Renaissance Paris Vendome Hotel

We stayed in multiple rooms during our stay. Check out the image attached to this review. This young woman's 36" square (or more) photo was a disturbing find, mounted directly above the bed in each of the rooms we stayed in. What an odd choice, especially for a hotel chain owned by Marriott. Pros: Location (central to all the things we wanted to see - Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Notre Dame, etc.). The lobby was clean and well-kept though if you're taller than 5'6" you may struggle getting up from any seat in the lobby. The staff were all quite friendly, multilingual, and as helpful as humanly possible. The beds were comfortable, too many pillows and little space available to put the overflow. Classic high ceilings and other than street noise, the rooms were quiet. No clocks or speakers so plan accordingly. Surprisingly well-timed elevators given the age of the hotel and the number of guests. Rarely had to wait for an elevator. The breakfast buffet was a good value - but I'll swing back to this in the why we wouldn't come back section. Cons: Room service - inconsistent. You won't get any beef cooked beyond medium rare no matter how much you ask - but that seemed to be a Paris thing in general. Street noise. If you don't want to be awoken every morning before 7 by delivery trucks, ask for a room facing the inside corridor (your view will be of the glass roof of the lobby, but it will be quiet). Also - there's something about the traffic pattern at the corner of the building - constant beeping from vehicles backing up day and night. Smoke. Everyone stands out front to smoke and if you like to have your windows open and have any sensitivity to smoke - then get a room facing the inside corridor. Size. These seemed to be small rooms even by European standards. There was very little room in the room to get around or relax. Look carefully at the photos in terms of surface space and the chairs if you intend to do anything in the room before or after your day of sight-seeing. Our first room had a tub (why? It was small and the enamel worn - what a waste of space), a tiny main area with dual sinks (the facade betweent he two sink drawers kept falling off), and the tiniest water closet and shower I have ever seen in a hotel. If you're 5'8" or less, you'll be OK. I couldn't wash below my knees without banging my head on the wall and eventually had to step out of both the shower and the water closet to 'get the job done'. I'm 6'4". The first room also had ample closet space, but one of the closet doors was falling off by day 2 (it had clearly been reattached to the particle board as many times as physics would allow). The second room was an "accessible" room so the bathroom had more space - open concept no tub - but here were the problems with that. First, very little counter space, second no drawers to put your things, third a shower curtain that was a good 4" off the floor and after you took a shower, there was water literally all over the entire floor. If we hadn't learned to put down a barrier of towels on the floor each time, I'm not kidding when I say the water would've easily made it to and out the bathroom door. Fourth, the toilet was so close to the wall, if I were left handed - it would've been a problem. As for the room in general, the A/C didn't work (and there are no vents in the bathroom at all). You get two bottles of mineral water in the rooms - that's it. No sodas in the mini fridge - just the water. House keeping may or may not remember to replenish. Now, you can get all you like from the front desk - but it was odd. Housekeeping was inconsistent. There was a foot print in our room for 3 days from a shoe that didn't belong to either of us so they clearly aren't mopping every day and the streets are filthy (if you have feet bigger or equal to a US size 12 - pack your own slippers). I walked in on housekeeping just wiping the glasses in the room with a hand towel and never saw fresh ones on the carts - so I don't think they replace your glasses with clean ones. And they crushed the hose of my pap machine. That was a first in 15 years of traveling with the thing. And one other thing about the accessible room - if you truly require one from a physical limitation - the door to the room easily required about 40lbs of pressure to open. There is no way you could manage it in a walker or wheel chair and there's no auto door opener. Why we wouldn't stay here again: They lied to us. When we first arrived towels included bath, hand, and face. One day, no face cloth. So we called down "I'll send a colleague right up with more towels!" We got more towels, but still no face cloths. So we called again. They said they'd send someone. No one ever came. So we called again, "Oh, we're all out." Turns out they knew that from the start. Was a bit like calling for shampoo and getting 5 bottles of conditioner. No matter how much conditioner you bring me it's still not shampoo so just tell me the truth - you're out - we'll move on with our day. It was a thing throughout our stay. So if you like face cloths, pack your own. The other thing they lied about was the HVAC. Bold faced lie about someone having looked it at and it was fine. It wasn't fine. The next day they sent another person (qualified) to look at it - we lost 90 minutes of our day babysitting the process. At least he told us the truth - that it was broken. Said he'd go check the unit up on the roof - and then we never heard another peep. So another call to the desk, this time they confirmed it was indeed broken - but didn't offer to do anything about it. Weird and unnecessary. It was cool enough that we tried just opening a window - but then the cigarette smoke and noise became an issue. I don't tolerate being gaslit or lied to. Just be honest. Finally - the breakfast buffet. Honestly - it could've been a bit in a sitcom. The coffee service was just bizarre and poorly managed. There's no other way to describe it. One day we came in, the hostess remembered our coffee order from the day before "I'll get it for you!" it never came. We asked 3 people in total and it took (not exaggerating) 40 minutes for us to get a cup of simple brewed coffee (they don't have urns for some reason). All the guests were complaining about it. Such a simple thing, integral to breakfast, and a complete miss. The nail in the breakfast coffin was the mouse. The day we waited 40 minutes for the coffee I had a lot of time to look around and saw a mouse run along the toe-kick of the buffet counter and pop through a hole in the wall near the hostess stand where they hang the serving trays. I imagine the hotel will offer some response - but there's no need. We intend to return to Paris, but would not return to the hotel - even thoug the staff (other than the breakfast folks and the people around the weirdness with the face towels and the person who lied to us about the HVAC having been checked the first time and being fine) were really profession.

Pleasant stay at Renaissance. The receptionists were welcoming and helpful. My room was spacious for European standards. Breakfast was delicious and I was happy they had Halal options. Location wise it is very convenient. Just walking distance from the shops and restaurants.

We had an excellent stay over five nights. From the moment you arrive you receive exceptional service. Very kind and welcoming staff. Comfortable bed. AC works well. Good water pressure in the shower. Location is ideal for the big hits of Paris and also metro access. Street is quiet at night. Lovely stay.

Overall this hotel is awesome - perfect location (walking distance of the Louvre, musee de l’orangerie, les tuileries, place vendome, st Germain des pres, Eiffel Tower, musee d’Orsay), great and friendly service, nicely accommodated rooms. We had the larger guest room with a queen bed and it was very small based on US standards. The room was above their restaurant (we were on the third floor though) and we could hear the music from the restaurant which prevented us from sleeping until it stopped the first night. Front desk team changed our room for the next 4 nights which was appreciated. So advice - ask for a room on the other side of the hotel or a really high floor! Breakfast was very good - however one day they ran out of baguette 1 hr before breakfast was ending. A hotel of that standing and cost - should never face shortage of food especially not baguette in Paris! And if it did - they should have sent somebody to get more. I personally thought that wasn’t great service. Besides that - everything was great - front desk team is awesome, concierge was very friendly, the hotel has a pool which is small but nice. Overall great experience - it was my second time staying there. Just be careful of the room size and its location!

Worst customer service! Why bother being a Marriott ambassador member if there is no special treatment provided? I strongly recommend against staying in this hotel. Personel is rude and disrespectful and I have never lived such experience in any other Marriott around the world. Location is the only good thing in this hotel