REVIEW: Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile (& How Loyalty Pays Off in a Big Way during my Paris2024 Trip)
Updated November 14, 2024
Recap: Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile is a trade off between staying in a ‘not the most convenient’ location in Paris but being able to get really great value especially when booking on points (and/or using a Hyatt Free Night Award). Combined with an exceptional Regency Club and rooms that offer some of the best views over Paris, there are many reasons why a stay here would not only be warranted but be quite memorable.
See how learning the ins and outs of Hyatt’s loyalty program resulted in some very big dividends for me.
HOTEL INFO
DATES: August 2024
HOTEL: Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile (HR Étoile)
CITY/LOCATION: Paris, France / attached to the Palais des Congrès center in Paris’ 17th arrondissement.
If you’re looking for incredible views over Paris and a place to get great value out of your Chase or Hyatt points, this is a fabulous choice as you’ll be staying in Paris’ highest skyscraper hotel. Quite a different experience than staying at a posh hotel like the Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme or a more boutique experience at the Hotel Louvre or Hyatt Madeline but this is one that can offer exceptional value.
There are some that find the location to be a big drawback since it isn’t in the central part of Paris (as the other aforementioned Hyatt hotels are) but I can’t stress this enough, that really the views are so fabulous and you are only able to get those since it’s out far enough to be able to see so much of Paris.
The Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees are reachable by foot in about 15 minutes. You can easily walk to the Bois de Boulogne Park where you would find Fondation Louis Vuitton. This is a Frank Gehry-designed museum and cultural venue that hosts rotating exhibits.
As the hotel is attached to the Palais des Congrès center, you are able to walk indoors to the RER’s Neuilly-Porte Maillot station. The Porte Maillot metro line 1 station is across the street from that RER station (~5 minute walk from the hotel). From there, the Eiffel Tower is 20 minutes or Montmarte is 30 minutes away by mass transit.
There were taxis available in front of the hotel (or you can have the concierge can call one as needed) plus Uber + Bolt cars are plentiful in the area. Note that I had many issues with a couple of pickups during my stay (I had eight drivers cancel in a row for one ride between the two apps) but I theorize that may have been due to the Olympics security presence and drivers weren’t sure if they could pick up there. FWIW the bell and concierge teams were as surprised as I was about the cancellations as they were trying to assure me that pickups happen regularly there.
HOW I BOOKED
Direct with Hotel via HOTEL LOYALTY PROGRAM: World of Hyatt (WoH)
- LOYALTY PROGRAM HOTEL SPECS: Category 4 – Peak
- COSTS:
- 18,000 WoH points/night: 90,000 WoH points/stay (5 nights) + $0.00 (Hyatt does not charge resort fees nor taxes on award stays)
- Three X Category 1-4 Free Night Awards (3 nights) + $0.00 (Hyatt does not charge resort fees nor taxes on award stays)
- 1 Club Access Award
SAVINGS: $7,801.12
Beautiful Tip: review cancellation policies carefully before booking. For certain events (ie Olympics or Taylor Swift concert), the reservation is nonrefundable at booking. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, you do not forfeit the points if you no-show, you will be charged the prevailing CASH RATE for the entirety of your stay. For reference, the penalty would have been around €750, PER NIGHT that I would have to pay if I no-showed or canceled the reservation.
One of my other travel hacking tips is to be flexible and this Paris2024 trip really underscored that point. I had first booked the Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme (PHP) and couldn’t make any changes with their Olympics cancellation policy in effect. A few days later, I saw that HR Étoile now had availability but that meant that I would have to change hotels during my time in Paris.
Whilst a bit inconvenient, doing this meant that I could stay more nights in Paris as the # of points need for the HR Étoile were significantly less than if I opted to extend my PHP stay (18K vs 45K points/night respectively). Plus I had a Category 1-4 Free Night Award (FNA) that I would be able to use since the HR Étoile is a category 4 hotel!
Loyalty begins to pay off with being able to apply a club access award immediately after booking. This award was earned by staying with Hyatt for 20 nights (actually less since I had enrolled in a double elite night promotion earlier this year!)
HOW TO EARN THE POINTS (& FNAs) FOR REDEMPTION
WORLD OF HYATT TRANSFER PARTNERS:
- Bilt Rewards
- Chase Ultimate Rewards
CREDIT CARDS:
Chase Sapphire Preferred (WITH LIMITED TIME elevated sign up bonus)
And as more elite nights were credited to my account for stays right before and during Paris, I was given another milestone award in the form of a Category 1-4 FNA so that was another free night at this hotel!
I was also awarded a Brand Explorer FNA whilst in Paris and was able to use that for an additional night at here as well! (Want to find out more about how WOH also rewards you for staying at different Hyatt brands? – read about this perk here)
LOYALTY PROGRAM STATUS PERKS/EXPERIENCE
LOYALTY PROGRAM/STATUS: World of Hyatt / Explorist
PERKS: Upgraded room type
EXPERIENCE: At check-in, the front desk host had a member of the VIP team came out to greet me and offered a business card if I needed any further assistance. As the hotel was the HQ for the IOC, room availability was sometimes not released until the early mornings for the day of which made my second stay a little stressful. But the VIP team always quickly noticed my bookings and kept me in the same room.
ROOM
ROOM TYPE: Montmartre View – Deluxe / Eiffel Tower View – Deluxe
ROOM # : 2918 / 29??
ROOM SIZE/CONFIGURATION: The room was ~22 square meters (236 sq. ft) that may feel a bit cramped if you are not used to European sized hotel rooms. The room had a king sized bed, small sofa, and desk area.
Upon entering the room, the closet area was to the right along with the coffee and tea station followed by the bathroom with a walk-in shower. Nice design touches can be found with a large vanity mirror over the sink that is lit up fully and a separate WC area (with a handheld bidet).
I am still trying to figure out what made the room ‘Deluxe’ vs a standard room: it might be that the rooms are pre-stocked with slippers and robes and/or there’s a second coffee station with a Nespresso machine.
The outlets were plentiful in the room and interestingly enough there were both European and North American along with USB.
Of note is that the room has individually controlled heating and air-conditioning which was very welcome during the very hot Parisian summer (and I am not someone that normally uses air-con!) If this is an important amenity, this is something that you absolutely should check as many hotels in Europe do not have a/c or the units are controlled by the hotel which leaves rooms considerably warmer than you may like.
Sometimes a hotel will advertise and charge more for views that don’t quite live up to their billing but that is not the case for the Hyatt Regency Pari Étoile. The Montmarte view room location was perfect (especially when combined with club access) in that it afforded me a nearly 360 view over Paris and the surrounding areas. I was able to watch the sun rise over the city in my room which is always such a treat.
And it is no surprise that Eiffel Tower room are the most desired with views like these. Being able to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night is always delightful but being able to see the Olympic rings and the beach volleyball stadium from my room was especially amazing.
SERVICE EXPERIENCE
The HR Étoile is a large bustling hotel with 995 hotel rooms and suites and served as a IOC HQ during the Paris2024 Olympics so it felt extremely busy during my stays but service was still personalized, attentive and quite warm.
There was a separate check-in area reserved for World of Hyatt elite members (Explorists and above) and the hosts would often greet me by name as I went by the check in desk and/or ask about the events I had attended.
AMENITIES
Regency Club:
Per the hotel’s website: located on the 34th floor (the hotel’s highest floor), the Regency Club (RC) is an exclusive lounge for guests staying in Club rooms and Suites. Guests will admire panoramic views over Paris (, while enjoying drinks anlubd snacks.
Access to the Regency Club can be obtained in three ways: booking a room that includes lounge access (sometimes available on points), upgrading to a club room (this is a great property to use a club access award), or given as a WoH Globalist elite status benefit.
The Regency Club is open from 7 AM – 9 PM
Breakfast was served from 7 AM – 10:30 AM (11:00 AM on Saturday, Sundays) and was buffet style with hot and cold items available. As you can see in the top right photo, those doors/partition separate the RC from the Windo Sky Bar but are opened up during breakfast service. That area is where you are able to enjoy incredible views of the Eiffel Tower for breakfast.
From 12 – 6 PM, the RC offers sweets, fruits, hot and cold beverages and is self-service during that time.
From 6 – PM, the club offers salty and sweet snacks with a selection of wines. There was a lovely salad bar, four-five varieties of cheeses, a couple of sandwich offerings, variety of spreads and dippers with a few desserts – I found the food to be tasty and plentiful but not substantial enough to replace dinner (but you also saw my brekkie plates and that I have an appetite rivaling a teenage boy).
The combination of great food and beverage choices to stellar service with the best views over Paris made this one of the top hotel lounges I have visited.
*As the hotel served as the IOC’s HQ, it was so busy during my stay that I was unable to get photos of the Regency Club breakfast spread or of the lobby, restaurants and gym (that wouldn’t have shown people without their consent) – apologies for that!
Fitness Center
The fitness center was well stocked (as it is spread over three rooms) for a hotel gym stretches over three rooms. It’s open 24/7 and is reserved exclusively for hotel guests.
Interestingly for a hotel of this size, there is no spa.
There is also no pool but I don’t find that to be as unusual for a European hotel.
BAR/RESTAURANTS
Windo Sky Bar:
Iconic Parisian panoramic bar, entirely renovated by architect George Wong, and is the highest bar in Paris. It is located on the 34th floor of the Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile, the space is opened up for breakfast as it connects directly to the Regency Club. In the evening, the partition is erected and the space is accessible to the public.
As it goes with spaces that offers such incredible views, the prices at the Windo are elevated (ie mocktails costing €20, cocktails costing €24).
If you are able to snag a seat at the window especially at sunset, the views would be worth it.
Mayo Restaurant
Located on the ground floor, the restaurant offers a breakfast and lunch buffet as well as a la carte dining and is open from 6 AM – 10 PM.
Note that for WoH Globalist, one of the benefits is the breakfast buffet here which does have a much larger selection of food but you will give up that phenomenal view from the Windo Sky bar/Regency Club.
Mayo Market
Located on the ground floor, the cafe is grab and go style offering coffee to wine and snacks and is open 24 hours (you pay for convenience of it being in the hotel – there are some grocery options within a 10 minute walk from the hotel)
HELPFUL HINTS
When you stay at nicer properties, you often will receive an email from the concierge or VIP team (based on status) at booking to welcome you to the property, to ask if you have any requests or needs that they can help you with as they will introduce themselves as a resource for your stay. This is a great time to reiterate any room requests that are important (ie for me, feather free pillows and quiet room preference) and to let them know if you are celebrating anything – I let them know that I was there on a bucket list trip for my birthday and going to the Olympics. While the hotel did not do anything grand like the Park Hyatt Paris, it is always appreciated to have a bed that won’t trigger my allergies!
One of my most fave tips for travel hacking is to sign up and learn how to maximize loyalty programs (LP). Certain LPs like Hyatt will go beyond allowing you to earn points with your stays but also reward you at specific intervals that can make travel oh so rewarding…so it definitely pays to get to know the ins and outs of LPs. I am hoping that this post did a good job in showcasing how I was able to take advantage of Hyatt’s milestone awards and other aspects of it’s loyalty program!
OVERALL IMPRESSION
While the HR Étoile isn’t centrally located, this is used to the hotel’s advantage with the incredible views over Paris and of its famous monuments from high floor view rooms and the hotel lounge. The Regency Club, and especially at breakfast when it expands into the Windo Sky Bar with that incredible view, would be reason enough to book (this is a phenomenal choice to apply any club access awards you have!). And the value becomes even greater if you are able to book on points and/or use a free night award.
The value for me was amplified further as these award bookings allowed me to stay in Paris for EIGHT nights total at this hotel DURING the Olympics and keep food costs down with Regency club access!
Have you stayed at this property – what are your thoughts on it? Or is this now on your list of places to stay?
