Review: The Westin Paris Vendome – Old Rooms But The Most Beautiful Garden Terrace Restaurant, La Terrasse D’Ete
We were a bit torn about reserving this hotel as the rating wasn’t that high at 3.7 and we were comparing it to a brand new hotel, Le Dokhan’s, Arc de Triomphe, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel which had a very high rating of 4.5 at the time. We ultimately decided on The Westin Paris Vendome due to its location. However, what we weren’t ready for was the absolutely stunning garden restaurant in the middle of the hotel. We loved it so much we ate dinner here twice and even snacked on fries one afternoon. We’ll get more into detail on that later.
As for the hotel, it is massive at one entire square block. Unfortunately, some services were not back in full force due to the Covid restrictions at the time of our visit. Walk a block up and Rue Saint Honore is a street where you can find all the high-end shops. The Westin is also just a block away from the Ritz Paris which also looked very swanky! As most buildings in Paris are not very tall, they are wide and adorned with stunning detail. They are just absolutely beautiful to look at and admire all the craftsmanship that went into these buildings.
The Place Vendome was built in 1698 as a monument to Louis XIV’s armies. It is quite a wide open area with shops along the inside and as mentioned earlier, the Ritz Paris. At night time, we would head out after dinner to go for a walk and find a large gathering of people dancing. It was quite a sight to see.
So let’s get on to the hotel itself. You enter the door which is usually manned by at least 2 people. Directly ahead and through glass doors was the garden restaurant called La Terrasse D’Ete. Take a right turn and you’ll head to the check in desk which in hindsight, was quite small for such a large hotel with 440 rooms.
It was quite a walk to get to our room as from what we could gather with the hallways the hotel was laid out in a squarish figure 8. The rooms were rather large, but very old. They could definitely use a renovation but I can’t imagine how huge an undertaking that would be with so many rooms. The bathrooms were small compared to the size of the main room. Strangely, the tub is raised above as well making it harder to get in and out of to take a shower and I’m sure taller people will have to bend down to avoid hitting their head on the ceiling. Double sinks would be nice too as well as a water closet for the toilet for added privacy. The room itself was large with huge closets at the far end of the room which were hard to get too because the furniture blocked them. Oh well, didn’t use them much anyways.
We couldn’t believe how nice the restaurant was in the day, but it is absolutely stunning at night. We ate here the first night for dinner, had a snack at lunch the next day and then loved it so much we went back for dinner on the last day, which was also the last day of our trip that started in Venice, Milan, Geneva, Lyon and lastly, Paris.
On to the food, I opted for a burger because we saw some massive burgers in Lyon on Rue de Mercier. And if there’s one thing France knows, it’s French Fries! My other half ordered the cod which was delicious but no comparison to my burger! For dessert we shared the Chocolate Delicacy which was quite devine. Every dinner table is greeted with a bowl of chips, nuts and bread.
As night time fell, we didn’t think the view could get any better but we were wrong. The lights came on and it was magical. You couldn’t ask for a more intimate setting. With tables spread far apart as well, you didn’t have to talk over other people, it was the most relaxing, enjoyable evening of fine dining.
Since I just had the burger with fries, I probably ate a 1000 calories! Time to show you the gym. It wasn’t particularly big, quite narrow in fact and spread across two small levels. There was a row of ellipticals, treadmills and universal weight machines on the lower floor. A half floor up was the bench, free weights, three different types of stationary bikes, 2 more ellipticals and weighted balls. Not the most elaborate gym for the amount of rooms in this hotel, but I’m not sure how often this gym even gets used.
As we perused the hotel, the main level was adorned with painted ceilings, Romanesque columns and chandeliers that looked liked they were plucked from Versailles. No wall was untouched, that was the level of detail and thought they put into this hotel.
As previously mentioned, we went back to the La Terrasse D’Ete for a quick bite the next day after taking a train all the way to Disneyland Paris (to get our Starbucks mug of course!) and the outlet mall. After that long bit of travel, we sat to have a drink and asked if they serve the parmesan French fries at this time as we loved them so much from dinner last night. They said yes and we asked how much as it wasn’t on the menu. 5 Euros. Sold!
On the last night of our stay, we just had to try the restaurant one more time. Did we mention we loved it here? The manager of the restaurant got to know us after a couple of days and we enjoyed great conversation with him. He came over and offered us complimentary champagne which was a very lovely gesture.
We couldn’t have had a better time dining at a hotel. The staff were beyond polite and professional. The setting was something we couldn’t stop admiring or stop telling our friends and family about. It was just that good. But don’t take our word for it, if you are planning on staying in Paris whether at this hotel or another, book this restaurant. Just be sure to make a reservation and choose an evening with good weather as the ceiling is open to the skies above. In saying that, one last picture of the evening:
PROS:
- Central location – close to shopping and the metro which can take you everywhere else
- Staff are knowledgeable and professional
- La Terrasse D’Ete is our favourite restaurant to date, hands down!
- Rooms are large and due to the large hallways, it is quiet
CONS:
- Rooms could use an upgrade
- Gym is pretty small and no swimming pool
In conclusion, would we stay here again? Without a doubt, yes. The location couldn’t have been better, we walked from Arc de Triomphe back to the hotel, it was a decently long at 2.7 km (33 minutes) but we certainly enjoyed it and took our time looking at the shops and grabbing a sparking water from one of the vendors along the way. After dinner we could walk a block up to the Vendome and watch the dancers. There was even a carnival going on across the street which we walked into but the grounds were dirt so we didn’t want to get all dusty. We used Marriott points to book our stay and with the going rates around Paris, we found this to be good value. Until next time Paris, au revoir!
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