With its watercolor image of the hotel’s red-carpeted front entrance and adorning bellboy,

It’s functional as well, allowing visitors to choose between site versions written in French, English, or Japanese. After overcoming the language barrier, one steps inside to a secondary home page with a logical, no-nonsense, and informative layout that resembles an efficient hotel lobby. In addition to de rigueur information about the establishment’s history, visitors can check out the restaurants, nightclubs, boutiques, spa, or go directly to the guestrooms and suites.

The site wins praise for its use of 360-degree photos that provide views of some of the hotel’s legendary spots – the entrance on the Place Vendôme, the shops along “Temptation Walk”, and Auguste Escoffier’s famed L’Espadon Grill. The panoramas also give guests a sneak peek at the 30-year Ritz residence of Coco Chanel and a suite named for the Duke of Windsor, one of the hotel’s most frequent guests. While the tours disappointingly stop short of going into their marble bathrooms, one does get the feel for what makes the Ritz so special. The exquisite furniture, fine bedding, and sumptuous rugs somehow leap to life and the only thing that seems missing is online room service.

Visitors with more utilitarian pursuits won’t be disappointed. Maps of the salons will prove helpful to anyone planning a party or contemplating a business meeting. And convenient “mail to” links on guestroom pages enable for more intimate inquiry into availability than the forms found on most hotel sites.

Although foreigners might be perturbed by rates that only appear in francs, one gets the sense that price is not necessarily a “need to know” for many guests.