Hôtel Chateaubriand Champs Elysées

“Wonderful boutique hotel in excellent location”

I was looking for a boutique hotel with a traditional French feel which didn’t break the bank and I certainly came up trumps with the Chateaubriand. I booked the Chateaubriand on a booking site where it was advertised as the Hotel du Romancier. I had also seen the hotel described as the Chateaub... more

I was looking for a boutique hotel with a traditional French feel which didn’t break the bank and I certainly came up trumps with the Chateaubriand. I booked the Chateaubriand on a booking site where it was advertised as the Hotel du Romancier. I had also seen the hotel described as the Chateaubriand on other sites and realised they were one and the same. There is no reference Hotel du Romanicer within the hotel, so it seems strange that it’s being advertised under this name and could confuse guests arriving for the first time. The Chateaubriand is in an excellent location a two minute walk from the Champs Elysees but in a quiet side street. It’s close to Metro and RER stations but we made extensive use of Bolt taxis to get around. You can wait in reception until the taxi pulls up right outside and there’s no hanging around on street corners wondering which direction it’s coming from. The public areas of the hotel are decorated in a unique style with old furniture but with modern flair. The rooms are also tastefully and individually decorated, which I really liked, but may not be to everyone’s taste. Rooms are reasonably sized – not huge but not the tiny rooms I’ve had in some Paris hotels. Rooms feature a fully stocked mini-bar which I like to have and is good to see as many hotels seem to be phasing them out. Rooms seem to vary quite a lot and not just in décor. My friend and I had adjacent rooms of the same standard but his had a lovely terrace overlooking a courtyard whereas mine did not. His room had a desk which mine did not – this was fine on this occasion but would have been annoying had this been a business trip where I needed to work from my room. I’ve read some reviews where guests were not happy with their rooms and when I return (which I definitely will) I will book with the hotel directly and get a room of my choosing (if that’s possible). One thing I hate when staying in a hotel is a chaotic breakfast – queuing for a table and then having to queue every time you go up to the buffet. The Chateuabriand, by contrast, is an oasis of calm. The restaurant never gets anything close to full and there are no queues. The selection of breakfast items is excellent and there are many, both savoury and sweet, which I’ve never had before at a hotel breakfast. They will also cook you an delicious omelette. There’s just one member of staff looking after the breakfast room (who also cooks the omelettes) and she takes great pride in ensuring that guests are satisfied. She only has a smattering of English but with my even more basic French we managed to communicate. I liked the fact that the Chateubriand seems to have a high degree of trust with its guests, which is refreshing – if you ask for something, you don’t need to sign for it and it just appears on the bill at check-out. I was surprised by how reasonable the prices of Paris hotels were in early July (a couple of weeks before the Olympics) and the Chateuabriand was at the cheaper end of comparable hotels I had shortlisted. I was concerned I might be compromising price for quality but I needn’t have worried. In summary, I cannot recommend the Chateaubriand more highly, but they should stop also advertising it as the Du Romancier and I would recommend booking directly with the hotel and ensuring you know what room you will be getting.

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