The rebirth of 'La Grande Dame' on Paris’s Left Bank - This lodging and hospitality 'bug' is still very much present in me and has not left me after over 30 years in the lodging industry, I visited Paris for a day and just had to see the newest luxury hotel, which was re-opened after very long, extensive, painstaking and expensive renovations.

For those of you who remember the hotel from its “old days”, my friendly recommendation to you is to find the time to re-visit the hotel.

The Lutetia’s history dates back to December 1910, when the hotel first opened its doors to the high society of Paris.

The exterior of the structure is a fantastic example of the prominent style of the period: ART NOUVEAU.

The Lutetia is the reflection of its era: “LE BELLE EPOQUE” that ended the start of World War 1 in 1914.

I will not take you through the history of the hotel that saw most of the 20th century; instead, I will just jump almost 110 years ahead, straight to my own subjective impressions.

The “original” hotel used to have 233 keys. It now boasts 184 keys, allowing the interior designers to create 47 suites, out of which 7 are signature suites.

Restoring a building that dates back to the early 20th century into a modern Uber luxury hotel, requires large investments into the infrastructure, with strong emphasis on technology, the type of technology that is embedded in the rooms and public areas but does not disturb the classical ambiance of the hotel.

This job was handed over to the world-renowned interior designer Jean-Michel Wilmotte

Upon entering the hotel into the reception area, one cannot miss the use of materials: stone, marble, glass and metal. Very elegant, yet not glitzy and shiny. There is relatively limited use of “gold-leaf” decorations and it is used mainly in restoration of some ceilings .

The renovation and restoration work took five years and one of the key factors regarding the renovations was letting more daylight into the public areas. An interior courtyard patio was created to ensure more daylight filters into the building.

The patio links up the different ground floor areas: The Salon Saint Germain, the Library and the Josephine Bar.

The Guestrooms: the décor of the rooms resolves around the blue and raw silk (beige-gray) tones used for the furnishings.

There is a dominance of blue, the color of the sea and the interior designers’ favorite shade for those rooms overlooking the rue de Sevres and the Boulevard Raspail. The raw-silk color dominates in those rooms overlooking the interior courtyard.

The superb Art Deco style furniture is inspired by the 1930s. This furniture has been exclusively designed by the interior architect J.M. Wilmotte and manufactured notably by the world-renowned Italian furniture company Poltrona Frau. Doors and furniture in polished eucalyptus wood, a bright entrance, dark parquets. Murano glass wall lights echo the brass-relief works.

For many of us, a bathroom is just what it is - a bathroom. At the Lutetia, much attention was given to the bathrooms. The bathrooms are spacious and full of light (95% of the hotel bathrooms have a window), but the thing that makes these bathrooms stand out is the choice of marble used - Calacatta marble, which is considered to be amongst the rarest of all marbles. The color of the marble is ivory white with delicate grey veining.

The result is just stunning. Clearly, the stone artists did a remarkable job curving bathtubs that weigh almost 950 kg out of a single marble block weighing over 1.9 tons.

Spa, wellness and workouts: The signature spa and wellness areas are roughly 700 square meters. This spa is brilliantly designed and at the heart of it, like a perl in a jewel box, is the lovely 17-meter long pool which enjoys natural light. The pool is decorated with mosaics and surrounded by marble.

F&B outlets: unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to experience the delicate dishes of the Executive Chef Benjamin Brial.
In my humble opinion, the hotel’s ballroom is a masterpiece of Art Deco architecture – or, as the French say, “la crème de la crème”. The ballroom has been pianistically and professionally restored to its glory days with hanging golden chandeliers with A-la Lalique glass figurines.

It is difficult to express in words the impressions of a 2-hours professional private tour of the hotel by the charming Ms. Isabelle Bouvier – the Director of Operations of the hotel, so here are some photos that will illustrate my impressions not only in words but in views and colors as well. The amount of workmanship, craftmanship and focus on details is truly remarkable.

So, the next time you are visiting Paris and look to be a bit away from the crowded streets, try to grab a drink or even better, stay a night or two.

I will do so myself, the next time I visit Paris.

The Lutetia is part of THE SET: www.thesethotels.com, a collection of 3 ‘uber luxury hotels’ in: London – Hotel Café Royal, Amsterdam-Conservatorium and the newest edition: Paris- Hotel Lutetia.

The fine line that runs between these 3 landmark hotels is the great level of detail given to their unique restorations and superb interior designs. You may like the individual designs…or not so much, it’s all a matter of individual taste, but you surely cannot ignore it.

Photo credits: Hotel Lutetia

Joseph Fischer is the CEO of Vision Hospitality & Travel - An international lodging & hospitality consulting firm. He is a veteran hotelier with over 30 years of extensive management experience in the global lodging Industry.

A strategic “out-of-the-box” thinker, visionary, with plenty of tangible and ready-to-be-implemented ideas. Joseph is a frequent contributing writer on 4Hoteliers.com global new portal.

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