About the hotel
When César Ritz opened his hotel on Place Vendôme in 1898, he effectively invented the modern luxury hotel: it was among the first in the world to offer a private bathroom with every room, along with electricity and telephones. The Ritz set the standard so completely that its name became an adjective — "ritzy" — and every "Ritz" hotel that followed anywhere in the world traces back to this address.
After a four-year, top-to-bottom renovation, the hotel reopened in 2016 with fewer, larger rooms, a glass-roofed grand galerie and the world's first Chanel spa. It remains family-scale by palace standards — an intimate labyrinth of salons and gardens hidden behind the Vendôme façade.
Suites & dining
The named suites are the draw: the Suite Coco Chanel keeps the designer's beige-and-black palette and Coromandel screens, while the Suite Impériale is a listed historic monument in its own right. Bar Hemingway — all leather, typewriters and white-jacketed bartenders — is routinely named among the best hotel bars on earth, and the Ritz Bar and L'Espadon keep the kitchen side of the legend alive.
The celebrity connection
Coco Chanel lived in the hotel for 34 years, and her suite still carries her name. Ernest Hemingway claimed to have personally "liberated" the hotel bar in 1944 — it is named after him today. Audrey Hepburn, Charlie Chaplin and Marcel Proust were regulars in their eras; in ours, the Ritz is where fashion week royalty sleeps and where Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell have celebrated birthdays.
The hotel is also fixed in darker celebrity history: Princess Diana left from the Ritz on the night of 31 August 1997. The hotel keeps that memory with discretion — no plaques, no tours.
Location
Place Vendôme, Paris, France
Worth knowing
- ★The word "ritzy" entered the dictionary because of this hotel.
- ★Coco Chanel kept a suite here for 34 years — the longest celebrity residency in hotel history.
- ★Bar Hemingway is named after the writer who "liberated" it in 1944 with a band of resistance fighters.
- ★The 2012–2016 renovation reportedly cost over €400 million.
By GetCelebrity Editorial
The Ritz is the rare legend that survives contact with reality. What earns the fifth star in practice is scale: with only around 140 keys behind that enormous name, service stays personal in a way the big Paris palaces cannot match. Book on the garden side — Place Vendôme is the postcard, but the quiet is in the back.
The verdict: still the most complete luxury-hotel experience in Europe. If the budget doesn't stretch to a suite, do what Parisians do — one perfect hour at Bar Hemingway costs less than 1% of the room rate and delivers half of the magic.
Questions & answers
Why is the Ritz Paris so famous?+
It is the original palace hotel — César Ritz's 1898 flagship on Place Vendôme that pioneered private bathrooms, gave the dictionary the word "ritzy", and set the template every luxury hotel still follows.
Which celebrities are associated with the Ritz Paris?+
Coco Chanel lived here for 34 years, Ernest Hemingway "liberated" the bar that now bears his name, and Audrey Hepburn, Charlie Chaplin and Marcel Proust were regulars. Princess Diana left from the Ritz on her final night in 1997.
What should I book if a room is out of budget?+
An evening at Bar Hemingway — routinely ranked among the world's best hotel bars — delivers the Ritz experience for a fraction of the room rate.
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