A luxury hotel in Paris has released two statements following Serena Williams’ accusation that she and her family were ‘denied access’ to its rooftop restaurant.
On August 5, Serena Williams, the former professional tennis player and four-time Olympic gold medalist, posted on Twitter claiming she had been ‘denied access’ to an ’empty’ rooftop restaurant at the hotel.
She posted a picture of a sign outside The Peninsula Paris hotel in France.
Her tweet read: “Yikes @peninsulaparis I’ve been denied access to rooftop to eat in a empty restaurant of nicer places but never with my kids. Always a first. #Olympic2024.”
The post quickly garnered attention, with users of social media offering mixed reactions to the situation.
One user commented: “How does one get denied when they are Serena Wiliams…lol.”
Another added: “Do better Peninsula.”
However, a third person argued: “Paris restaurants typically only book to capacity and they don’t expect to turn tables multiple times each evening. So if a booking is made for 8pm, they will not seat someone at that table at seven. So at 7pm a restaurant may look empty at the moment, but every table is actually reserved. You can’t take this as a personal slight.”
Another individual wrote: “You are aware the Olympic games are in town, so reservations everywhere are probably a good idea, right?”
The hotel has since issued a response.
Responding on Twitter, the hotel asked Williams to ‘please accept’ its ‘deepest apologies’ for the ‘disappointment’ she experienced at the restaurant.
The tweet explained: “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.”
The message added: “We have always been honored to welcome you and will always be to welcome you again.”
The Peninsula also provided a statement to US Weekly Magazine, with a representative stating that the hotel holds the ‘utmost admiration and respect’ for Williams ‘as we do for all our esteemed guests’.
The statement continued: “We can only reiterate our deepest apologies for her perception of tonight’s situation. Today, August 5th, our rooftop bar was indeed fully booked, and the only unoccupied tables at that time belonged to our gourmet restaurant, L’Oiseau Blanc, which was also fully reserved tonight.”
“She has always been, and will always be, more than welcome with her family at The Peninsula.”