Ritz Paris
César Ritz's 1898 hotel on Place Vendôme in the 1st, home to Coco Chanel for more than twenty years, with the 218 m² Suite Impériale, the Michelin-starred Espadon, the Bar Hemingway and a 16-metre pool under a painted sky.
The Bar Hemingway at the Ritz Paris opens at 5pm every day and takes no bookings, so arrive early.
César Ritz opened the hotel on 1 June 1898 in a private mansion on Place Vendôme, the first to carry his name. The hotel says it was also the first in the world with electricity on every floor and rooms with private bathrooms. Its first bar came in the 1920s. Coco Chanel lived here for more than twenty years, and Proust, Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Maria Callas are all on the guest list.
Some suites carry those guests’ names. The Suite F. Scott Fitzgerald covers 185 m² and has its own hammam. The Suite Marcel Proust is 67 m², and the 72 m² Suite Charlie Chaplin looks onto Place Vendôme.
The Suite Impériale is the grand one. Its 218 m² hold two bedrooms, a private dining room and kitchen, and a listed Imperial Salon with six-metre ceilings and a bust of Napoleon. The listed bathroom is oak-panelled, with a red marble bath and gold-plated swan taps.
Espadon, the fine-dining room, opens onto the Grand Jardin. Chef Eugénie Béziat has held a Michelin star there since March 2024, and the restaurant also carries three Ecotable macarons. It serves dinner only, Tuesday to Saturday. Jérôme Legras runs the other kitchens.
Tea is served every afternoon in the Salon Proust, with pastry by Olivier Lainé, the pastry chef since January 2026. Bar Vendôme runs from 9am to midnight, with a terrace from noon, and Sunday brunch starts at 11.45am. The Ritz Bar, separate from the Hemingway, opens Tuesday to Saturday.
At the Ritz Club & Spa, the 16-metre pool lies under a painted sky and is open from 7am to 10pm. There are three fitness rooms, two of them private, a David Mallett hair salon, and treatments by reservation every day.
The Ritz is at 15 Place Vendôme in the 1st arrondissement. It comes third on our list of the best hotels in Paris, after Le Bristol and Cheval Blanc.
