Updated: 4 April 2026
Paris in Style: The 10 Best Hotels You Can Book with Amex Points
It was a Friday evening in March when, after a quick Thalys from Brussels-South, I walked into the lobby of Le Bristol. Outside it was raining, inside it smelled of fresh flowers and there was a butler who took my coat as if it were the most normal thing in the world. In my room, a bottle of champagne was waiting. Complimentary. Not because I knew someone, but simply because I had booked via Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts.
That moment is precisely why I'm writing this article. Many Belgian travellers don't know that with your Amex Platinum card you have access to an entirely parallel hotel programme that gives you up to €650 in extras with every stay. No points you redeem, but real benefits on top of the room rates. And Paris? Paris is where this programme truly shines.
Honestly, it had taken me a long time to discover it myself. I simply booked via Booking.com, paid full price, and missed all those extras. Since I started using the FHR portal for my Paris weekends, I feel a bit silly that I didn't do it sooner.
How do you book a luxury hotel in Paris with Amex Platinum points?
Let me first explain how Fine Hotels + Resorts works exactly, because it's different from what you might be used to with hotel points programmes. You don't book with points like with Hilton Honors or Marriott Bonvoy. Instead, you book a room at the best available rate via the Amex Travel portal, and a whole range of benefits are automatically added on top.
With every FHR booking you get: a complimentary room upgrade when available, early check-in when possible, guaranteed late checkout until 4 PM, daily breakfast for two, and a welcome gift worth approximately €100. The welcome gift varies by hotel: sometimes it's a spa treatment, sometimes dining credit, sometimes a bottle of wine. At some Parisian hotels it's a €100 credit you can use in the restaurant.
Let's do the maths. Breakfast for two at a five-star hotel in Paris easily costs €80-€120 per morning. Two nights? That's €160-€240 in breakfast alone. Add the €100 welcome gift on top, plus the room upgrade that's easily worth €100-€200 per night. Then you're quickly looking at €400-€650 in extra value. Per stay.
You can simply pay your room rate with your Amex Platinum (and earn Membership Rewards points in the process) or you can convert saved-up points into statement credits. With the Booster option at €10 per month you earn 4 points per €1 spent, meaning a Paris stay like this earns you points extremely quickly.
The 10 best Parisian FHR hotels for Belgian travellers
Over the past two years I've visited several of these hotels and thoroughly researched the rest. These are my ten favourites, ranked based on personal experience, FHR benefits and value for money. Not every hotel suits everyone: some are timelessly classic, others ultramodern. I'll honestly tell you what I thought of each one.
1. Le Bristol Paris
Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. This is my absolute favourite and the hotel where I ended up on that rainy Friday evening. Le Bristol feels as though you're staying in a private palace, but one with a rooftop pool overlooking the Parisian rooftops. The staff remembers your name within five minutes. The FHR welcome gift here is a €100 credit for the three-Michelin-star restaurant Epicure. Room rates start around €850 per night, but with the FHR benefits added you easily get €500 in extra value for a weekend.
Palace HotelFHR €100 creditRooftop pool2. Hôtel Plaza Athénée
Avenue Montaigne, right opposite the Dior flagship store. Plaza Athénée is the hotel you know from Emily in Paris, but believe me: in real life it's even more beautiful. The red awnings, the courtyard, the rooms with a view of the Eiffel Tower. I stayed here last autumn and was upgraded upon arrival from a Classique room to a Deluxe with balcony. Just like that. The FHR welcome gift was a spa treatment at the Dior Spa. Expect €700-€1,200 per night, but that breakfast in the Cour Jardin is worth every euro.
Palace HotelEiffel Tower viewDior Spa credit3. The Peninsula Paris
Close to the Arc de Triomphe, in a beautifully restored Belle Époque building. The Peninsula is perhaps the most technologically advanced hotel on this list: a tablet beside your bed controls everything, from the curtains to the bath. The rooftop bar L'Oiseau Blanc has one of the best views in Paris. Here I received an FHR welcome gift in the form of a spa credit, and the breakfast in the lobby was absurdly extensive. Starting prices around €650.
FHR Spa CreditRooftop barArc de Triomphe4. Shangri-La Hotel Paris
Located in the former palace of Prince Roland Bonaparte, with perhaps the most photogenic Eiffel Tower view in all of Paris. I haven't stayed there yet, but friends who booked via FHR were ecstatic about the room upgrade: from a standard room to a suite with direct tower views. The breakfast is French-Asian, an unusual combination that works surprisingly well. Rates start around €550, making this one of the more accessible options on this list.
Historic palaceEiffel Tower viewFrom €5505. Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme
On Place Vendôme, within walking distance of the Opéra Garnier. This is the hotel I recommend if you love sleek, modern design but still want to be in the historic heart of Paris. The rooms were designed by Ed Tuttle and combine oak, limestone and velvet in a way that feels both warm and minimalist. The FHR welcome gift is usually a €100 food & beverage credit. Particularly nice: as a Hyatt member you can also earn World of Hyatt points on top of your Amex points here.
Design hotelPlace Vendôme€100 F&B credit6. Mandarin Oriental Paris
Hidden away on Rue Saint-Honoré, with a secret inner garden you'd never suspect from the street. This hotel is pure serenity in the middle of the busiest shopping district in Paris. The spa here is among the best I've ever visited: two hours and you feel reborn. Via FHR I received breakfast at the Camélia, the in-house restaurant, and the room upgrade was from a Deluxe to a Premier Room. Starting prices around €750.
Inner gardenTop spaRue Saint-Honoré7. Hôtel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel
Place de la Concorde. This hotel is a monument, literally. After a four-year renovation costing €300 million, the Crillon reopened in 2017 as one of the most beautiful hotels in the world. The Karl Lagerfeld suites are legendary, but honestly the entry-level rooms are already phenomenal. The FHR welcome gift here is a spa or dining credit, and breakfast in the Brasserie d'Aumont feels like a scene from a film. Rates start around €900.
Historic monumentPlace de la ConcordeRosewood8. Le Meurice
Rue de Rivoli, overlooking the Tuileries. Le Meurice calls itself "the hotel of kings" and you feel that in every square metre. Salvador Dalí stayed here regularly, and that eccentric spirit is reflected in the décor. The Restaurant Le Meurice Alain Ducasse holds two Michelin stars. Via FHR breakfast is included and you receive a welcome credit of ~€100 for the restaurant or bar. Room rates from €750.
Palace HotelTuileries viewAlain Ducasse9. Cheval Blanc Paris
The newest palace hotel in Paris, opened in 2021 on the banks of the Seine in the former Samaritaine. Cheval Blanc is owned by LVMH and you can tell: everything is meticulously curated, from the Dior toiletries to the restaurant Plénitude with chef Arnaud Donckele (three Michelin stars). This is the most expensive hotel on my list, with rates that easily exceed €1,200 per night. But if you ever want to know what it feels like to bathe in absolute Parisian luxury: this is it.
LVMH3 Michelin starsSeine view10. Four Seasons Hôtel George V
Avenue George V, close to the Champs-Élysées. The George V is famous for its floral arrangements: every week 12,000 fresh flowers are arranged in the lobby. The FHR benefits here are particularly attractive because the hotel also has its own courtyard where you can have breakfast in spring and summer. Le Cinq, the gastronomic restaurant, holds two Michelin stars. Room rates start around €800. A classic that never disappoints.
Four SeasonsChamps-ÉlyséesIconic floral arrangementsHow much do you save as a Belgian Amex Platinum cardholder per stay?
Let's get concrete with a real example. Last October I booked two nights at Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme via Fine Hotels + Resorts. The room rate was €520 per night, so €1,040 in total. What I received on top for free:
Daily breakfast for two at the restaurant, four mornings in total: value approximately €400. A room upgrade from Park King to Park Deluxe King, normally €120 extra per night: value €240. Late checkout until 4 PM on the last day, which gave me an extra half day in Paris. And a €100 food & beverage credit that I used in the bar that evening.
Total extra value: around €640, for a stay of €1,040. That's more than 60% in extras on top of what I paid. Had I booked the same hotel via Booking.com, I would have paid exactly the same €520 per night, but without any of those benefits.
The Amex Platinum card costs €780 per year. One FHR weekend in Paris already delivers almost as much value as that annual fee. And that's without even counting the 1,550+ airport lounges, the Fast Lane at Brussels Airport, the travel insurance and the Dining for 2 benefits.
Practical tips: from Belgium to a Paris FHR hotel
The Thalys (now Eurostar) takes you in 1 hour and 22 minutes from Brussels-South to Paris Gare du Nord. First class tickets cost around €70-€120 if you book early, and yes, you can pay for those with your Amex to earn points. From Gare du Nord you're at virtually any hotel on this list within 15-20 minutes by metro or taxi.
My tip: book your Thalys ticket about 6-8 weeks in advance for the best prices, and book your hotel via FHR as soon as you're sure of your dates. FHR bookings are usually freely cancellable up to 24-48 hours before arrival, but always check the specific terms and conditions with your booking.
Another tip I discovered myself: if you use the Fast Lane security at Brussels Airport (free with your Amex Platinum, normally €169 per year), you can also relax in the Priority Pass Lounge on Sunday before your Thalys back. Ideal if you've planned an early departure. And don't forget that you can also pick up twice a month for free at Black Pearls via the Dining Experience at Zaventem.
In terms of timing: Paris in spring (April-May) and autumn (September-November) is most pleasant. Hotel rooms are also slightly cheaper then compared to the summer months or during fashion weeks. I prefer to book a Thursday-to-Sunday weekend: you arrive on Thursday evening, have two full days, and check out on Sunday afternoon thanks to the late checkout.
Why the 150,000-point welcome bonus partially funds your first Paris stay
One of the reasons I'm writing this article is because many Belgian travellers don't realise how much that welcome bonus is actually worth. Via the TravelLux.be referral link you receive up to 150,000 Membership Rewards points as a welcome bonus. That's the maximum bonus currently available in Belgium.
Those 150,000 points can be used in several ways. You can convert them to airline miles with partners such as Brussels Airlines, Air France-KLM or British Airways. Or you use them as statement credit for travel expenses. The value depends on how you redeem them, but on average you can count on 0.5 to 1 cent per point, which amounts to €750-€1,500 in travel value.
Concretely: that welcome bonus can largely cover your first two nights at an FHR hotel in Paris. Combine that with the complimentary breakfasts, the room upgrade and the welcome gift, and your first luxury Paris weekend costs you almost nothing out of pocket. That's exactly how I approached it myself.
The card costs €780 per year (€65 per month) and you need a minimum gross annual income of €30,000 to qualify. All details can be found on the official Amex Platinum page. However, the welcome bonus via a direct application is lower than via a referral link, so if you're considering the card, it pays to apply via a referral link.
Frequently asked questions about booking luxury hotels in Paris with Amex
How many Amex points do I need for a luxury hotel in Paris?
Via Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts you pay in euros (not directly with points), but you automatically receive up to €650 in extra benefits. You can convert your Membership Rewards points into statement credits to earn back the room rate. With the Booster option (4 points per €1 for €10/month) you save faster. A typical FHR weekend in Paris costs €800-€2,000 for two nights, but the extras make it enormously worthwhile.
What is Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts and how does it work in Belgium?
Fine Hotels + Resorts (FHR) is a hotel programme exclusive to Amex Platinum cardholders. You book via the Amex Travel portal and automatically receive with every stay: complimentary room upgrade when available, early check-in, late checkout until 4 PM, daily breakfast for 2 and a welcome gift of approximately €100. The programme includes more than 14,000 luxury hotels worldwide, including dozens in Paris. Belgian cardholders have exactly the same access as cardholders in other countries.
Which Parisian hotels are part of the Amex FHR programme?
According to TravelLux.be, the following top hotels are among those in the FHR programme: Le Bristol Paris, Hôtel Plaza Athénée, The Peninsula Paris, Shangri-La Hotel, Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme, Mandarin Oriental Paris, Hôtel de Crillon, Le Meurice, Cheval Blanc Paris and Four Seasons Hôtel George V. The selection is regularly updated, so always check the Amex Travel portal for the current list.
How much does the Amex Platinum card cost in Belgium?
The American Express Platinum card costs €65 per month, which amounts to €780 per year. Via the TravelLux.be referral link you receive the maximum welcome bonus of 150,000 Membership Rewards points. An additional Platinum card costs €10/month and you can add up to 4 free Green cards for family members. You need a minimum gross annual income of €30,000.
Is the Amex Platinum card worth it for Paris weekends from Belgium?
For Belgian travellers who regularly visit Paris, the Amex Platinum is very much worth it. One FHR weekend already delivers up to €650 in extras (breakfast, room upgrade, welcome gift, late checkout). Additionally, you enjoy Fast Lane security at Brussels Airport (worth €169/year), access to 1,550+ airport lounges, travel insurance and no foreign transaction fees. Two FHR weekends per year and you've more than recouped the annual fee.
Apply for the Amex Platinum via our personal referral link and receive the maximum welcome bonus of 150,000 Membership Rewards points.
✦ Apply via referral link — 150,000 points