The catch at Le Pavillon de la Reine
Five things stand between the courtyard photograph and the stay. None of them is hidden, and most come down to booking the right room for the right nights; the first two are about the rooms.
On our shortlists
The entry rooms are small, and the Classic is an attic under the roof
The Classic Room is an attic room of about 21 m² on the top floor, with a desk and a queen bed that cannot be split into twins, for two adults or an adult and a child. The Superior Room, the next category up, is 22 m² over the inner courtyard. The Deluxe Room runs from 21 to 32 m², so the third rate on the ladder does not guarantee more floor either: the smallest Deluxe is the size of a Classic. Room size is the complaint guests raise most often, and at €550 a night in February, and half as much again in May, June and autumn, the bottom of the ladder buys the address and the courtyard rather than space.
What to do. If you will spend time in the room, book a Junior Suite, the first category with a separate sitting room. If you book a Deluxe, ask for one at the larger end of its range.
Some rooms have a staircase inside, and the lifts are narrow
Some Deluxe Rooms and some Junior Suites are duplexes, with a staircase inside the room, and neither category says which of its rooms they are. Le Petit Pavillon, the three-level house in the courtyard, has no lift at all, and its first level has 1.95 m of headroom. In the main house the lifts and the upper corridors are narrow, which matters with large suitcases. For guests who find stairs difficult, the hotel offers rooms adapted for disabled guests on request, and the Queen's Suite is the one category it describes as accessible to people with reduced mobility.
What to do. Ask for a room on one level when you book, and say why. It is a request rather than a guarantee, so confirm it again a few days before you arrive.
Anne, the starred dining room, is shut on Sunday and Monday nights
Anne holds one MICHELIN star and seats about twenty. Dinner is Tuesday to Saturday from 7pm to 9.30pm, on two set menus at €155 and €200 with a €95 wine pairing, and lunch runs Tuesday to Saturday, with a €79 three-course menu on weekdays. On Sunday the room serves brunch only, from 12.30pm to 3pm at €79, or €95 with a glass of Champagne, and the brunch stops for August (from 4 to 31 August in 2026). On Sunday and Monday evenings the hotel's food is the terrace bar's snack menu, served until 10pm, with a croque monsieur at €20 and a club sandwich at €29, and room service, which runs around the clock.
What to do. Book Anne for one of your Tuesday to Saturday nights when you book the room. For Sunday and Monday, Ma Bourgogne, Chez Janou and Bofinger open every day and are two to six minutes away; L'Ambroisie and Restaurant H close on the same two days as Anne.
There is no pool, and the spa is a hammam, a jacuzzi and a small gym
The Spa de la Reine covers 250 m², with a hammam, a jacuzzi, a fitness room and two treatment rooms, and no pool. It opens every day from 7am to 9pm, and hotel guests use the hammam, the jacuzzi and the gym free of charge. Outside guests may use them too, but only with a booked treatment and a €40 supplement. Under-16s must be with an adult. Massages start at €160 for 45 minutes and €190 for an hour, with €30 an hour added for anything between 7am and 9am or between 8pm and 11pm. Bring swimwear for the hammam and the jacuzzi; reception sells it if you forget.
What to do. Swimmers should book another hotel. Everyone else should pack swimwear and book treatments between 9am and 8pm, when there is no surcharge.
The same room costs half as much again in May, June and autumn, and the city tax is extra
The entry rate is €550 a night for two in February 2027, a month that holds at that level on all but one night, and August is the other cheap month. In May and June a typical night costs about €850, and from September to November €850 to €900, with nights at €1,000 from the end of September. January, March and April sit in between, at about €650. None of these figures includes the Paris city tax, €11.70 per adult per night for a five-star hotel in 2026, which is added to the bill: €70.20 for two people over three nights.
What to do. If your dates are flexible, February and August are the months to book. Budget the city tax separately; it is not in any price on these pages.
Who should skip it
Anyone who needs space at the entry price, swimmers, and anyone who would rather not climb stairs inside a room or wheel bags along narrow corridors. Also anyone whose only evenings in Paris are a Sunday and a Monday and who wants to eat in, because Anne will be shut.
Who should book it anyway
Couples who want the Marais on foot and a quiet place to come back to. You walk under the 17th-century arcade at no. 28 into a cobbled courtyard garden, the house's front green with creeper from late spring to autumn; breakfast is on the terrace in fine weather, the hammam is free until 9pm, a starred dinner is five nights a week without a taxi, and two Métro lines are five minutes away. Book a Junior Suite on one level over the terrace and the two biggest catches on this page no longer apply.
The catch elsewhere in Paris
- Hôtel de Crillon, A Rosewood HotelPlace de la Concorde
Only signature suites are sold with the Concorde view: Lagerfeld's Grands Appartements on the fourth floor and the Louis XV and Bernstein suites on the sixth. The 32 m² entry Deluxe Room faces an inner courtyard, and the Premier and Grand Premier Rooms a courtyard or the pedestrian Rue Boissy d'Anglas.
- Le Bristol ParisFaubourg Saint-Honoré
The pool is small and indoors, open to hotel guests from 6.30am to 10.30pm: a swim with a view, not a place for lengths.
- Hôtel Madame RêveLes Halles
The entry Superior and Deluxe Balcony rooms look onto the courtyard's hanging garden, not across Paris; the city views start with the Paris View rooms.
- Shangri-La ParisTrocadéro
The entry Superior Room, 36 square metres, looks onto the courtyard or the glass cupola, and the tower view starts with the Eiffel View Room at about €3,005 against €1,730 on the same February night.
- Mandarin Oriental Lutetia, ParisSaint-Germain-des-Prés
The entry Grand Superior Room is 33 m² and looks onto the inner courtyard; the balconies start two categories up.
- Le Grand MazarinLe Marais
The entry Classic Room is 20 m², and the space starts at the Prestige Room.
- Hôtel Molitor ParisAuteuil
Auteuil is the western edge of Paris, 7 km from Notre-Dame, and the Métro into the centre is a ten-minute walk.
- Le PigallePigalle
The ground-floor bar runs until 2am from Thursday to Saturday, the other bars on Rue Frochot keep the street lively at night, and noise can reach the rooms, most of all at weekends; the courtyard side is quieter.
- Grands Boulevards ExperimentalGrands Boulevards
The entry Petit Boulevard rooms are 14 to 15 m², and room size is the complaint guests make most often.
Questions people ask
Good questions about Le Pavillon de la Reine
What are the downsides of Le Pavillon de la Reine?
Five things stand between the courtyard photograph and the stay. None of them is hidden, and most come down to booking the right room for the right nights; the first two are about the rooms. The entry rooms are small, and the Classic is an attic under the roof Some rooms have a staircase inside, and the lifts are narrow Anne, the starred dining room, is shut on Sunday and Monday nights There is no pool, and the spa is a hammam, a jacuzzi and a small gym The same room costs half as much again in May, June and autumn, and the city tax is extra
Who should not book Le Pavillon de la Reine?
Anyone who needs space at the entry price, swimmers, and anyone who would rather not climb stairs inside a room or wheel bags along narrow corridors. Also anyone whose only evenings in Paris are a Sunday and a Monday and who wants to eat in, because Anne will be shut.
Our verdict
A private house behind the Place des Vosges, with a starred dining room inside and the Marais at the gate. Spend on a Junior Suite rather than the attic Classic, and plan Sunday and Monday dinners elsewhere.
Last checked: October 2026