opinion of what we experienced so you can make a decision on where to stay during your next visit to Paris on your next vacation.

First, the Ritz Paris hotel has a lot of history. It’s not hard to be impressed with the clientele that has stayed at this hotel including Coco Chanel, who stayed in room 202 for over 30 years and Earnest Hemingway who stayed in room 153. Our hotel reservation included pickup and return back from the airport, daily morning breakfast and a confirmed free upgrade or room category. The hotel had been newly renovated for nearly 4 years and opened up it’s doors again in 2016, just 2 years ago. The renovations preserve the integrity of this historic hotel which adding modern amenities to the hotel and rooms. As we were escorted to our room we passed by the galley of window display shops of luxury stores that are located nearby. We weren’t sure if any of these stores were located in the hotel but it definelty set the tone as a true luxury destination.

We were upgraded to a penthouse condo which is a 2 category upgrade from the standard room. It was located on the top 7th floor level with it’s own private elevator and suite. It was hard not to be impressed with the grandeur of this hotel with the room coming with an outdoor terrace that offered wonderful city and hotel courtyard views as pictured below. There was a wonderful outdoor terrace garden complete with a strawberry plant. When looking at photos online it was hard to gauge if the interior details of the home were elegant or a little bit on the tacky side. For example, it was hard to determine the quality of the gold plated bathroom fixtures as pictured above that were in the figure of a swan. We were pleasantly delighted with the high quality of these fixtures and thought the bathroom was one of the best features of the room. The Ritz has upgraded all of the showers to be located in an individual room with no visible drain. The water would flow down and disappear under the stone seating bench. We visited the hotel spa which also had the same exact design and absolutely loved this luxury design!

Speaking of the hotel spa, there is no comparison between this Spa and the newly designed Spa at the Four Seasons. The Spa at the Four Seasons Hotel George V had opened up just one week prior to our visit but we were very disappointed with the lack of privacy that it offered. The pool and chaise lounges were overlooked by those working out on the cardio machine which offered no privacy at all. Even though they did a beautiful job with the spa renovation it was really hard to relax by the pool. It almost seems like the hotel needs to add frosted glass or something to make it more private for guests to relax by the pool. In comparison, the spa pool at the Ritz as pictured below was very impressive and much larger and offered a very private setting. It came with it’s own private Ritz Club with a large workout room and changing facility. The spa robes and slippers were very luxurious where the Four Seasons seemed to miss these small details.

The Four Seasons has it’s advantages, especially for those who enjoy fine dining. During our stay at the Four Seasons we were able to compare the breakfast selection between the two hotels. The Ritz breakfast menu had a lot more options than the Four Seasons means but the quality of food was slightly less than the Four Seasons. Also, restaurants like the Le Cing give a strong advantage to fine doing our the Ritz which is a huge consideration for some guests. We had to admit that the Four Seaons lobby and restaurants were always busy with activity while the Ritz was more of a private setting. The Four Seaons offered a wonderful morning breakfast with the thick Hot Chocolate and the delicious French toast as a must try here. They also have a really great app that allows you to get instant response to any questions or services that you want. The Ritz, unfortunately has an app but it’s for employee’s only. I made the mistake of downloading the app thinking that it would offer some kind of services.

The rooms at both hotels are very comparable. We had a chance to view the standard and deluxe rooms at the Ritz which offered high ceilings, living room fireplace and same exact bathrooms as we had in the upgraded condo. Four Seasons rooms didn’t have the super high ceilings but were very large and offered a large bedroom and bath. One thing we really loved at the Ritz was the hotel bed which offered luxury linens and comforter. The highly turn down slippers were probably the most luxury slippers I have ever had in a hotel with which padding and soft cotton lining. Upon check-in, the Ritz asked us what times we wanted our daily housekeeping and turn down services which I thought was a nice touch. The Four Seasons also offers daily housekeeping and turn down services but they don’t confirm this at check-in and the room slippers look like very cheap hotel slippers, a far cry from the Ritz.

It’s hard to go wrong with either hotel. The Four Seaons is located in a prime shopping area that is just a couple blocks down from the flagship Louis Vuitton store. There are a lot of great shopping, especially for men in the immediate area with great restaurants as well. The Ritz location in my option is better as it’s also located near some high end shopping and tends to be more centrally located near the Louve and the center of Paris. Here is my option on which hotel is better for the following services:

Hotel Spa: Ritz Paris
Hotel Restaurants: Four Seasons Hotel George V
Hotel Bedrooms: Equal
Hotel Bathrooms: Ritz Paris
Location: Ritz Paris
Morning Breakfast: Four Seasons Hotel George V
Concierge Services: Four Seasons Hotel George V
Hotel App: Four Seasons Hotel George V

If these two hotels were located side by side then there is no comparison and I would choose the Ritz. I loved how the history of the hotel and how the Ritz would brand everything from there hotel robes, towels, soaps and even it’s own boutique store more branding items. I couldn’t resist buying the hotel teddy bear with it’s own Ritz Paris hotel cap on it. For those looking for a high level activity with great restaurants located within the hotel then I would go with the Four Seasons. Some of the rooms located closest to the river and higher than floor 7 have the potential for having nice Eiffel Tower views.