George V, Paris
By The Prodigal Fool, published on 14 December 2003
The George V hotel, just moments from Paris’ Arc de Triumph and the Champs-Elysées, is regarded by guests and peers in the industry alike as one of the finest. It regularly slugs it out with Hong Kong’s Peninsula for title of Best Hotel in the World.
Ask anyone interested in hotel management about the George V and you’ll hear a wealth of great stories about this Parisian institution. It is said that Polaroid photos are kept of regular guests’ rooms so that everything can be arranged exactly as they like it for their return visits. The Guide has also heard that other top hotel groups send their managers to stay at the George V so that they can learn about how to deliver good service.
How many of these myths are true, we can’t tell you. What we do know is that from the moment you walk into the modestly-sized yet supremely elegant lobby, with its dramatic and beautiful flower displays, you know you’re somewhere special and, by the magic of what we’ll call ‘the George V osmosis phenomenon’, you feel someone special too.
The location, building and decor are all elegant and luxurious. The bedrooms – for a Paris hotel at least – are of good size and appointed in exquisite taste. Having drinks in the bar – with its menagerie of fascinating patrons – is an event in itself. The Guide enjoyed the company of some ‘fat-cat’, cigar-chomping gentlemen who we assumed to be business men or politicians. We enjoyed even more the company of their suspiciously younger and stunning looking ‘girlfriends’. And we loved seating between them and a group of cocktail-downing actors and fashion models.
The food in the Michelin-starred restaurant is genuinely sublime. (Look out for a separate post on this subject – dining at ‘Le Cinq’ is a truly Prodigal night out.) But what really makes the George V stand out – what makes it one of the top three hotels The Guide has ever stayed at – is the staff and their absolute mastery of the art of good service. When you’re a guest at the George V, you genuinely feel like a ‘guest’. There’s nothing that the staff wouldn’t or couldn’t do for you to make your stay more enjoyable.
So far so as-expected for a world-class luxury hotel, right? Well yes. But what makes the difference at the George V, what makes ‘the George V osmosis phenomenon’ work, is that the staff is always so perfectly judged. They appear to have a super-human ability to anticipate your mood, your needs, your wants. They’re never too formal, never pretentious or fussy, never less than completely welcoming and accommodating. And they manage to pull this off while always seeming completely genuine. There is nothing rehearsed or contrived about the way they deliver the very best service in the world. It all adds up to making you feel very special indeed. And you’ll feel that way from the moment you walk through the door and the receptionist smiles and welcomes you by name, to the moment you’re sitting in your car and, as he closes the door, the charming voiturier hands you the little bag containing mineral water and sweets that he just “thought you might enjoy on your drive home”.
Yes, the final bill will make your eyes water but don’t let a small detail like the future financial stability of you and the next two generations of your family deter you. Staying at the George V is a Prodigal experience.
Four Seasons George V, 31 avenue George V, 75008 Paris, France, Tel: +33 1 49 527 000
George V, Paris
The George V hotel, just moments from Paris’ Arc de Triumph and the Champs-Elysées, is regarded by guests and peers in the industry alike as one of the finest. It regularly slugs it out with Hong Kong’s Peninsula for title of Best Hotel in the World. Ask anyone interested in hotel management about the George [...]
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15 July 2010
[...] service – is a tough act to pull off. The George V is perhaps the benchmark in our book. When we blogged about our stay there we wrote: The staff are always so perfectly judged. They appear to have a super-human ability to [...]