"I booked a teatime at La Réserve Paris, a so called French Palace in the very posh 8th arrondissement. When my friend, who is Middle Eastern, and I arrived, we were warmly greeted by the valet and then by the doorman. At that point, everything looked perfectly choreographed. Then we reached the hostess in charge of reservations. She pretended to check an obviously empty reservation sheet, gave me a fake smile, and said “follow me please.” We were both in a good mood and followed her without thinking twice. She led us to an empty room, hidden away in a dark corner, where she almost threw the teatime menu onto the table before vanishing immediately. No explanation. No welcome. No service. Just dumped there. My friend looked at me, confused, and asked, “Wasn’t there supposed to be a library?” As I was about to get up and look for it myself, the room manager suddenly appeared and told us we would probably “be better off in a more lively place.” My friend answered, half joking, half relieved, “Oh, you came to rescue us.” Only then were we taken to the actual library, which was beautiful, bright, full of books, a fireplace, and other guests. Exactly where we should have been seated in the first place. I then made the mistake of giving feedback. Real feedback. About the hostess’s behavior and how blatantly discriminatory it felt. The room manager’s reaction was textbook French denial. Smug, relaxed, and completely unbothered. In France, the word “racism” is apparently not something to take seriously. It is minimized, mocked, and brushed aside as if it were an overreaction rather than a lived reality. “Of course not, madam. We would never do that. We are not like those places where these things happen. We embrace diversity. We have an international clientele. Can’t you tell? Even our waiters are Indian and Middle Eastern. We could never allow this kind of behavior here. The hostess must have made a mistake. The library is usually reserved for people with reservations.” “We do have a reservation,” I replied. “I assure you, we would never,” he repeated, before offering us a grapefruit pie as a token apology for this so called “miscommunication.” Let’s be clear. This was not a misunderstanding. This was profiling, plain and simple, followed by gaslighting once it was pointed out. I wish I could say this was an isolated incident and give the hostess the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, this kind of treatment happens far too often, and luxury establishments like this continue to hide behind polished smiles and empty words about diversity. If this is what “palace” service looks like, then the shine is purely decorative."

"We stayed in the Eiffel Suite and it was amazing. So much space, a well equipped room with wet bar, coffee etc. The whole stay was perfection. The butler staff took extra care of us, the spa was amazing and the restaurants were delicious. We cannot wait to return. Thank you La Reserve for making our Paris dreams come true."

"We’ve visited Paris dozens of times and La Reserve is our new favorite. Small, luxurious but not stuffy, with a wonderful spa, several delicious dining options, and an extremely friendly and helpful staff, the hotel has a quiet entrance across from a park yet minutes from the Champs Élysée."