The Paris hotel industry goes back to school

The autumn-winter collection for the Paris hotel industry began its runway show with the opening in mid-September of the Grand MazarinMaisons Pariente's first showcase in the capital. Vintage furniture, works of art galore, the best of French craftsmanship and, to orchestrate it all, a benchmark designer, Martin Brudnizki, who combines his sense of fantasy with the French classicism of 18th-century salons.^e This hotel with 61 rooms and suites has everything it takes to become one of the world's most popular hotels. a new address of choice for travellers in search of elegance. Located in the Marais district, on the corner of rue de la Verrerie and rue des Archives, the Grand Mazarin has other attractive features, not least its indoor swimming pool and winter garden, and its bar and restaurant, Boubalé, where Michelin-starred chef Assaf Granit revisits the Ashkenazi culinary tradition.

As autumn approaches, a temple to French gastronomy is also on the menu of new Parisian places to stay. In a more intimate way, with just one room, but not the least: a large 150 m² flat with a unique view of Notre-Dame from the Quai de la Tournelle A legendary restaurant run from generation to generation by the Terrail family, the Tour d'Argent is back in its rightful place in the world of Parisian luxury.

Closed for more than a year to revitalise the centuries-old building, the starred restaurant has had its décor redesigned by architect Franklin Azzi. While La Tour d'Argent, led by chef Yannick Franques, respects tradition by still offering its emblematic dishes on its menu, including the famous Marco Polo duck, the restaurant is adding new spaces with a bar and lounge on the ground floor and, on its roof terrace, a champagne bar overlooking the Paris skyline. There's also a Haussmann-style flat with Scandinavian furnishings, designed for two people with a dedicated hostess and private entrance.

There's always something going on in the Paris hotel industry, and this is no accidental reference to the Cheval Blanc or to Kimpton Saint Honoré which had recently taken up residence in former Samaritaine buildings. The beginning of 2023 saw the opening of the Maison Proust, an intimate venue with 23 rooms and suites designed by Jacques Garcia, as well as the Delano House which has transformed the former Buddha Bar Hotel into a cosy, sophisticated 56-room cocoon.

Then it was the turn of the Dame des Arts hotel, a five-star hotel with a left bank feel with 109 rooms and suites, all with bespoke furniture and works of art, and many with balconies. The hotel also boasts a contemporary Mexican restaurant, an inner courtyard that doubles as a secret garden, and a rooftop bar with a 360° view of the whole of Paris that can be reserved for private events.

With the arrival of spring, La Fantaisie opened its doors on Rue Cadet, a urban oasis a 73-room hotel also designed by Martin Brudnizki, with three Michelin-starred American chef Dominique Crenn in the kitchen. Or the unveiling near the Champs-Elysées of the Château des Fleurs, a new 37-room hotel by Bertrand Hospitality, a subsidiary of Olivier Bertrand's restaurant group, which will shortly be opening another establishment, the Norman, the result of the transformation of the Hôtel de Vigny on rue Balzac.

The latter establishment is listed on the long list of hotels expected in the second half of the year. One of them has a name perfectly suited to business travel: the Grands Voyageurs hotel. Owned by the EQ group like the Dame des Arts hotel, and located on the Left Bank like the latter, in the Saint Placide district, not far from Montparnasse station, this chic, contemporary establishment will open in October, offering business travellers 138 rooms and suites as well as two meeting and event rooms of 50m² and 60m². But it is above all its atmosphere, created by Milanese designer Fabrizio Casiraghi and inspired by the golden age of travel, that will catch their attention, particularly in the Transatlantique brasserie or in the Poppy bar, with its New York speakeasy feel.

Drop-off points for frequent travellers

Other establishment ideal for business trips because of its location between the Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est stations, the Bloom House Hôtel & Spa opened its doors at the beginning of September. In this X^e A lively district, the hotel offers a new accommodation solution with its 91 rooms, as well as a luminous, plant-filled environment organised around an interior garden. A welcoming setting for the sun-drenched cuisine of its Mediterranean restaurant Bloom Garden by Olivier Streiff, the hotel also boasts a spa with swimming pool and, for business meetings, a room bathed in light, the Atelier Green, which can accommodate up to 20 people.

Paris has recently added new boutique hotels such as Card, in the Batignolles district, or the recently inaugurated Hotel Alberte on avenue Bosquet, in the seventh arrondissement of Paris.^e arrondissement. A cosy 23-room establishment with a warm, family feel, the hotel's name is a tribute to the owners' great-grandmother. The charming hotels category will be further strengthened at the end of October with an intimate five-star hotel a stone's throw from the Opéra: the 25-room Hôtel Hana, with its Japanese aesthetic.

Hospitality resurrected

But there's more to Paris hotel news than that the limits of the ring road with the expected opening on 24 October of the Domaine de la Reine Margot in Issy-les-Moulineaux, an MGallery hotel which, with the participation of architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, is revisiting a former monastic site as an 83-room design hotel. In a similar vein, the Vaux de Cernay abbey, which had been converted to hospitality for a long time, will also be given a new lease of life under the leadership of Paris Society. This group, founded by Laurent de Gourcuff and now known as the a subsidiary of AccorIn 2020, it took over this historic site, a Cistercian monastery dating back to the 12th century.^e century before becoming an estate of the Rotschild family during the 19th century.^ethen a hotel at the end of the 1980s.

Closed since taken over, this jewel in the Chevreuse Valley, 45 minutes from Paris, has been redesigned, redecorated and transformed into a luxury hotel under the guidance of designer Cordélia de Castellane. This green hotel is ideal for organising product launches or seminars, with its many event spaces and meeting rooms for up to 150 people. Opening announced for 20 October.