In honor of the Olympics (and rewatching Killing Eve), I wanted to run back a few hotels in France with bathtubs that I should’ve spent more time in.
C'est la vie.
Back in 2019, press trips I took often planned nearly impossible itineraries leaving no time to explore solo, relax in the room or get any actual work done. (Pull out the tiny violins for me, I get it.) The following year substantially shifted that for the most part. While I wouldn’t call any of these hotels my exact personal taste, they are three properties with lovely bathtubs and settings that I would’ve liked to take more advantage of.
Paris: Hotel du Louvre
Perhaps this is as amateur as an outsider recommending Time Square, but Parisian I am not. The Palais Suite at the Hotel du Louvre is home of the French bathtub on the list I spent substantial time in.
Located literally across the street from the famed museum, the hotel was commissioned by Napoleon III in 1855 and is the very first grand hotel in Paris. And, as one would hope, the bath in my suite (540 sq ft, one bedroom and living room) suite, didn’t disappoint.
Pardon the pic. It’s literally a screenshot from a video from 5 years ago.
The clawfoot soaking tub shut into it’s own glass enclosure within the bathroom making for a steamy (like steam room more than sexy) setting for a hot bath, and just outside it, a heated towel rack.
I wish I had a better photo for you, and there isn’t any on their Instagram (which is a travesty because bathtubs are important), but trust this is a good way to unwind after spending hours walking around the Louvre.
Cognac: Hotel Chais Monnet & Spa
A transit strike robbed me of a slower morning at this incredible property. Rather than a late train, we head out on an EARLY flight to return to Paris from the Hotel Chais Monnet & Spa in Cognac.
The property itself was intriguing — the massive archway, how dark and almost mysterious it was when we arrived on a rainy evening, the grand architecture that differed from that of the Hotel du Louvre and the Waldorf Astoria Versailles. The room itself isn’t really my taste, but the bathroom was doing it for me. The cool green color and shape of the tiles, the anthurium in the bud vase and honestly, the lighting and the mirror in addition to the large rain shower and separate bath. (One on each side of the photo below.)
Although it was tucked within the room with no windows — provided the extensive, challenging travel to and from the hotel — it made for a place to unwind, disconnect and not see the gloomy weather outside ahead of that unexpected, very early flight.
Additionally, the spa and the indoor/outdoor pool look worthwhile from the photos. Of the three hotels, this one for sure has all the amenities I’d be most interested in. (Pictured in the reel below.)
Versailles: Waldorf Astoria Versailles - Trianon Palace
Similar to Hotel Chais Monnet & Spa, the room itself didn’t do nearly as much for me as the property and the bathroom.
Situated on the edge of the town of Versailles, the decadence of the once-palace-now-museum definitely carried over into the Waldorf Astoria Versailles - Trianon Palace. From the vaulted gold ceilings and extravagant ballrooms to the sprawling greens next to the property (where goats kept pulling up to the fence, from where? I have no clue) the grounds are exactly what you’d think a fancy hotel with a Gordon Ramsey restaurant in the French town and its namesake palace, which is regarded as one of the greatest achievements in French 17th century art would be. This is what Gen Z’s coquette dreams are made of, although I don’t see the French taking too kindly to them.
I stayed at all three of these hotels during a Rémy Martin press trip over the span of four days where no expense was spared. (Clearly, with these suites in several different hotels and a 80+ person, single long, long, long table dinner in the actual palace. Idk, the end of 2019 was really a wild time.)
Yes, that’s a mirror at the end of this dinner table within Versailles, the palace/museum. Why? I couldn’t tell you, but it affords great context for this grandiose dinner. And, I’m usually not opposed to watching myself in the mirror, so sure.
I also was able to spend limited time on property as we spent most our time touring Versailles and attending that dinner. However, the arched window and rose patterned tiles made me wish for some time spent lounged in this tub.
Unlike the other two bathtubs above to that were meant for solitude (imho), I can see myself posted here for an extended bath where I might catch up with a girlfriend on the phone or fall into a deep hole of good memes with a good playlist and the window open.