I spent two nights in Paris with my mom and two kids in December, and my mom booked us a room at…read morethe Park Hyatt Vendôme. We arrived in Paris by train, traveling with my small boys and a big piece of luggage, and took the subway to Place de l'Opéra, a mildly arduous journey. We walked to the hotel and tried to check in, only to learn that the Park Hyatt would not accommodate us unless we upgraded to a much larger, much more expensive room (we'd neglected to mention the two children in our party when we booked).
After much back-and-forth, my mom booked us a room at the Hyatt Madeleine, a more reasonable hotel that still gave us the benefits of her Hyatt status. It was supposedly a short walk from the Hyatt, but we spent a good twenty minutes schlepping across Paris with the children and luggage. (Very grateful to my saintly friend Ava B., who offered key support as a third adult in this unruly party.)
Which is all to say, I loved this hotel the minute we walked in, reaching our destination an hour and a half after arriving in Paris. Check-in was smooth and pleasant, and we were welcomed with glasses of champagne, which we quite appreciated. There was a half-bottle of red wine waiting in our room, too, which we were happy to drink while packing to leave the next night.
Our stay was brief, and we spent most of our precious time in Paris out and about. The hotel was an excellent home base, though, centrally located and very comfortable. It was less fancy than the Park Hyatt, of course, but the lobby was attractive and our room was spacious and clean. It had a king bed and a sofa bed, where my three-year-old refused to sleep, instead jumping around and harassing me and once, picking up the clean underwear I'd set out for the morning and putting it on over his pants.
Breakfast was included with our stay, and we took advantage of this by going down to Café M and feeding my children chocolate croissants before leaving the premises each morning. They also got room service one night while my friend and I went out for a grown-up dinner at Brasserie Pastis, an outstanding nearby restaurant recommended by the concierge.
I'm sure the Park Hyatt would've been nice, but I was impressed by the Hyatt Madeleine, both the accommodations and the hospitable service. I'll bet it was a better fit for our group, too, what with the wild three-year-old. A great place to stay during an active trip to Paris.