The Shangri-La Paris (review and video follows) is one of the Top Paris Luxury Hotels with Eiffel Tower Views and is also one of the elite group of Paris Palace hotels, together with Le Bristol Paris, Four Seasons Hotel George V, The Peninsula Paris, Mandarin Oriental Paris, Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris, Park Hyatt Paris Vendome, Le Plaza Athenee, Le Meurice, La Reserve Paris.
The Shangri-La Paris, which opened in 2010, is in the former residence of Prince Roland Bonaparte, Napoleon's grandnephew. With just 100 rooms, including 37 suites, it's one of the smaller Paris luxury hotels; with the exception of the Mandarin Oriental Paris, most others have 150-200 or more.
TravelSort Clients enjoy Shangri-La Luxury Circle benefits:
- Guaranteed upgrade at time of booking for select room and suite types (Superior Room to Deluxe Room; Deluxe Room to Terrace Room; Eiffel View Room to Terrace Eiffel View Room; Junior Suite to Junior Suite Paris View; Deluxe Suite to Duplex Suite; and Duplex Suite to Terrace Suite)
- Complimentary full breakfast for two in-room guests daily, served in the restaurant or via in-room dining
- VIP welcome amenity
- Hotel credit of $100 equivalent, or 10% of the average daily room rate, whichever is higher, once per stay
- 2018 Suite amenity: Complimentary 1-way airport transfer with VIP meet and greet upon arrival, starting at the Deluxe Suite category. Must reserve prior to arrival.
Here's my Shangri-La Paris Video Review:
Shangri-La Paris Location, Lobby and Check-In
The Shangri-La Paris is located at 10 avenue d'Iena in the 16th arrondissement, just a 10-15 minute walk across the Pont d'Iena to the Eiffel Tower and a 9 minute walk to the Trocadero Metro Station. The Musee d'Orsay is about a 35 minute walk and the Louvre about a 45 minute walk or 10-15 minute drive.
The hotel's location makes it ideal if you want an Eiffel Tower view from a room, since many Paris luxury hotels that offer Eiffel Tower views only offer them from the most expensive suites. The location is less convenient to major sights such as the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay, however, than Paris hotels such as Le Bristol or Le Meurice, where these museums are less than a 10 minute walk away.
Shangri-La is a Hong Kong-based luxury hotel group, so Chinese touches are evident throughout, such as these Chinese vases that flanked the entry.
Once inside the lobby, there's a hallway leading to the Reception and Concierge.
On either side, there were rooms with comfortable seating:
The reception itself was small, and there was just one associate staffing it. I had to wait until she finished helping a guest, and then once it was my turn, when she went into the back office for a couple minutes, another couple appeared and were visibly annoyed that there was no one at reception to help them.
When she did re-emerge, she did acknowledge them, and noted that her colleague would be with them soon. Her colleague did come out to assist the couple, while she herself personally escorted us to our room.
Shangri-La Paris Eiffel View Room
The Shangri-La Paris Eiffel View Room is 485 square feet, spacious by Paris standards, with a view of the Eiffel Tower from inside the room. Here's the view at night:
On our right, in the foyer, was the mini bar and a Nespresso machine (visible in the YouTube video above) and then in the room itself, a dresser held a Chinese vase with an ice bucket and welcome bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne on the right, and 5 delectable macarons under a glass dome on the left.
The room comes with either one king bed or two twin beds, but there was ample room for an extra bed for our son.
A sliding wooden door separates the bedroom from the bathroom; the best aspect of the bathroom is that it also has a window with a view of the Eiffel Tower.
The soaking bath is by the window, and you can watch the news or a movie on the TV embedded in the bathroom mirror.
There are double vanities, and bath products are by Bulgari, with the White Tea scent.
There's another sliding door that separates the soaking bath and vanities from the toilet and rain shower. I liked that there was a rain shower, but wished the toilet wasn't in the same room; usually luxury hotels have a separate toilet chamber.
Chi Spa and Swimming Pool
Chi Spa is on the 1st floor of the hotel. The pool is open from 8am-9pm daily (the fitness room is 24 hours), although spa treatments are available between 10am-9pm. There are 3 treatment rooms for massages, facials and body treatments.
When I took my son to the pool in the late afternoon, there was a father and his son (who was swimming, while the father dozed on a lounge chair poolside), but no one else.
Shangri-La Paris Breakfast at La Bauhinia Restaurant
Breakfast at La Bauhinia Restaurant is served daily from 6:30am to 11am. We liked that the room was filled with natural light, from the glass cupola ceiling.
A buffet is served, and there are set breakfast menus and a la carte selections.
As I was staying on an industry rate that did not include breakfast, we opted to just order a few things from the a la carte menu to share: a couple yogurts, an omelet with smoked salmon, french toast, a plate of exotic fruits, a cappuccino, and a pain au chocolat (since they didn't have any almond croissants or pain aux raisins, which I first asked for).
The yogurt, from la ferme des peupliers, came quickly, as it should have, since it was also available on the buffet.
So too did the pain au chocolat, which was rich in chocolate, and paired well with the Alain Milliat jams.
The cappuccino also came without too much delay, although there wasn't any foam art, as there had been at Le Bristol.
We waited for awhile for the omelet, and when it came, it didn't have any smoked salmon in it. Given that we didn't have time to wait for another one, I would have expected it to be removed from our bill, but instead they charged us for the plain omelet that it was, when the mistake was pointed out.
My husband's french toast, for EUR 14, was merely half a slice of toast (a triangle)–could the kitchen have been more stingy? Very disappointing. It was so little and my husband was so hungry by the time it came we didn't get a photo, but it was mediocre.
And my fruit plate was nowhere to be seen. I asked different servers 4 times for it, and finally it appeared. Yes, it was prettily adorned with gold leaf, but I would have been happier if it hadn't taken over 35 minutes and over 4 requests just to get it.
The Verdict
My husband and son loved the view of the Eiffel Tower from our room at the Shangri-La Paris, and it would have been even more impressive had we had better weather, as it was somewhat grey and rainy during our November stay. Just keep in mind that along with the Eiffel Tower view comes a location that can be more inconvenient for other Paris sights and museums.
I appreciated the automatic blackout drapes and how quiet our room was, as well as the champagne welcome amenity, which we shared with our Parisian friends. On the other hand, I prefer a separate toilet chamber, which the room did not have; the toilet was in the same room as the shower, unlike virtually all other Paris luxury hotels I've stayed at.
The associate who checked us in was Russian and couldn't have been nicer or more professional, even before we discovered that we had three languages in common. The service at breakfast at La Bauhinia, however, was a comedy of errors, except it wasn't that amusing since we were pressed for time. From having to ask four times for my fruit plate before it was finally brought, to the incorrect omelet for our son and the single half piece of mediocre French toast, for EUR 14, I simply can't recommend breakfast at the Shangri-La Paris, at least if you're ordering a la carte.
If you've stayed recently at the Shangri-La Paris, what was your experience?
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Disclosure: We paid a travel professional rate for our stay. The opinions expressed in this post are mine.
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