Hotel George V Review

Often rated as the best hotel in the world and the awards to prove it, it's fair to say that our expectations of the George V were very high. For the most part, it did not disappoint.

We were greeted at the door by name (no idea how they knew) and were immediately made to feel welcomed. Our concierge escorted us to our room on the top floor, with a magnificent view of the Eiffel Tower. We were immediately impressed with the size and understated elegance of the room. Very tastefully furnished without screaming opulence like some asian and middle-eastern hotels can.

However, you need to be very careful to avoid getting gouged at every turn, try $600 for a bottle of Baileys, or $110 for a Ceasar Salad or Club Sandwitch. Even internet access is a further $40 per day. You'd expect that with room rates starting at $1500/night that it might be included. Another annoyance for me is the insistence on a fairly formal dress code including the requirement for a suit or dinner jacket for lunch or dinner.

Located in Paris's 'golden triangle', between the Champs Elisee, Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triumph, it was a doddle to walk to any of Paris's many attractions. An unfortunate side-effect of the location in the very trendy 8th Arrondisment is that it seemed every shop and every person was dripping wealth and wasn't really our scene. It makes Albert Park look like Broadmeadows.

The hotel restaurant, Le Cinq has 2 michellin stars and has the most amazing dinig room that looks like a Louis XIII era palace. We have been lucky enough to enjoy some really fine dining over the years and unfortunately the food did not live up our expectations. The food was generally excellent, but no better than we have had in some Australian restaurants. It was all all good up until the Foie Gras dish that was just too rich and too large, everything after that was a struggle.

Despite the small annoyances, we thouroughly enjoyed our 4 nights at the George V, it is unquestionably the best hotel we have stayed in and had very little room for improvement, however we are happy to leave places like the George V as a very rare and special indulgence.