I'm recently back from three nights in Paris and four nights in London. Here is my first set of site inspection reports from Paris. I emphasize, as always, that these are my own subjective opinions based on my personal aesthetic. Others can and should disagree.
Hotel Lutetia
Set in the Saint Germain des Prés area of Paris, Hotel Lutetia is destined to become a highly sought-after Left Bank hotel. I did a hard-hat site inspection last spring;
my preview can be read here. The hotel has gone through an extensive multi-year renovation; some finishing touches in a few public areas were still being applied at the time of my stay. The renovation reduced the number of guestrooms, thus increasing the average guestroom size.
Lutetia is the only Palace Hotel on the Left Bank, the older half of Paris. The Rive Gauche is full of narrow, winding streets. I took a neighborhood walk while waiting for my room to get ready. Meandering wherever my eye took me, I walked down streets strung with linen lampshades, passed quirky boutiques and galleries, and came across familiar landmarks such as the Église de Saint Germain des Prés. Before long, I found myself at the Seine. There’s a lot to visit within a mile of the hotel — Le Jardin du Luxembourg, the Église Saint-Sulpice, the Rodin Museum, the Musée d’Orsay, and the Louvre.
Guests enter the hotel, passing under the art deco porte couchere, and see the stunning renovations of the building’s original details. I saw skilled artisans at work during my “hard hat” inspection last year. The restoration is now complete, and the public areas are quite wonderful, especially the Bar Josephine whose wall and ceiling details had been covered under layers of paint. Here's how it looked 8 months ago (photos were embargoed at the time).
workers restoring Bar Josephine in May, 2018
Rooms are contemporary with clean lines, cool colors, and a masculine feel. While lead-in guestrooms are small, Junior Suites and above provide comfortable space. I was upgraded to a high-ceilinged suite on the first floor, pictured below. The marble-floored foyer had a large walk-in closet. A very short hallway led to the bedroom. The bed was centered on the inside wall facing exterior windows which looked over the front of the hotel. I even had a peak of the Eiffel Tower. A couch and easy chair were located in front of the windows, with the desk set in the center of the room. The large work surface provided convenient desk-level power receptacles and ports. The large bathroom featured massive amounts of Carrera marble, both the double vanity and the soaking tub having been carved from single blocks of marble. There was a separate step-in shower and WC.
my bedroom (January, 2019)
A bit of work remains to be done. The bathroom’s lighted makeup mirror needed to be tightened so that it can be positioned as desired. The room was not entirely sound-proofed; I could hear some street noise, and I occasionally felt the vibrations of subway cars passing underneath the hotel.
Hotel Lutetia has some WOW Signature Suites including the Josephine Baker Eiffel View Terrace Suite.
Le Bristol
This was my third stay at Le Bristol, a hotel I had found a bit underwhelming in the past. However, this stay provided a most pleasant surprise. A few very slight but fortunate changes can make a most significant and welcome difference, and such was the case with this latest stay. Read on to hear about those slight changes, but first a few words about its place among the hotel of Paris.
Located on rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré, a prestigious shopping street, Le Bristol is literally a block from the Élysée Palace, home of the President of France. The hotel has always been well loved by its devoted repeat guests. It exudes a residential rather than corporate feel, its character perhaps best captured by the white cat who presides over the lobby. The Bristol has never gone for flash; it has always offered personable service and comfortable accommodations. All of this remains true.
But something had been lacking in the past, and those shortcomings have now been fully addressed. Le Bristol has been in the hands of the Oetker family, and the family matriarch had taken upon herself the task of individually decorating each of the hotel's 190 rooms and suites. That task has now been handed over to the next generation, and all rooms have recently been renovated. Their Louis XVI grandeur has been preserved, but the new, subtle changes have made a world of difference. When I was shown my room, the words that came out of my mouth were, “It’s beautiful.” And I meant it! I didn't notice any of the individual changes — at least not at first — but the overall effect was profound.
Small changes, but so welcome!
First change: the previous room design used the same fabric for the draperies, the bedspread, and the table skirt. The result — it looked dated to me, a bit dowdy. The renovations simply removed the bedspread and replaced it with with a crisp, white linen duvet. Pillows, no longer tucked under the bedspread, are cased in white and propped against the headboard.
a bedroom at Le Bristol during a former visit in 2007
my bedroom at Le Bristol in January, 2019
Second change: The hallways during my last visit in 2016 were harshly lit with exposed light bulbs. No longer! Each bulb is now covered with a small shade, and the indirect hallway lighting creates a much more pleasant and restful atmosphere.
hallway sconces in 2016
hallway sconces in 2019
Additional changes (which you can't see in the photos). The old CRT television sets placed upon armoires have been replaced with wall-mounted flatscreens. Crown moulding and wood paneling in guestrooms used to be painted a flat white, creating a flat appearance. The new color scheme may not be immediately apparent, but painting the trim with different shades of off-white enhances guestrooms with a sense of texture and depth.
As I said, small and subtle differences that you may not notice at first, but they make a world of difference!