Paris is home to perhaps the very best collection of luxury hotels in the world, and the choices keep getting better. I learned about three new hotels during Virtuoso Travel Week 2017. Here’s my takeaway:
Hotel de Crillon, a Rosewood Hotel, resides within a 1758 palace right on the historic Place de la Concorde in the center of Paris. It has undergone an extensive renovation, closing in 2013 and reopening just this year. The renovation restored the hotel in all its classical architectural grandeur. Guestroom furnishings are tastefully updated with a hint of contemporary, perfectly complementing the traditionally elegant interiors of the hotel. Colleagues visiting the Crillon have been truly WOW’ed by the transformation.
For something really special, you can stay in the Suite Marie-Antoinette with views over the Place de la Concorde where she faced the guillotine… or the Suite Bernstein, designed as a tribute to Leonard Bernstein who was a regular guest of the hotel.
Hotel de Crillon, Grand Premier guest room
Virtuoso amenities include:
- Upgrade at time of arrival, based on availability
- Complimentary Continental Breakfast for two daily, either in room or in restaurant, for duration of stay
- $100 USD equivalent Food & Beverage credit to be utilized during stay (not combinable, not valid on room rate, no cash value if not redeemed in full)
- Early check-in, late check-out, subject to availability
- Complimentary Wi-Fi
View from the Crillon
Hotel Lutetia is an exciting new hotel that will appeal to guests who prefer to stay on the Left Bank of Paris. A Virtuoso Preview Property, the hotel’s 100 million euro renovation began in 2014, with the reopening scheduled for March, 2018. Residing within a 1910 Art Nouveau building, the interior of the has been completely gutted with a brand new hotel created within its walls. With just 184 rooms and suites in the seven story building, the size of a lead-in room is 300 square feet, quite extraordinary for the Left Bank.
Guests will enjoy a prime location across the street from the Bon Marché department store and adjacent to the Sèvres-Babylone Metro station. The hotel will have a spa with six treatment rooms and a 17m swimming pool.
Virtuoso amenities include:
- Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
- Complimentary Breakfast for two daily for duration of the stay
- $100 USD equivalent Resort or Hotel credit to be utilized during stay (not combinable, not valid on room rate, no cash value if not redeemed in full)
- Early check-in/late check-out, subject to availability
- Complimentary Wi-Fi
Cheval Blanc Samaritaine Paris is so new, you can’t even find it on the Cheval Blanc website, but I heard about this new project from our Cheval Blanc sales rep at Virtuoso Travel Week. It will occupy part of the La Samaritaine department store with a fabulous location just north of the Louvre and facing the Seine (at the north end of the Pont Neuf).
Cheval Blanc is the luxury hotel arm of Louis Vuitton. I have previously visited their resort in the Maldives, Cheaval Blanc Randheli and was blown away by the scale and sheer opulence of this boutique resort. The hotel will have just 72 rooms and suites. Very few details are available, but this hotel is definitely on my radar!
