As if Paris didn’t have enough elegant hotels, the glamorous Hotel Lutetia on the Left Bank is set to open in May, and its modern-meets-Art Deco interior has us swooning.
Paris overwhelms with both grand palace hotels and glamorous little boltholes, making the decision of where to stay positively nerve-wracking. Adding to the dilemma is Lutetia, reopening this European spring. Built originally in 1910 to complement Paris’s first grand department store, Le Bon Marché, the grand Hotel Lutetia (the original Roman name for Paris) was the second landmark to light up the Left Bank.
The modern hotel dared to be different, and the design motif exchanged ubiquitous Art Nouveau for the emerging slick styling of Art Deco. Guests included Hemingway, Picasso, Matisse and Josephine Baker. Lutetia had dark days; it was HQ for German Intelligence during the Occupation. But the people behind Amsterdam’s Conservatorium and London’s Hotel Café Royal, two immaculately reimagined hotels, have dedicated their skills to renovating and remaking Hotel Lutetia in all her early glory.
The Grand ‘Dame’ (or should it now be ‘Mademoiselle’?) has 184 bedrooms, including 47 suites, two of them penthouses with private access to terraces for the classic Paris view, mais oui. The Lutetia Brasserie has returned under the watchful eye of three-Michelin-starred chef, Gérald Passédat. We love the idea of the Akasha Holistic Wellbeing Centre, which features a swimming pool illuminated by natural light, in the city of light.
