Travellers flock to France for a taste of art, history and food, all done in the lap of luxury. Several palaces in France have been turned into hotels to give travellers a taste of the luxe life that used
to exist in colonial times.
Well, now, following a review by France’s Palace Commission, the body responsible for awarding the highest distinction in French hospitality, three hotels in France will lose it ‘Palace’ status. The Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme, Mandarin Oriental Paris and Hôtel du Palais in Biarritz have all lost this prestigious distinction. This is the first downgrade since the label was introduced in 2010. France introduced the palace distinction to recognise what it considers the country’s “finest” five-star hotels.
These 3 hotels make the top of France’s luxury hotels.
According to a report by Euro News, Le Figaro, a French newspaper, has described this as a “devastating blow to the hushed world of luxury hotels”. The hotels, reportedly, do not meet the standards of excellence required to retain the distinction any longer and the officials have cited unspecified “insufficiencies” in the criteria needed to keep the title.
However, even though these 3 hotels have lost their titles, they have managed to retain their five-star classification and continue to rank among France’s most luxurious hotels.
France currently has 27 palace-designated hotels, down from 31 when the list was last updated in 2019. More than a third of the recognised properties are located in Paris.
The announcement is expected to be formally confirmed when France’s Tourism Minister, Serge Papin, unveils the new “Palace Collection 2026” on 2 June, reported Euro News.
According to the One Mile at a Time blog, the “expectation is that a ‘handful’ of new hotels will receive palace distinction, but it’s not yet clear what those are… we’ll have to wait a couple more weeks”.
The Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme was penalised by “a lack of restoration and renewal of its offer”, said Paris Select Book. “This situation is reminiscent of that of the Hôtel du Palais in Biarritz.” However, the website added that “the context is very different” for the Mandarin Oriental Paris, which will soon undergo major renovations.
French outlet La République des Pyrénées also reported that the iconic Hôtel Byblos in Saint-Tropez no longer appears on the official list of palace hotels, although this has not yet been formally confirmed by authorities.
