Le Grand Hotel de Normandie

I really am not one to normally write reviews, but this experience prompted me to do so. I work in a customer service/hospitality industry so I am privy to how to rectify a situation in order to create a more desirable experience for the customer whenever there is an issue (especially when paying a premium) and this hotel did the exact opposite.

At no fault of the hotel, we experienced unusually high temperatures in Paris over a series of 4 days during our 4 night stay (94 degrees Fahrenheit, 35 degrees Celsius). Which that would not have been a problem at all if the air conditioning worked in our hotel room…at all

When we arrived at the front desk, the receptionist greeted us warmly and acknowledged that we reserved the nicest room in the hotel with a 6th floor balcony. However, the moment we opened the door, it was like stepping into a stuffy attic. We immediately attempted to turn the AC on to the lowest temperature, to which we were met with warm air blowing through the vent. At this point we are literally sweating profusely as the room became an oven after the combination of the sun beating down on our room all day and the warm air from the vent filling the room. We called the receptionist who came up to check the wall unit to which she acknowledged that everything was correct with the settings, so evidently something was wrong with the vent. She said she would call the technician to see if he could come as soon as possible because she realized it was very uncomfortable in the room. We left the room to go explore hoping that the AC would be fixed upon return. When we got back, the room was only hotter…I called the front desk (which was now a different receptionist) and he said the technician is not coming until tomorrow. There was no offer to switch rooms or to provide a fan or anything.

We get 2 hours of sleep that night as we try and sleep on top of the sheets with wet towels on us. NOT COMFORTABLE AT ALL.

The next morning we go downstairs to the wonderfully cool and air conditioned lobby and ask for an update on the technician servicing the AC in our room. The receptionist said “yes, he’s coming today to fix it” and that was it. We explained that it was a very uncomfortable night hoping there would be some form of empathy and offer to switch rooms or at least offer complimentary breakfast (14 eur per person). There was no such offer for either so we then asked if it would be ok if they covered breakfast for us because of the AC situation. We paid over $2k for the stay so it was really the least they could offer. We then go and sit down at a table and the receptionist comes over and says “oh, you’d like to add 2 breakfasts to the room this morning?”. I was completely surprised by this after we just agreed that the hotel would comp this. I explained our point again and he said “ok, yes, sorry you can have breakfast on us”.

2 more nights of sleeping with wet towels and the AC was NEVER fixed. No follow up from the hotel staff, no discount on the hotel stay, no additional free breakfasts for the duration of the stay, no anything other than a mini desk fan delivered to our room by the maid. Every day it was a new receptionist who had no idea that our AC was broken when we inquired…

Then we go to check out and the receptionist says “looks like you had breakfast for 2 that hasn’t been settled yet”…

All in all, the location is great and allows you to walk to every major site and neighborhood within an hour; but, the service and communication was totally unacceptable for a $2k stay. I realize that Paris is not known for being so exceptionally hot, so the infrastructure does not fully support; however, if you advertise air conditioned rooms (and for a premium price), you would expect that the service delivery team does whatever possible to ensure a comfortable stay. Plenty of other hotels in the area that I will look at the next time I’m in Paris. Really disappointed with this part of our anniversary trip.