Paris is always a good idea, but my recent trip to the City of Light unlocked a new level of delight.
My bestie and I landed on Paris as the place for our annual girls’ birthday trip. We wanted to experience Paris off season and chose that last week of February for our visit hoping spring would be starting to hit at that time.
This travel math was indeed a successful equation. After weeks of rain in the city, we had nothing but clear sunny skies for our Parisian sojourn (daily temperatures hit 20 degrees Celsius) and a profusion of magnolia blossoms, daffodils, and tulips on the ground. Though the streets were still busy, tourist traffic was lighter, and the crowds extremely manageable for essential Paris experiences like a visit to see Claude Monet’s Water Lilies at the Musée Orangerie, and the spectacular display of historic fashion at Galerie Dior.
Sneaking into the city just the week before Paris Fashion Week, it was also a perfect time to check in to one of the city’s most storied and luxurious hotels where the style and cultural elite have been coming to for almost 200 years: Le Meurice. It was a top-of-the-bucket-list travel experience I’ll treasure forever.
This Parisian palace hotel at 228 rue de Rivoli opened in 1835 but has origins dating back to 1771. Now part of tony Dorchester Collection, Le Meurice is truly a masterpiece, one of the world’s most precious hotel treasures. The people, the place, the heritage…. all legendary. Le Meurice is a place that’s incredibly private and discreet, but also indulgent, warm, and welcoming which is exactly what famous hotel regulars including Salvador Dali (who stayed a month every year from 1950 to 1980) Coco Chanel, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Beyoncé, and Grace Jones, adore about Hôtel Le Meurice.
Here are three unforgettable highlights from my stay at Le Meurice and why I’ll be forever dreaming of a return stay.
The Opulence
Arriving at Le Meurice is the ultimate quiet luxury experience. The hotel entrance is tucked away on the rue de Rivoli right across from the Jardin des Tuileries. Pulling up to the hotel you first spy Le Meurice’s famous green awnings in the archways of the front entrance, the hotel marquee in gold letters above them, and the hotel’s signature sidewalk mosaic which features an artful rendering of the hotel’s signature greyhound mascots. Spin through the hotel’s revolving doors into the hotel space and you enter the artful and awe-inspiring world of Hôtel Le Meurice which combines extravagant Louis XIV-style décor with work by some of the world’s most renowned artists.
The trail of art treasures begins in the hotel lobby. In the foyer sits the gold-gilded Frozen Mirror which provides a frosty canvas for creativity—which was inspired by the spirit of Dali—for guests can play with. Above the reception desk ceiling hands a portrait of a delicate, bejeweled female arm which is known to belong to 19th century socialite Madam Regnaud (her full portrait is on display across the street at The Louvre). A few steps beyond the desk in a cozy sitting area and you’ll find a surrealist display of antique hand mirrors and pillar candles known as the Mirrored Fireplace.
Le Meurice is an enchanting place where storytelling comes to life in every space from the restaurants to the guestrooms and every nook and corner in between. The best way to experience all the hotel’s hidden delights? Wander, explore, and be curious.
The Suite
Le Meurice is intimate in its scope of guest rooms, home to just 160, with 121 individual rooms and 39 suites and junior suites spread across seven floors. For our stay, we lived the executive suite life. Our room was located at the front of the hotel and boasted the most cinematic views of the city with the Eiffel Tower as the star attraction. Fun fact: On a clear day you can see 18 of the city’s most famous landmarks from the hotel’s penthouse terrace.
The first thing we did after happy dancing our way through our haute Parisian home-away-from-home was to throw open the French windows in our living area, wrap up in Le Meurice robes, and soak in the warm February breeze and trés jolie sights and sounds of Rue de Rivoli and the Jardin des Tuileries across the street. We arrived to chilled a bottle of chilled Moët, macrons, and signature fruit pastries from Le Meurice famed executive pastry chef Cédric Grolet. Couple this with a room service burger and frites, and voila! Best. Life. Moment. EVER.
The beds at Le Meurice are as heavenly as you would expect them to be. After a transatlantic flight, no naps on arrival, and a day of ambling around the city, the jet lag hit us hard after dinner. We tucked in early to and logged a solid nine hours—we are both early risers so waking up at 8am was an unexpected delight. We lounged, lingered, enjoyed the Parisian sunshine streaming through our room and both agreed it may have been the sleep of the decade.
The Hotel Breakfast
If you know me, you know luxurious hotel breakfasts are my everything. I knew Le Meurice would set a whole new standard.
Breakfast here is an art and a ritual to be celebrated and savoured. The place for breakfast is the hotel’s storied Salon de la Paix, a lavish Châteaux de Versailles-inspired interior which is home to the 2-Micheline-star Restaurant Le Meurice Alain Ducasse. Having breakfast in the salon is an experience reserved only for hotel guests which makes it that much sweeter.
The breathtaking elegance of the room—the gilded moldings, antique mirrors, crystal chandeliers and old-world frescos—is rivalled only by the decadence of the breakfast menu. We start with coffee and tea, followed by a parade of signature Grolet pastries (the flake and crunch of the pain au chocolates and croissants were heavenly), then on to the main breakfast course which for me was my standard order of eggs perfectly poached medium. The gold trimmed Bernadeau tableware, grand silver serving pieces, and all the thoughtful aesthetic elements like the jam ramekins and Le Meurice stamped French butter made this a true breakfast of champions. Everything about this dining experience was considered and curated, right down to the petite stool to rest your purse on.
All of these divine details (plus so many more) make Le Meurice quite possibly the fairest hotel of all. C’est magnifique! —Alison McGill
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