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Zut Alors! Paris Hotel Boots Guests

February 23, 2007 at 2:01 PM | 0 Comments

Unrelated Royal Monceau Seminar

You know how long we have waited to superfluously use zut alors in a headline? February 23, 2007 is a banner day for HotelChatter.

Earlier this week (Monday), we received a tip that The Royal Monceau, a Palace hotel in Paris, was reportedly abruptly closed, and all guests were asked to leave immediately.

Here is the our tipsters report in its entirety:

The Royal Monceau, one of Paris's palace hotels, was abruptly closed yesterday, with all guests being forced to leave immediately. A report, revealing serious problems with the security/safety of the building, was cited as the reason. However, the real cause of this bizarre move is a dispute between previous and new owners of the place - how about evicting your guests on a Monday morning to show that no matter what you are all about guest service? Guests were relocated to properties like the Crillon, which is close by.

The Monceau has had its share of bad luck/management problems lately; last year, it was heralded as "the arrival of Mandarin Oriental in Paris", with a complete top to bottom renovation, after which it would be rebranded as Mandarin Oriental Royal Monceau. The implied message being: move over Plaza Athenee, FS George V, Le Bristol, and Ritz. Within the space of a few months, the property disappeared from MO's website - with MO proclaiming to be "no longer affiliated with this hotel". Interestingly enough, the MO website now has Paris under its "development" locations, where it will debut in another "palace" in 2009.

Somewhere, Mandarin Oriental is being grateful for getting out while it could?

Puts a whole new meaning on "double check your reservation confirmation before you go on your trip", doesn't it?

Related Stories:
· Hotels in Paris [HotelChatter]
· Royal Monceau [TripAdvisor]