The Hotel de Crillon is Not For Everyone, Especially Not For You

Where: 10 Place de la Concord, Paris, France, 75008

September 30, 2008 at 1:20 PM | by juliana | 6 Comments

We've been in Paris for a few days now, mostly meandering about the 7th Arrondissement but the other day, we did all things touristy and headed over to the Louvre.

The monstrous Louvre will take you about a week to go through and see everything. Or you can just do the three ladies--the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace--and you'll be out in less than an hour and a half.

If you do that, then you've got some free time so you might be thinking, why not head over to the Hotel de Crillon at the Place de la Concorde (just a few blocks walk) and pop in for some tea or a quick bite to eat? You also think this would be a cool way of experiencing the hotel without having to fork over $1,000 a night.

Well, think again.

This hotel does not let anyone inside except its guests. A guard at the front said, "Wee doo thees to protek the preevacy of our guezt." Um, ok. Fortunately, someone in our group had the courage to ask for just a quick peek into the foyer and the gift shop which was right next to the entrance.

We really cannot even tell you what the hotel was like. Our "experience" was over in a flash and we spent the millisecond that we peeked in worrying that the guard was going to call in for backup in case we crossed over to the elevator bank.

Needless to say, that was a first for us: we've never had a hotel not let us into the lobby. Ah, Paree! It's kind of funny how much we wanted to go here way back when we found out the place had free WiFi but we're over it now. Note to Barry Sternlicht: If you still plan on making this hotel into a chain, we hope you reconsider this rule.

6 Comments

Return to » The Hotel de Crillon is Not For Everyone, Especially Not For You

2surly
HotelChatter Member

Not surprising...
I had a similar experience at the Ritz in Paris 7 years ago. I was with a friend (ironically, we were staying at the Crillon) and we wanted to do a quick look at the hotel but were told we could not enter because we weren't staying at the hotel. The irony was that I had a site scheduled the next day at the hotel, which I didn't tell them. Oh well...

September 30, 2008 at 2:01 PM

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AndrewC
HotelChatter Contributing Editor

Whoa
Whoa. So if you wanted to eat at their restaurant - you need to stay their as well? Or is this just the hotel lobby itself that is blocked?
Kinda cool how its so exclusive - but upsetting for us hotel geeks.

September 30, 2008 at 2:47 PM

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your mom
HotelChatter Member

The Crillon
Could've warned you...some of that legedary French attitude, alive and well!
The Assistant Editor's Dad
PS- Head over to Poilaine for exquisite bread!

September 30, 2008 at 8:00 PM

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pfrank1
HotelChatter Member

What were you wearing?
They won't let you in if you're not somewhat dressed up - mainly to prevent gawking tourists from swarming the place. We tried to take a peek into the lobby once last year, but we'd been running around sightseeing and probably not looking our freshest, and they told us to scram. The next day we stopped in on our way back from a fancy lunch, wearing suits and nice shoes, and they whisked us right in. So if you're wearing sneakers and a fanny pack (not that you would ever wear a fanny pack, Juliana), fuggehdaboutit

October 1, 2008 at 9:54 AM

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juliana
HotelChatter Editor

my fanny pack was lime green
psych! i was not wearing a fanny pack. i was wearing i believe, a marc jacobs coat and sunglasses but alas i had on jeans and white converse sneaks.

October 2, 2008 at 5:42 AM

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pfrank1
HotelChatter Member

Ooh la la!
Sounds tres chic. Those fools at the Crillon don't know fashion when they see it!

October 10, 2008 at 1:58 PM

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