The iconic Lutetia Hotel Paris reopens after a 200 million euro facelift | Trip

The Lutetia Hotel in Paris, favored by Picbado and Hemingway, reopens this week after four years of expensive renovations that he hopes to win the "palace" label reserved for the most luxurious French accommodations. Steeped in history, from its occupation by Nazi intelligence agents to its famous intellectuals lair years back in the 1950s, Lutetia has not changed much outside of the lesser .

The new-look hotel in the chic Saint-Germain-des-Prés district has retained its imposing art deco facade, lined with elegant wrought iron balconies topped with sculpted stone vines. But the $ 200 million ($ 235 million) makeover allowed the hotel to embellish its original frescoes and stuccoes and decorate the 184 rooms and suites in one discreet luxury.

The director of the hotel, Jean-Luc Cousty, said the goal was to create a contemporary hotel by valuing everything that was historic. "The Lutetia has not lost its soul, and one of the great triumphs of the architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte is that natural light has been brought throughout," he said. declared.

The first guests must cross its corridors – lined with dark eucalyptus woods – starting on Thursday. There is a 17 meter swimming pool bathed in light, while the rooms feature understated art deco chandeliers and plenty of white marble: the tubs were dug into a 1.9 ton block. While the brewery will not reopen until the fall, guests can sip a badtail at Bar Joséphine, whose frescoes, once forgotten under layers of wallpaper and paint, have been restored after 17,000 hours of painstaking work.

Former Refugee Camp

Opened in 1910, the Lutetia owes its existence to its neighbor Bon Marché, one of the first department stores in the world. Marguerite Boucicaut, her owner, had this hotel built to house her wealthy clients from province to province to do their shopping. Located in the center of the Left Bank, heart of the French intellectual scene, it quickly became a hub of the philosophical and artistic debate.

During the Nazi occupation of Paris, the hotel was requisitioned by German forces and used to house and entertain the troops. After the liberation, the war general Charles de Gaulle – who had himself spent his honeymoon at Lutetia – ordered the hotel to host thousands of refugees. After the war, he quickly regained his reputation as a place of visit and observation, with artists like Pablo Picbado and Henri Matisse haunting his corridors.

James Joyce wrote a portion of Ulysees there – with the help of Ernest Hemingway's editing suggestions – and the dancer Josephine Baker was also a regular. Currently a four-star hotel, the Lutetia has asked for a fifth – the next step before obtaining the "palace" label, which is currently owned by the top 10 Parisian hotels including the Bristol and the Peninsula. "The Lutetia offers something different, it would do no harm to other palates because its customers are different," said Christian Mantei, head of the national tourism development agency Atout France.

Cousty stated that Lutetia did not attract anyone. ultra-rich Middle Eastern and Russian customers who prefer to stay in the "Golden Triangle", an area located near the Champs-Elysees Boulevard, on the other side of the river. Although he is still out of reach for everyone except the richest, he said the Lutetia was targeting "more affordable" prices than those on the right bank, with an average price of 800 euros.

Purchased in 2010 by the Israeli group Alrov, Lutetia seeks to double its turnover – which rose to 30 million euros before the renovation works – in the three or four years following its reopening. At least, the time is right: after two years during which Paris was marked by terrorist attacks, tourists returned in record numbers in 2017, with 33.8 million hotel rooms booked.

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