The Hotel Daniel Paris is the first French hotel where I ever had afternoon tea. At 28€ per person, it is the cheapest in the city but also one of the best:
Pour la version française, cliquez ici
2023 Update: The Hotel Daniel is now called the Hotel de Montesquieu, which no longer serves afternoon tea.
Afternoon Tea / Tea Time at Hôtel Daniel Paris, France (Relais & Châteaux, 4-star hotel)
Overall mark: ★★★★★
Daniel Afternoon Tea price: 28€/person
Champagne Afternoon Tea price: 35€/person
Tea refills: No, 1 choice per person (7-8€ per extra teapot); Food refills: No
Service: 3 to 5:30 pm in the Tea Room
Setting ★★★★☆
The Daniel sits in a very peaceful street, just a stroll away from the Champs-Elysées. The hotel’s quiet atmosphere skillfully combines luxury and tranquillity, which contrasts with the vibrant quality of the French capital.
The hotel may seem slightly old fashioned in some aspects but that’s part of its charm. It is an oasis of calm, one of Paris’s best-kept secrets.
The Tea Room ★★★★★
Afternoon tea is served in the hotel lounge, which also operates as a tea room. The Hotel Daniel interior is the work of British decorator Tarfa Salam, whose inspiration was a silk road theme.
The interior decoration combines French style with Oriental Chinoiseries, for an outstanding result. It is unusual to see such a skilful combination: it feels like a British aristocrat’s boudoir but with the peculiar eclectism of the 18th-century French decorative style. It’s the perfect afternoon tea venue, especially if you fancy hushed tea rooms.
The Hôtel Daniel Paris Afternoon Tea
The Daniel afternoon tea costs 28€ per person with one hot beverage and 35€ per person with one hot beverage and a glass of Champagne. It is comprised of sandwiches, scones and one choice of cake/pastry.
The Tea & Beverage Selection ★★★★★
Most hotels get their teas from a single supplier, which is not necessarily a good thing. The Hotel Daniel Paris does the opposite and has four suppliers: George Cannon and Mariages Frères for the tea, Palais Royal for the infusions and Nina’s for Rooibos. With a grand total of 28 teas and infusions, this selection is both excellent and varied.
I especially love the “Marco Polo” from Mariages Frères: a fruity black tea with notes of honey, vanilla and caramel. The “Baltazar” from George Cannon is a must-try for the most adventurous: a very interesting blend of Oolong tea and Rooibos
The staff will bring you a cast iron teapot filled with water at the adequate temperature. using the hourglass, and it will be up to you to regulate the brew (weak to very strong), using the tea bag or the tea filter. Last but not least, the teapots are placed on a heated metal tray so the water temperature will not drop significantly. It’s quite unusual to see such attention to detail when it comes to tea brewing: a very good reason to love the Hôtel Daniel Paris afternoon tea!
Choices of teas: 28 (black, green, white, oolong and infusions); loose-leaf or in a silk tea bag depending on the supplier
Brewing method: by yourself using the hourglass and tea filter; cast iron teapot
The Savouries ★★★★☆
Even though they won’t shine by their originality, the sandwiches are tasty and refreshing:
- Vegetables
- Ham
- Salmon
The Scones ★★★★☆
The plain scones are served warm so it’s better to eat them first even though they’ll retain some warmth while wrapped in the napkin. The scones are very tasty and come with many toppings: clotted cream, apricot jam, strawberry jam and bitter orange marmalade. The latter is delicious, I recommend to pair it with black tea to enhance the citrus fruit flavour.
As with the teas, the toppings are from an excellent supplier: the Daniel buys its jams and marmalades from the very reputable Chambre aux Confitures.
The Cakes & Sweets ★★★★★
Each guest may choose a single cake from the Pâtisserie des Rêves. The selection varies but here are a few examples:
- Calisson d’Aix (traditional French cakes made candied fruit paste and ground almonds topped with a thin layer of royal icing)
- Lemon cream Millefeuille (cream & puff pastry cake)
- Praline Paris-Brest choux pastry
- Almond & strawberry Paris-Brest choux pastry
- Lemon meringue tart
- Fraisier (Strawberry biscuit cake)
- Black chocolate & hazelnut cake
- Strawberry & orange blossom tart
- Rum Baba with strawberry & coconut cream
Back in 2015, during my first afternoon tea at the Daniel, I was able to try out a delicious Framboisier, an extraordinary raspberry and cream pastry (second picture below). I couldn’t express a preference this time, but each cake was as tasty as it was beautiful.
Some guests may regret not being able to try out several small size cakes, as is usually the case for afternoon tea. The selection is random so you may not be able to choose your favourite cake. I quite like this MO as it encourages everyone to try out different cakes.
If you don’t mind sharing, I recommend going to the Daniel as a group. The pastries are delicious and you will have less of a hard time choosing! It’s also possible to buy cakes individually but it will cost you 12€ per cake.
2018 Update: I went back to the Daniel recently and snapped a few pictures of the cakes that were on offer that day. That Saint-Honoré cake ♥ was heavenly, even though part of me felt a tad guilty for eating so much sugar in one go 🙂
The Service ★★★★★
Service is courteous and efficient, a good balance between friendliness and professionalism. Frédéric the tea room manager is especially worthy of praise as he was able to answer even the most specific question about the teas and about the food.
Below is a video presenting the afternoon tea and the cake selection (in French):
Conclusion & Overall Mark ★★★★★
2023 Update: The Hotel Daniel is now called the Hotel de Montesquieu, which no longer serves afternoon tea.
The Hôtel Daniel Paris afternoon tea is among my favourites. It’s a steal at 28€ per person and yet the quality of both the teas and the food is beyond reproach.
In this price range, the Daniel afternoon tea even surpasses the Burgundy Paris, most notably thanks to its excellent tea selection.
+: Prime location
+: The tea room’s hushed atmosphere
+: The tea selection
+: The delicious food
+: The cakes & sweets
+: Nice service
+: Best Parisian afternoon tea in this segment
-: Ordinary sandwiches
-: One cake per person
Email: reservation@hoteldanielparis.com
Phone number: +33 (0)1 42 56 17 00
Address: 8 rue Frédéric Bastiat Champs-Elysées 75008 Paris
Pour la version française, cliquez ici
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