Review: Waldorf Astoria Versailles Trianon Palace – bookable in the Hilton sale

This is our review of the Waldorf Astoria Trianon Palace hotel in Versailles, just outside Paris.

Hilton is currently running its latest weekends sale for hotels and resorts across the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

You can get up to 20% off participating properties in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa when you book by 2nd September for stays by 7th September. 

You can see full details of the sale on the Hilton website here.

As part of the sale we are reviewing a number of Hilton properties in the UK and Europe. We started at the London Hilton on Park Lane, reviewed here and the Conrad Dublin hotel here. A Madrid review will follow next week.

Hilton provided a one night stay and dinner whilst HfP covered the second night and transportation. Hilton has not seen this review before publication.

The Waldorf Astoria Trianon Palace website is here.

About the Trianon Palace

The Trianon Palace Hotel was opened in 1910 on a three hectare site right on the edge of the great park of Versailles and was once part of the Royal Domaine of Louis XIV itself.

The hotel is known as the location where the Treaty of Versailles was negotiated, before it was signed in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles on 28th June 1919.

Built in the classical style of the Versailles chateau your first impression is, as you can tell from the photo above, amazing.

How do you get to the Trianon Palace hotel?

I came to Paris by Eurostar, arriving at Gare du Nord. There are various options to Versailles, but all involve crossing Paris because Versailles is to the south west.

I bought a travelcard from a machine which covers up to Zone 6 (Versailles is Zone 5). The walk to Magenta station was 5 minutes where I travelled on Line E to La Défense and changed to Line L to Versailles Rive Droite station.

From the station it is a beautiful 20 minute walk along the quiet and tree-lined Boulevard de la Reine to the hotel. The whole journey from Gare du Nord, train to hotel door, took less than 1.5 hours.

Here is a map I photographed, the hotel’s estate is circled in red:

The core reason to stay here, of course is to explore Versailles Palace, the Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon and the gardens.

All this can be visited by entering the park through Queen’s Gate next to the hotel. The park is free and if you turn sharp left after the gates and go straight for three minutes you will come to a Versailles gardens entry point, the Neptune Gate, with no queue (you need a valid ticket here). I had a day ticket which was, honestly, far too short for proper exploration. I would recommend a two-day ticket.

The centre of Versailles is a short walk away and is well worth a visit with interesting shops, brasseries and restaurants around the market square. There are also more museums, the Royal Opera of Versailles and theatres.

The Waldorf Astoria is actually TWO hotels

Here is the key thing to know before you book a stay here. The hotel is split into two parts, one of which is rated 5* and one 4*. The website shows clearly which room categories are in which building.

Your arrival is impressive as the estate is entered via a large ornamental iron gate, pictured below. You then see a beautifully manicured garden and parkland flanked by the 5* Trianon Palace to the left and the 4* Trianon Pavillion to the right.

Both hotels are rectangular and share 199 rooms between them, equally split.

Trianon Pavillion was opened in 1990 but has no facilities apart from conference rooms. Guests go through the garden or an underground walkway to use the facilities and restaurants (including breakfast) in the Trianon Palace.

Some people will prefer to pay less to stay in the 4* block, image below, whilst still benefitting from the restaurants and facilities in the 5* building. Others will want the full 5* palace experience from beginnning to end. I looked at rooms in both buildings.

Below is the garden side of the Trianon Palace with a lovely terrace called Le Jardin du Trianon. I had a cocktail here accompanied by subtle DJ entertainment.

On Thursdays it is BBQ night with chefs cooking over open fires. In the evening the festoon lights are lit and it becomes a lush yet secluded space.

You enter the Trianon Palace hotel from the side and first thing you see is a stunning lobby with a green circular sofa as the focal point.

To the left of the lobby is the relatively small and modern reception area. The concierge is in a room off the other side of the lobby.

The rear of the Trianon Palace faces the Park of Versailles and has the best room views. The full length Winter Garden houses the restaurants and there are extended terraces outside.

The brasserie La Véranda serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Beside breakfast I also had dinner here. When the weather is warm, the doors to the terrace are open. The atmosphere here is definitely elevated.

The hotel is also worth considering if you primarily want to visit Paris but like the idea of spending the night in a green and airy location. I was told that the shortest connection to the centre of Paris is a train from Versailles Château Rive Gauche, a station roughly 30 minutes on foot from the hotel.

As this is a Waldorf Astoria, it has a Peacock Alley bar. The bar itself is very large but does not have much seating of its own.

Guests spread out – opposite is a large salon with a fireplace (not pictured) which is open in winter when the garden terrace can’t be used. Adjacent is the long Peacock Gallery where you can also sip a drink.

The fine dining option is the Michelin-starred restaurant Gordon Ramsay au Trianon (yes, Gordon gets everywhere). It occupies another part of this marvellous Winter Garden with its own terrace. I did not get to try this.

The Peacock Gallery leads off the lobby and is open from noon for drinks and small bites.

From this gallery you can reach the bar, the restaurants and the garden terrace. It was nearly always empty when I was there as the weather was too fabulous to sit inside but I can imagine that in winter it is a beautiful space to sit and relax.

My room at Waldorf Astoria Trianon Palace

I had a King Deluxe Park View room on the third floor. It was v-e-r-y spacious and in many other hotels would have been classified as a junior suite. A large bouquet of flowers awaited me on my desk.

Although there is no visible wear and tear you notice that you are in a historic building when there is only a plug socket on one side of the bed.

The two large armchairs were very comfy and to the right you can catch a glimpse of the mirrored wardrobe. As you can see I got some goodies too but, as the hotel knew I was on a review trip, you shouldn’t necessarily assume that you would get the same.

The best part of my room, and I mean THE BEST, was the view to the vast expanse of the Versailles park. It is a stunning sight and (almost) literally endless.

Due to the hotel’s location at the end of an already quiet boulevard, and surrounded by its own parkland, you get a real feeling of being in the countryside.

My bathroom was a bit odd shaped – probably to fit a separate toilet at some stage in the past. It missed a little stool to be able to use the cosmetic mirror but was otherwise very comfortable.

The mosaic floor tiles with the rose pattern really lifted the design I thought.

I had the chance to visit some other room categories. Although Park View options are of course the best, the Garden View rooms in both the 5* and 4* buildings – which face the area between the two wings – are also lovely.

The picture below is the same Deluxe King room category I had but in the newer 4* Trianon Pavilion, with a garden view.

It is important to know that the other side of the 4* Trianon Pavillion building faces a wall. I didn’t see inside a room on that side but I saw the building from behind. If you are staying in the 4* part I strongly recommed a Garden View room.

The bathroom in the 4* wing was very similar to mine, with the only difference being that the toilet was not separate.

Breakfast and dinner at Waldorf Astoria Trianon Palace

Breakfast is served at La Véranda in the 5* building. The buffet is laid out in a very spacious separate room and the choice is very good.

Egg dishes can be made to order and here is what I took from the buffet.

It is definitely worth exploring every corner of the buffet. One very charming French waiter drew my attention to freshly made crepes and waffles under a silver dome which I would otherwise have missed (here topped up with strawberry compote):

I had one dinner at La Véranda. As a brasserie it is a more relaxed environment than the Gordon Ramsay fine dining restaurant.

For my starter I had melon gazpacho, tomato tartar and balsamic vinegar (€16). I liked the look and taste of it.

As I was in France I thought I should go full French and ordered veal sweetbread casserole, carrots and jura wine sauce (€44) with mashed potatoes. It was delicious.

For my dessert I had cheesecake and raspberry gourmet caramel (€16). This was good as well.

The pool and gym

The hotel has a luxurious Guerlain Spa. In the spa reception is a wide selection of Guerlain fragrances – historic, classic and new ones.

My stay was too short to take advantage but the pool was genuinely impressive – very large with an outside terrace as well.

The space was very light due to the large glassed roof and many loungers were available.

This is only one part of the gym which includes a second room and a studio for classes. Outside on the estate were also tennis courts.

Conclusion

I really felt indulged during my two night stay at Waldorf Astoria Versailles Trianon Palace.

This historic hotel stands in a magnificent location, the food was excellent, the service generally attentive and the spaces beautiful.

If a visit to the Palace of Versailles, the gardens or Grand (or Petit) Trianon are on your wish list then this hotel is the perfect place to start. The town of Versailles also has a lot to offer.

The Waldorf Astoria Versailles Trianon Palace is included in Hilton’s Summer Sale for UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa hotels.

In terms of pricing, a weekend stay at the end of August starts at a very reasonable €280 per night (albeit for the wall-facing rooms in the 4* wing) or €480 for the King Deluxe Park View I had in the 5* wing. Reward nights are 80,000 Hilton Honors points and seem to be restricted to the 4* wing unless you book a Premium Room reward.

Get a special deal via our luxury hotel partner

Our luxury hotel booking partner, Emyr Thomas, is a ‘Hilton for Luxury’ agent. Anyone booking via Emyr will receive the following benefits:

• Complimentary breakfast for two
• $100 equivalent hotel credit (cannot be used against room rate)
• Double Hilton Honors points
• One category upgrade, early check-in and late check-out, subject to availability

There is a ‘4th night free’ promotion until March 2026 if you book via Emyr. You pay the same as the flexible rate on the Hilton website. Emyr charges no booking, cancellation or amendment fees and you usually pay as usual on departure.

You can contact Emyr by filling in the form on this page of HfP.

Special thanks to Neil who gave me a tour and patiently answered all my questions on the running and history of the hotel.

The Waldorf Astoria Versailles Trianon Palace website is here.