So, Where Do You Stay in Paris?
Anyone who has been to Paris enough has a favorite hotel. And, if you ask, they will gladly—and passionately—tell you why they never stay anywhere else. Maybe they love it because it takes them back to the first time they came to Paris with their fabulous grandmother. Maybe they love it because no one else really knows about it (well, until now—sorry!). Maybe it's because it makes them feel right at home—or transports them to another world. Or maybe it's simply because it has the best hotel bar that makes the best martinis, or because their room has the best views of the Eiffel Tower (no judgement!). Below, we asked a few of our most discerning friends to defend their choices.
The Peninsula
“Anywhere in the world where there’s a Peninsula, I’m there, because it reminds me of my childhood in Asia. I can be assured that the room will be exquisitely appointed, with the Peninsula-only bells and whistles, and the breakfast buffet will be incredible.”
—Kevin Kwan, author
Hôtel Plaza Athénée
“Maybe it’s because a beau took me there in my twenties and told them it was our honeymoon and all was over-the-top indulgence, but even after marrying my Paul, I still have the same delicious feelings.”
—Bridget Gless Keller, philanthropist
La Réserve Paris
“It’s the perfect combination of luxe and intime. I sent Nancy Meyers and she loved it—and I’m very careful about hotel recommendations to Nancy.”
—David Netto, interior designer
Ritz Paris
“As a little girl I would stay there with my grandmother and be in awe of the beauty. I always look forward to the luxurious bedrooms and monogrammed sheets. There is nothing better than a hotel that makes you feel at home.”
—Aerin Lauder, founder of AERIN
"A great palace hotel performs like a ballet, dancing the fine line between the elegant and the egregious, the glamorous and the gauche, properly Paris and not a pastiche." —David Prior
Le Pavillon de la Reine
“Quiet, regal, and hiding in plain sight, like a mini–Garden of Eden. We were introduced to it by Karl Lagerfeld, who told us he once lived across the Vosges in a dingy but splendid attic room, and from his tiny balcony he could peer into the Pavillon’s attic rooms.”
—Ruben Toledo, artist
Hotel Récamier
Hôtel Récamier, 3 bis Place Saint-Sulpice
“Named for Juliette Récamier, one of the leaders of the French Fashion Revolution, this small and exquisite hotel is tucked into a corner of the elegant Place Saint Sulpice. It's near the rue Bonaparte, married name of Juliette's companion-in-style Joséphine, as well as some of the best Paris shopping, and the delicious Poîlane bakery.”
—Anne Higonnet, art historian
Le Meurice
“Balcony views of the Tuileries. The martini at Bar 228. The breakfast, always the breakfast. It’s one of the reasons I can’t quit Le Meurice—just like Salvador Dalí, a Presidential Suite fixture for three decades.”
—Erik Maza, T&C executive style director
Shangri-La Paris
“Because of that view of the Eiffel Tower sparkling at dusk!”
—Dania Lucero Ortiz, T&C fashion & accessories director
Hotel Montalembert
Hotel Montalembert, 3 Rue de Montalembert
"It's glamorous but not pompous, established yet never old, and abidingly elegant without in-your-face majesty. In everything it suggests true magnificence, the understated kind. Its restaurant is superb, its rooms offer wonderful views of all Paris, and a few steps away is the Boulevard Saint-Germain, and two blocks down the Seine. You're on the Left Bank but in another world."
—André Aciman, author
Le Bristol Paris
“It just gets it right: old-school impeccable service with 21st-century modern luxury. To do it so effortlessly is actually very difficult.”
—Martina Mondadori, founder of Cabana
Lutetia Paris
“The Lutetia, where I've often stayed is a beautiful hotel with a fantastic location, amazing gym and spa, and a great bar, Bar Josephine, that’s buzzy and not pretentious. I would almost stay here for the gym alone. Even when I'm living in my apartment, I come to the gym here.”
—Darren Star, creator of Emily in Paris
Le Royal Monceau
“I love the playfulness of its decor and the clearly Parisian clientele in its restaurants (key to any city hotel). And its location makes me swoon: the Arc de Triomphe closing it off at one end, and Parc Monceau on the other, redolent of Proust’s presence.”
—Klara Glowczewska, T&C executive travel editor
Le Pavillon Faubourg Saint-Germain
Le Pavillon Faubourg Saint-Germain, 5 Rue du Pré-aux-Clercs
Wherever I go, the first criteria for me is the location. The ultimate luxury for me is to be able to visit a city by foot! Being in the interior design world, Saint-Germain offers interesting small antique dealers, and charming restaurants and boutiques. This hotel is in the perfect location. You can walk to the Café de Flore in 2 minutes!
—Marco Scarani, founder of Creel and Gow
Hôtel de Crillon
"It's undeniably glamorous (Marie Antoinette is said to have taken piano lessons here), and each room comes with a butler to look after you—though not too closely when it's time to nick the Buly 1803 products in the bathroom."
—Adam Rathe, T&C deputy features director
Hôtel Particulier Montmartre
Hôtel Particulier Montmartre, 23 Av. Junot Pavillon D
"Generally, I am happy enough in hotels in 'alive' neighborhoods, like the charming Hôtel Particulier Montmartre, where I can walk out the door and find a great bottle and pull a picnic together from a market, fromagerie, and boulangerie within 30 minutes."
—David Prior, founder of PRIOR
AUTRES CHOSES
We also love the Saint James Paris in the 16th, because it's like your own château in the middle of the city, and the Four Seasons George V, because they treat you like royalty.
Et Hors Paris?
If you want to get out of the city (but not venture too far), we have opinions about that, too.
Airelles Château de Versailles
"Oscar Wilde said when good Americans die, they go to Paris. Well, the very best ones go to Le Grand Contrôle, which is worth the stay just to have the Hall of Mirrors all to yourself after the public is gone. Borrow bikes and ride around Versailles’s famous Le Nôtre gardens. The Alain Ducasse restaurant can set up a picnic lunch for you."
—Bronson van Wyck, event planner
Domaine de Primard
"If there was a platonic ideal of a French country house, this would be it. The scent of lilac and the peach orchards, the vegetable garden and the adorable farm animals, the supremely comfortable beds and delicious food. Oh, and have I mentioned this all used to be Catherine Deneuve's estate?"
—Leena Kim, T&C editor
Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay
For a certain fashionable crowd, a few stops on the Parisian itinerary are obligatory. Caviar Kaspia, for instance. Or Le Voltaire for the fries. Hôtel de la Marine and Galerie Kugel, too. Lately, come le week-end, you'll find these jetsetters holding court at L'Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay, a former 12th-century monastery that was reborn in the 1800s as a country home for a Rothschild. Then a few years ago, hospitality firm Paris Society acquired the landmark site to turn it into a hotel. And who did they call on to decorate? Cordelia de Castellane, the creative mind behind Baby Dior and Dior Maison.
This story appears in the Summer 2024 issue of Town & Country. SUBSCRIBE NOW
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