Serena Williams is speaking out after a Parisian restaurant denied access to her family

Posted by Admin August 6, 2024 Tennis

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Retired tennis superstar Serena Williams took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to express her frustration with The Peninsula Hotel in Paris. The acclaimed athlete revealed that she and her children Alexis Olympia Jr., 6, and Adira River, 11 months, were denied a table at the hotel’s restaurant.

“Yikes @PeninsulaParis I’ve been denied access to rooftop to eat in an empty restaurant of nicer places 🫠but never with my kids,” she tweeted. “Always a first. 🙄 #Olympic2024.”

Serena Williams, Alexis Ohanian, and their daughter Adira River attend the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at the Trocadero on July 26, 2024, in Paris, France. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)

The Peninsula Hotel responded to the 42-year-old four-time Olympic gold medalist with a public apology. “Dear Mrs. Williams, 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,” the first reply read.

In a follow-up post, the hotel added, “We have always been honored to welcome you and will always be to welcome you again. The Peninsula Paris.”

According to People, an employee at L’Oiseau Blanc, Maxime Mannevy, provided further context to Variety, explaining that Williams arrived with another woman and a stroller. According to Mannevy, who was not present then, a colleague did not recognize Williams and informed her that the available tables were reserved for other hotel guests. “My colleague didn’t recognize her and feels terrible, but he told her what he would have told any other client: to wait downstairs in the bar for a table to become available. That was absolutely nothing personal,” Mannevy said.

Serena Williams and her daughter Olympia Ohanian attended the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Team Final on day four of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Paris Arena on July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images) — Serena Williams and her daughter Olympia Ohanian attended the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final on day four of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Paris Arena on July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)

In a statement to TODAY, The Peninsula Paris reiterated its apology and clarified the situation. “In response to Mrs. Williams’ tweet, for whom we have the utmost admiration and respect, as we do for all our esteemed guests; we can only reiterate our deepest apologies for her perception of tonight’s situation. Today, August 5, our rooftop bar was indeed unfortunately 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 and will always be more than welcome with her family to The Peninsula.”

Serena Williams and her family stayed in Paris after the Olympic opening ceremony on July 26.