i'm one of those strange people who would pay that entry price (not high) because they are not open to public. i value that highly. it is priceless.
(i feel the same way about several times higher entry price at aman new york. one big difference is aman new york has members and 22 condos.)
(not being open to public is only reason i booked The Lodge verbier and necker island. during my stay at the former it was not empty, i saw the good and bad of communal dining, and there was a famous opera singer attending verbier festival. the singer was staying at The Lodge, presumably because only 9 rooms. the singer joined the communal dinner once, IIRC on the first night of their stay. not really something that happens at regular luxury hotels, even the absolute best luxury hotels. during my necker stay i was the only regular paying guest, and not many other rooms were occupied. occupancy was how i chose my dates and likely a significant part of my final decision to book. i only booked several days before arrival. worked well for me. i also stayed at nearby oil nut bay, where i believe only marina is open to public. but not sure there is much time that is low occupancy nowadays, considering it is residence rentals.)
1 place vendome also has the location and the address, one of those kinds of locations and addresses that are relatively scarce, but i can't comment on comparables
it is owned by the family that has owned chopard since 1963
Overall, 1 Place Vendôme was almost a decade in the making, after Chopard acquired in 2014 the Union Hôtelière de Paris, a longstanding company that owned the building and operated the previous establishment. Renovation alone took almost five years, owing to pandemic-driven delays but also to the extensive work needed to rehabilitate the building, bringing it up to standard but also returning some of its features, like the original levels, after the previous occupants — another hotel — created intermediate floors. “If you look across the street to our neighbors [the Louis Vuitton store], you can see that the levels [of the near-identical buildings] match once more,” he pointed out. This brought back the 17-foot ceiling height on the second floor, considered the noblest one in classic French architecture, but also revealed the wood beams that are now a feature of the Rubis suite.
chef Boris Algarra, who brings seven years of Mandarin Oriental experience, sets the fluid culinary stage by offering breakfast, day and night menus that run consecutively 24/7. You eat when you want and, in the absence of a contained restaurant, where you want—be that library, living space or room. The menus are a study in elevated classics, adaptable to the diner’s palate (if a dish is too bitter for some, the kitchen will create something sweeter). The sea salt-crusted beetroot has a bright, earthy tang with heat from freshly grated horseradish and popping spheres of emulsion. The carpaccio of scallop arrives with Kilimanjaro basil and caviar and the chicken breast with mushrooms and gravy sounds homely til you notice the “gravy” is a sauce barigoule laced with foie gras. Wine comes from the Scheufele’s Monetiser La Tour chateau in Bergerac. There are no walk-ins here. The best table is the “host’s table”, which looks straight into the kitchen.
The spa There’s no permanent therapist on site, but the top floor hosts a pristine treatment room primed for specialist therapists booked on request. There’s also a petite fitness room with an exercise bike and rowing machine.
chef Boris Algarra, an alum of the nearby Mandarin Oriental under Thierry Marx. Rather than have a restaurant, an all-day snacking menu is available, as well as a more elaborate French cuisine offering. Seasonal products are preferred, but there will always be sure-fire hits such as club sandwiches. Everything can be served anywhere in the hotel. “It’s really about being in a private home and being able to eat whatever you’d like — even fine cuisine — at any time,” Scheufele said. Sadly for those hoping for a new spot to pop in for meetings or a drink in the pinnacle of high jewelry, the living spaces and bar — including a hidden cigar speakeasy — will be open only to hotel residents.
(at one point that kind of dining was a stated goal of zecha and many / most aman GMs, conveyed both in first hand reports here and interviews.)