Serena Williams said she and her family were denied access to the rooftop dining area at The Peninsula Paris on August 5, 2024, during the Paris Olympics. The hotel apologized and said its rooftop bar was fully booked, while the visible unoccupied tables belonged to a separate restaurant that was also reserved.
What Serena Williams said happened
Williams described the encounter in a post on X dated August 5, 2024. She said she had been denied access to the rooftop with her children, although the area she could see looked empty. Her post read: “Yikes @PeninsulaParis I’ve been denied access to [the] rooftop to eat in [an] empty restaurant of nicer places but never with my kids,” she wrote. “Always a first. #Olympic2024.” The bracketed wording appears in the transcription reproduced by BET.
Her post was a public account of what she encountered; it does not establish the restaurant’s booking status or the details of the interaction.
How The Peninsula Paris responded
The hotel apologized and said the rooftop bar was fully booked. It explained that the unoccupied tables Williams saw were in L’Oiseau Blanc, its separate gourmet restaurant, and said that restaurant was also fully reserved. In its reply, quoted by BET, the hotel wrote: “Please accept our deepest apologies for the disappointment you encountered tonight. Unfortunately, our rooftop bar was indeed fully booked and the only unoccupied tables you saw belonged to our gourmet restaurant, L’Oiseau Blanc, which was fully reserved.”
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The hotel added that it had always been honored to welcome Williams and would welcome her and her family again. Its explanation was also reported by TODAY. The reviewed coverage does not independently verify the hotel’s reservation records.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the accounts differ
Williams characterized the rooftop dining area she could see as empty. The hotel distinguished between its rooftop bar and L’Oiseau Blanc, saying the visible unoccupied tables belonged to the restaurant rather than the bar, and that both venues were fully booked or reserved. The public statements explain the difference in their descriptions, but do not establish precisely what staff and guests saw or said during the encounter.
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The incident occurred during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Neither the reports nor the parties’ quoted statements identify a specific staff member involved.
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