Review - Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris

February, 2026

Enroute:

My Eva Air flight arrived at Charles de Gaulle at half past seven in the morning. I had just booked this reservation prior to taking off in Taipei. Most of the top hotels in Paris such as Le Bristol, the Peninsula and some others were charging around $1,700 to $2k a night. Luckily, Le Royal Monceau was offering the fourth night free, and we needed to stay four nights, so it worked out perfectly. Technically, Accor owns the Raffles brand, which owns Le Royal Monceau. I know nothing about Accor’s loyalty program, other than it’s strictly revenue-based. Therefore, I doubt there’s any efficient ways to use points for a stay here.

We took an Uber from CDG. It cost ~€50 and took around 30 minutes. It’s a little expensive to travel abroad as an American right now, given the weaker dollar…

Check-in:

Le Royal Monceau is one of the twelve hotels in Paris with France’s Palace distinction. Naturally, I had pretty high expectations. Everything was off to a great start. The porters immediately took care of our luggage and led us to the reception. It’s been a few years since I was in Paris. Many think that Paris is cliché, and the French are rude. I personally love how romantic and beautiful the city is and have never encountered anyone rude.

Not having done any research on the property itself, I walked in and thought to myself, hmm, it’s oddly familiar in here🤔. I can’t quite pinpoint what it was yet, but it would be revealed to me soon.

Reception was to the right of the entrance, where our check-in was performed. It was pretty clear from this moment that the crowd is mostly Chinese and American, not that there’s anything wrong with that, given I’m both but…

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Reception

After check-in, we were introduced to our butler, Maud. She offered to give us a tour of the hotel and talked briefly about the history. Basically, this hotel used to be the hangout for artists, with one suite named after Ray Charles.

Maud went on to highlight how the original Baccarat chandeliers were restored piece by piece, and that the renovation was led by French architect Philippe Starck. It was at that instant that it dawned on me: no wonder Le Royal Monceau felt familiar - our building in Miami was also designed by Philippe Starck. Guess what’s in our lobby? Yep, chandeliers and mirrors…

We were then escorted to our room on the third floor. Unlike many historic hotels in Paris, the stairway here was quite spacious.

I had completely forgotten that I stayed at the SLS Miami Beach once. This hallway brought it all back. It’s damn near identical. After some quick digging on chat, it was confirmed that Philippe Starck also designed several SLS properties. I think this was the moment when I decided I don’t like this hotel. Like what do you mean I just paid $1,500 a night to stay at an SLS😭???

I kind of like these floating backlit room number signs.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Room Number Sign

Unpack:

We originally booked the executive room, which is the highest non-suite category at the hotel. We were then upgraded to a junior suite, as a benefit of Accor Preferred by Hera. If you’re interested in a hotel booking with enhanced benefits at no cost to you, feel free to email me at info@satayaway.blog.

Junior suites are marketed as 624 sqft, which felt generous. Upon entry, there was a long and narrow foyer with bold paintbrush stroke wallpaper.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Junior Suite Entryway

Behind the closed door on the right of the foyer was a half bath. At first I thought it was the guest bath, but nope, the other bathroom did not have a toilet.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Junior Suite Half Bath

Can someone help me make sense of this sink design? It’s so shallow that water would spill everywhere. There’s no counter space for even a hand soap, and not to mention there’s no hot water?

The layout of the room was straight forward.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Junior Suite Seating

A small welcome amenity of fruits and chocolates was placed in our room. For a hotel of this alleged caliber, you’d think there’d be at least a bottle of wine..?

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Junior Suite Welcome Amenity

You know, for a Philippe Starck project, I was surprised that there weren’t more mirrors in the room.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Junior Suite Closet

I did appreciate there being a proper desk, even though half of it was taken up by the coffee setup.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Junior Suite Desk

The bed at Le Royal Monceau was extremely comfortable, in particular the bedding. As opposed to common cotton sheets, the sheets here were made of linen, which stayed cool throughout the night.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Junior Suite Bed

My favorite part about the room though, was the linen sheet that covered the headboard. As a certified germaphobe, I always wonder if the headboards are cleaned. If you ever wiped off the airplane headrests, you know what I’m talking about…

A rather basic turndown service was provided nightly. There were no special touches or anything.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Junior Suite Turndown Service

Adjacent to the bed was the minibar.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Junior Suite Minibar

I tried the truffle chips, which were even better than those Hunter’s truffle chips I usually love. For €20 a bag they better be good, am I right?

Usually I would say that’s not how I’d decorate my bathroom, but since the same mastermind is behind both… Maud was telling us how much the housekeepers hate the bathroom, and I told her I hear that from ours too😂.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Junior Suite Bathroom

All bathroom amenities were from Clarins, which were sufficiently upscale and unmistakably French.

What wasn’t so upscale was an off-brand dryer. You’d think a Dyson is pretty standard at these places.

Lastly, the view of the room was interior-facing, which could be a blessing in Paris. Unless you have an inspirational view of the Eiffel Tower, I find street-facing rooms to be often noisy, given the cobblestone streets.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Junior Suite View

Overall, I think the room finishes are adequately luxurious. However, a few details were impractical and didn’t feel as premium. There is just a little too much going on in the 600 sqft space.

Unwind:

Opposite from the reception in the lobby is the concierge desk, which extends into the hotel boutique. As you’d expect, some of the pieces were quite out there.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Concierge

The hotel’s full-service spa was closed for annual maintenance during the second half of our stay. We were told that guests could use the pool at the Peninsula, which is about a 10-minute walk. We didn’t take advantage of that, as we already used Le Royal Monceau’s own facility during the first half of our stay.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Spa Lockers

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Spa Sauna

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Spa Hammam

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Spa Showers

The locker room was complete with a sauna, a steam room and a hammam. Oddly, the hammam was not heated at all. The pool had very limited seating, mainly sofas around it. There were no proper loungers to lie on. I was not particularly impressed by the facility. The sauna area just wasn’t all that inviting. I thought maybe I’m spoiled after recent trips to Kyoto and St. Moritz, but even my old gym in Berlin (Holmes Place Potsdamer Platz) had way better spa setup.

We were able to sneak in a cheeky massage on Monday morning, before the East Coast turned on. You can see the menu here and book any treatment here.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Spa Treatment Room

The massage itself was good but not the best I’ve had. The masseuse was friendly.

Le Royal Monceau provided house car service in the evenings between 7-9pm. Availability was good - we were able to use it for the two nights we had plans. If you made a dinner reservation with the concierge, they’d arrange the house car for you by default. Otherwise, you can just call. It appears the standard house car vehicle in Paris is the Range Rover Autobiography Edition. We went to the Ritz Paris for drinks one evening, and a fleet of them was parked outside there as well.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris House Car

Refuel:

Le Royal Monceau has a few food and beverage outlets, with the best one being il Carpaccio, awarded one Michelin star.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Il Carpaccio Restaurant

We didn’t have a chance to eat here, but the restaurant itself was beautiful. I did order a couple things here via room service. I’ll talk more about that later.

While it doesn’t have a star, Matsuhisa is the other restaurant with arguably more clout, due to its association with Nobu. Does anyone know how they are different?

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Matsuhisa Restaurant

Breakfast was served at the same restaurant. However, the name changes to La Cuisine for breakfast and Sunday brunch.

For breakfast, an average spread of buffet was on offer.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Matsuhisa Restaurant Breakfast

In addition to the buffet, a small à la carte menu consisting mostly of egg dishes and sweets can be found here.

The pastries looked pretty good and tasted fine.

The dots didn’t connect at the time, but Le Royal Monceau’s cocktail bar is named Le Bar Long - like the famous Long Bar at the original Raffles in Singapore.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Le Bar Long

I love the menu design here.

On one evening, I met my friend who’s lived in Paris for 6 years for a drink here. I asked her who the hell in France is paying €39 for a cocktail..? She said, you are looking at it - Chinese and Americans, lol.

Across the hall from the bar was a smoking room. What’s going on here? Is the theme dominatrix dungeon? Satan worshipping? Leather fetish? Help a brother understand.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Smoking Room

We had breakfast in the room one morning. Continental breakfast was included in our rate. I do have to point out the most gorgeous fruit plate I’ve ever seen.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Room Service Breakfast

Select dishes from Matsuhisa and il Carpaccio can be ordered via room service during restaurant hours, so I decided to try its signature truffle fettuccine. You can find the room service menu here. Everything was truly fantastic, from the pasta itself to the gorgonzola walnut salad to the fresh focaccia.

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris Room Service Lunch

The waiter who brought me the food was super friendly. He said that since I ordered an Italian lunch and he’s from Italy, he wanted me to have the Pellegrino and the focaccia too, so I can get a true taste of Italy. Let’s just say the food wasn’t the tastiest thing from Italy😈.

On our last night, we split the royal cheeseburger for dinner, not to be confused with the royale with cheese😂.

Depart:

I have mixed feelings about Le Royal Monceau. I came in with high expectations, and the experience was kind of just, okay. Don’t get me wrong - everyone was very friendly and attentive throughout our stay. The bellmen were always alert and on top. Our butler and the concierge team were awesome. They even got us a last-minute cancelation table at Le Cinq. Housekeeping was on the weaker side. I feel like it just lacked a wow factor? The “palace” distinction is supposed to represent the highest standards for French hospitality. While it’s hard for city hotels anywhere to have a personality, the spa was low key meh and breakfast was mid. Maybe I need to check out another palace hotel in Paris to see if there really is a difference, or the French are just bamboozling us again with their marketing (which they’re very good at).

Review - Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris

Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris

February, 2026

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