During my review trip to Bangkok, I had a couple of nights in Paris, where I wanted to check out new hotels. For the first night, I stayed at SAX Paris, Hilton LXR, which was not for me. The second night, I stayed at Hotel du Louvre Paris, Hyatt Unbound Collection. As a Category 7 World of Hyatt property, I booked this for 35,000 points, compared to a cash rate of around €600.

I had a pleasant stay at Hotel du Louvre, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it. The property has a good sense of place, and feels like what you’d expect from a historic Parisian hotel. That being said, it doesn’t really have a “wow” factor, and it definitely wouldn’t be my first choice in Paris. For that matter, with the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome being only marginally more expensive when redeeming points, I’d definitely prefer that.

While I’ll have a full review soon, in this post I’d like to share my initial thoughts.

Hotel du Louvre has history and a sense of place

One of the incredible things about Paris is just how historic so many buildings in the city are, and that includes many of the hotels. Hotel du Louvre was commissioned by Napoleon III in 1855, as the first luxury “grand hotel” in Paris. The location ended up being moved across the square in 1887, but it’s still pretty cool that this building is around 140 years old (many will love the hotel’s location, as it’s quite central, located near — you guessed it — the Louvre).

You definitely feel that sense of history in the building, from the old lobby columns, to the elevators, to the beautiful lobby bar. This is what old world Parisian hotels should be like.

Hotel du Louvre has lots of suites, and they’re comfortable

One thing that stands out about Hotel du Louvre Paris is the breakdown of accommodations. There are 164 accommodations, and 57 of those are suites. With over one-third of rooms being suites, that means the hotel is fantastic with upgrades, since there are often lots of rooms to upgrade people to.

As a lifetime World of Hyatt Globalist member, I was upgraded to a Louvre Suite. The suite was very spacious, with a massive living room, though I have to be honest, it looked much nicer online. Take a look at the pictures here, and then take a look at the pictures below.

While the wall treatments were nice, I otherwise thought the design was sort of bland and a little shabby. It almost felt like they put totally cookie-cutter hotel furniture into a suite that otherwise has amazing bones.

That couch… is just not it.

Hotel du Louvre has friendly service, is otherwise fine

I found service at Hotel du Louvre to be friendly. Then again, I find Paris hotels in general have a very good service standard, so it wasn’t necessarily differentiated. But still, friendly service deserves a shoutout, and this place delivered on that front.

Beyond what’s mentioned above, there wasn’t all that much to the hotel. There’s no pool or spa, though there is a gym, which is a good size by Paris standards (admittedly some hotels basically have basement broom closets as gyms).

Then the hotel’s main restaurant is Brasserie du Louvre, and it’s open all day. Paris has so many amazing restaurants, and this probably isn’t a “destination” restaurant. I did have breakfast here, though, which I found to be good, though I materially preferred the breakfast at SAX Paris (it was one of my favorite parts of that hotel).

Breakfast consisted of a small but pretty high quality buffet, plus a small selection of a la carte options.

The restaurant isn’t huge, so it definitely felt a lot more crowded than at SAX Paris. It’s also not necessarily that personalized of an experience. That’s to say that your name is taken when you enter, and then you can just sit down wherever you’d like, and help yourself to the buffet (though servers roam to offer drinks and to take any a la carte orders).

Bottom line

Hyatt’s Hotel du Louvre Paris is a solid option if you’re a World of Hyatt loyalist in Paris. On the plus side, the hotel has a central location, and has old world charm with lots of suites, which is good for upgrades. However, in terms of design and amenities, this isn’t some property that gets me excited.

So I think this is a fantastic option if you want a central location for exploring Paris, and if a suite or large room is a priority for you (if you’re eligible for an upgrade). Other than that, if redeeming points, I’d much rather stay at the Park Hyatt Paris, which is definitely on a different level.

What’s your take on Hyatt’s Hotel du Louvre Paris?