One of the elite eating establishments in Paris led to Serena Williams expressing her dissatisfaction with the establishment.

The former tennis star said on X (which was then known as Twitter) on Monday, August 5, that the Peninsula Hotel in Paris had refused her and her and Alexis Ohanian’s children a table on Monday. The children in question are Alexis Olympia Jr., who is six years old, and Adira River, who is eleven months old.

@PeninsulaParis, you’re right. She stated, “I have been denied access to the rooftop to eat in an empty restaurant of nicer places, but I have never ever been allowed to do so with my children.” “Forever a pioneering moment. 🙄 #Olympic2024.”

The eatery then responded to the 42-year-old athlete who had won four gold medals in the Olympics.

To the lovely Mrs. Williams, We would ask that you would accept our sincerest apologies for the lack of satisfaction that you experienced tonight. “Unfortunately, our rooftop bar was indeed completely booked, and the only tables that were vacant that you observed belonged to our gourmet restaurant, L’Oiseau Blanc, which was completely reserved,” was the first response that the firm sent on Monday.

“It has always been an honor for us to receive you, and it will continue to be an honor for us to welcome you once again. Following that, a second post was made titled “The Peninsula Paris.”

PEOPLE’s request for further information on Monday was not immediately met with a response from representatives for Williams and The Peninsula Paris.

In an interview with Variety, Maxime Mannevy, an employee at L’Oiseau Blanc, said that Williams seemed “unrecognizable” when she arrived at the restaurant with another lady and a stroller.

Mannevy told the source that she was not working while Williams was at the restaurant. “When she came, there were only two tables available, and they had been reserved by customers of the hotel,” Mannevy claimed. Williams was attending the restaurant at the time. “My colleague did not recognize her, and he is feeling bad about it. However, he told her what he would have advised any other customer, which is to wait downstairs in the bar until a seat becomes available. There was absolutely no personal connection to it.”

Additionally, a statement was released to TODAY by the Peninsula Paris. The hotel issued a statement that said, “In response to Mrs. Williams’ tweet, for whom we have the utmost admiration and respect, as we do for all of our esteemed guests; we can only reiterate our deepest apologies for her perception of tonight’s situation.”

The statement continued: “Today, August 5th, 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. It has always been and will continue to be the case that she and her family are more than welcome to visit The Peninsula.

The arrival of Williams and her family in Paris occurred just before to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. At the opening ceremony that took place on July 26, the 23-time Grand Slam champion was one of numerous sportsmen who carried the torch through the crowd.

Following her participation in the opening ceremony, Williams remained in the French city and continued to make appearances in other Olympic competitions. In the men’s singles competition, she was there for the match in which Novak Djokovic, a professional tennis player from Serbia, triumphed against Carlos Alcaraz, a player from Spain, and won the gold medal.

Williams was a member of Team USA and earned four Olympic gold medals before she retired from the sport of tennis. One of her victories came in the women’s singles competition at the London Games in 2012, while another came in the women’s doubles competition with her sister, Venus. Both the Sydney 2000 Games and the Beijing 2008 Games awarded the couple with the gold medal in the women’s doubles competition.

By Anna

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