It immediately became fashionable with Parisian socialites, hosting many prestigious personalities over the years, such as Marcel Proust, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, King Edward VII, and the couturier Coco Chanel, who made the Ritz her home for more than thirty years.

The Ritz Paris has hosted a legendary roster of guests since it opened in 1898. Its most famous long-term resident was Coco Chanel, who lived in a suite for 34 years until her death in 1971. Author Ernest Hemingway was so synonymous with the hotel that its "Bar Hemingway" is named in his honor; he famously claimed to have "liberated" the Ritz at the end of WWII. Other notable historic guests include Marcel Proust, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and King Edward VII. In more recent decades, the hotel has been a favorite for celebrities like Madonna, Rihanna, and Anna Wintour. It also gained tragic notoriety as the place where Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed shared their final meal in the Imperial Suite before their fatal car accident in 1997.