HEADED TO THE CITY OF LOVE? THE HYATT PARIS MADELEINE OFFERS AMBIANCE, AMENITIES AND OF COURSE, AMOUR

The Hyatt Paris Madeleine is a unique luxury hotel- and experience- in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, nearby to the Garnier Opera in a superb, centralized location. We noticed right away that the clientele was much different than that of which we had seen in other hotels in the city; instead of being obviously full with easy-to-spot tourists, there were men and women in stylish business attire, speaking (mostly in French) intently over afternoon cocktails, cheese plates and paperwork. These were locals, conducting meetings in a chic and energized setting- much more fun than the traditional office conference room. If people who live in Paris choose to hang out here, we knew it had to be pretty exceptional.

Of course there were also tourists visiting the Madeleine, the four of us included in that demographic. We received a warm welcome from the hotel manager, Alexandre, and were treated to mimosas and “virgin mimosas” for the kids (it sounded fancier to them than “orange juice”), in the main sitting room off of the lobby entrance. This special room, which is really an interior courtyard, features a wrought iron window design for the ceiling, inspired by the architecture of the Eiffel Tower itself, and allows you to look up and out to the open sky.

Up in our room which appropriately had a lovely little “french balcony,” we took in views of the Tour de Eiffel, including one of my very favorite Parisian views, the nightly light show, where the tower sparkles for the first ten minutes of every hour.We knew right away that the cuisine at The Hyatt Paris Madeleine was going to be impressive when sampling the crudité and fresh dips (an incredible white bean hummus, a dill+yogurt cream and a savory olive tapenade), which were brought to our room and were ALL incredible.

There were also fantastic asiago bread twists, sweet fresh fruit, HOMEMADE HONEY in the hotels’ own bee-hive (!!!!), over a dozen newly-baked madeleines (how perfect to enjoy madeleines at the Madeleine!), and color-your-own puzzles of Paris for the little ones. Between all of the treats, the creative craft project and the miniature bathrobes with Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s Le Petit Prince soaps and shower gels, the kids were more than excited to be there.

From the hotel, we ventured on foot to various highlights of the city, including a ride on the Roue de Paris, the iconic Parisian ferris wheel on Place de la Concorde. Never in a million years would I have thought I would go on this giant ferris wheel, let alone any ferris wheel, though somehow, it ended up being my idea to do so. The ride was a nice mix of incredible and terrifying, as we looked down on the entire City of Love. As a bonus, we got some great pictures and the opportunity to say we did it!

We also had our own little scavenger hunt at the Louvre, where the kids had been begging to see the Mona Lisa all week (a proud parent moment for us), and were ecstatic when we finally did.

A traveler since childhood, Juliana Fraioli Wilson has always had a love for exploring. She is a published writer and an accomplished business owner with a background in music and art. Join Juliana, her husband Ryan, and their two kids in Wanderland! Follow along as they share tips, tricks, recipes and reviews from some of the most beautiful travel destinations in the world.