Let’s establish some Basic Principles on which we all agree.

San Francisco is the best city in the world to live in. OK. Now that we have established that as fact we can say that Paris is the best city in the world to visit. And that is why I have just returned from a week in Paris, for the ostensible purpose of looking at hotels. The real reason was to look at Parisians. And in between the hotel part (which I will get to later), I did a lot of that.

Paris in the Spring. Beautiful, warm weather brought out a million people in the streets, jamming the cafes, soaking up the sun in the Jardins du Luxembourg, long lines for ice cream, lovers being lovers on just about every park bench. In fact, it looked exactly like a Parisian crowd would look if you called Central Casting and asked for one. A combination of really good looking, very fashionably dressed sophisticated people and some of the weirdest people on the planet. And the Set was perfect, too. Beautiful gardens everywhere in full bloom, narrow winding streets, farmers markets on Saturdays, street art shows on Sundays. They even had the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop.

And what a surprise, the food was good, too. I do have to admit though that on one particularly warm afternoon I had some amazing gelato, then went to a café on a small square and had a Leffe (fantastic Belgian beer) and watched people, and then went to another café in a different square to have a cappuccino. Not what you would call good food combining, but very satisfying. Oh yeah, had a great dinner later. I don’t remember exactly, salmon something with some kind of sauce paired with an excellent wine, the name of which I don’t remember either. The Crème Brule was excellent.

To business. First I would like to introduce you all to our new DMC in Paris, Holt Paris Welcome Service. Well, new to us, but certainly not to Paris. Susan Holt is a Paris institution, having run her company there for more than 40 years. I spent a day with her, getting familiar with her company and her recommendations relating to group business to Paris. I came to see that every doorman and every concierge at every hotel in the city knows her. She is incredibly well connected and if something needs to be done in Paris, I am absolutely confident Susan is the one to do it. And like us, she is really nice. But don’t get in her way when she is driving.

I could go on in great detail about the hotels I visited, but for the interests of your time I will boil it down to a few essentials… if you have a small high-end incentive group or board meeting, and luxury and service, not price, is the object, then Le Meurice or the Plaza Athenee are incredible., Palace-like hotels in great locations where you can pretend you are rich. On a similar level, although able to handle groups a bit larger, and perhaps a tiny bit less pricey, is The Bristol. I was very impressed. Depending on the season these hotels are in the 500 euro and higher range, so be prepared. Oh…the Ritz and the Four Seasons are pretty nice, too.

If you have a slightly larger group, whether it be for a meeting or incentive, and you are looking for an upscale hotel but more in the 250-300 euro range, then both The Westin and the Intercontinental are excellent choices. They are elegant, have great locations, provide a high level of service, and are used to groups. Can’t go wrong with either.

Finding facilities for large groups in Paris can be difficult. It’s not Vegas. But if you want to be in Paris for a larger meeting or conference, then I found the combination of Le Meridien Etoile (1,025 rooms) and the Concorde de Lafayette (950 rooms) to be excellent convention hotels. Both have their own meeting space, but are also attached to the Palais de Congres exhibition center and so if need be, guests can be housed in both properties and the meetings (up to 2,000 attendees) can be held in the Convention Center.

I looked at a lot of other hotels too, so if you have a group to Paris, ask us and we’ll put together a summary of availability, rates, and recommendations.

Just one more thing. The Europeans seem to be so smart in so many ways. Why can’t they seem to figure out that smoking is bad for you. And that includes second-hand smoke. Just saying.