Hotel Restaurants

[jaybee]

Calvin Trillin said that the words he dreaded most from his wife were "I'm tired. Let's just eat in the hotel." My experiences in Germany with hotel restaurants were quite good. I have no experience with any in France, unless you consider Le Crayieres in Reims or La Cotes St Jaques in Joigny to be hotel restaurants. Are there any that are worth their salt in Paris, or for that matter, all of France?

[Fat Guy]

I'll leave it for a more diligent user to do the actual number-crunching, but I'd guess that if you went down the list of restaurants in France that have Michelin stars you'd find that most are attached to hotels.

[Bux]

I'll leave it for a more diligent user to do the actual number-crunching, but I'd guess that if you went down the list of restaurants in France that have Michelin stars you'd find that most are attached to hotels.

France has a great tradition of country inns and wayside hotels with great dining rooms. Only two of Paris' nine three star restaurants are in hotels if I recall, but one is a doosie. AD/Paris is now simply Plaza Athénée. It bears the name of the hotel in which it resides and not the name of the chef. I wouldn't say that most starred restaurants in Paris are in hotels, but I'd guess that a good number of the best hotels have starred restaurants. One of the draws of staying in certain hotels is that it guarantees a table in the restaurant. A great hotel may do nothing for a restaurant's image or reputation, but a great restaurant can do a lot for a hotel, which is why you'll frequently find them in hotels. The hotel is often willing to underwrite certain expenses or provide the space at far less than market value.

In addition to Ducasse, Gagnaire is in a hotel--the Balzac. At the two star level, there are several that come to mind. Fat Guy's number cruncher can check the list on this as well.

[cabrales]

Bux -- Agreed on the Paris three-stars. While I have not visited all Paris two-stars (20 in the 2002 Michelin), the following are in hotels: Ambassadeurs (Crillon), Bristol, Le Cinq (Four Seasons), L'Astor, Les Elysees (Hotel Vernet) and Les Muses (Scribe). At least 30%. One-stars in Paris in hotels include: L'Espadon (Ritz; in my mind, worthy of two stars with the chef change in 2001), Le Meurice, Clovis, Relais de Sevres, Celadon (Westminster), Gualtiero Marchesi pour le Lotti (I'd appreciate member input on this restaurant -- it may be decent), Le W (Hotel Warwick), and Montparnasse (there are likely others).

[anil]

Are we not seeing a similar trend developing here in our own NYC ?

[cabrales]

On three-stars outside of Paris, most of them have rooms associated with the restaurant. The only exceptions are Paul Bocuse (there are living areas in the same buildings, but not for diners or other guests, per second hand reports), L'Arnsbourg and Buerehiesel.

In many cases, the rooms followed or were constructed/acquired with the restaurant. Possible exceptions may include (highly uncertain as to reliability of this information; there are likely other facilities): (1) Pres d'Eugenie (Guerard married a woman whose family operated spa-type facilities; he apparently met her while she was dining, in a non-romantic context, with Bocuse); and (2) Les Crayeres (Boyer purchased the establishment from Pommery affiliates; unclear whether private banquet facilities were operating in the building prior to purchase).

[pirate]

I lunched at the W in Warwick hotel in April. One rosette is a fair rating for it. The food was not memorable but value for price ratio was good and a half bottle of a well aged provencal red, recommend by sommelier, was better than I expected. Don't expect much food cooked to order. The hotel has a lot of business meetings and luncheons, so service is just passable

[PaulaJ]

Has anyone dined recently at Le Cinq, hotel restaurant for

George V? We are scheduled for dinner at the end of the month.

Also, has anyone recently dined at Laurent? The outdoor dining near pretty gardens has some appeal.

[cabrales]

PaulaJ -- You might be interested in pirate's post on Le Cinq in the middle of the L'Ambroisie thread:

http://forums.egullet.org/ibf/index.php?s=...=10&t=8550&st=0