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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
A jewel of a 1st-arrondissement hotel
That the Scheufele family, longtime owners of Swiss jewellery brand Chopard, know a thing or two about beauty is axiomatic. So the buzz surrounding their small and very smart new Parisian hotel, situated behind the grand blue door of – and across the floors above – the flagship Chopard boutique, is understandable. Called, simply, 1, Place Vendôme, it consists of just five rooms and 10 suites (including one top-floor knockout of an apartment, plus a library and hammam bath), the design a joint effort between Pierre-Yves Rochon and a multigenerational assortment of Scheufeles.
Each is unique in configuration and choice of colours, textiles and furnishings (think lots of very pretty toile de jouy, marquetry and mouldings, tall windows welcoming in tons of natural light, and a considered array of antiques). It’s a very elegant but discreet deal, with no great see-and-be-seen lobby or buzzing restaurant: rather, a quiet personalised check-in in the salon, food courtesy of an ex-Mandarin Oriental chef, and butler service whenever you want or need it. 1-placevendome.com, from €1,300
An open secret in the Golden Triangle
Of a similarly traditional bent – and of similarly intimate dimensions – is the San Régis, a more than 100-year-old hôtel particulier in the heart of the 8th arrondissement that has for years been a bit of an open-secret destination for that same person who loves the style of a Ritz but might not love the showplace nature of those grande dame hotels’ public spaces.
Like 1, Place Vendôme, its 30 rooms and 12 suites were designed by Pierre-Yves Rochon, along with the various lounges and salons, including a lovely bar encased in white-oak panelling. If a full suite of Technogym equipment and indoor pool are among your requirements, this isn’t your place. What it does have: a Les Clefs d’Or concierge to score opera tickets and restaurant bookings, full room service menus, and four suites with a small but very pretty roof terrace with almost laughably perfect Golden Triangle-Eiffel Tower views. hotel-sanregis.fr, from €500
Le Meurice blooms anew
Le Meurice, one of two hotels flying the Dorchester Collection flag in the City of Light, is a stalwart address for habitués of Fashion Week, who love it justifiably for many reasons. Among which: its Rue de Rivoli location (across from Tuileries gardens, just down the road from the Louvre); its generous rosé champagne pours, and the old-world charms it glams up with just the right amount of gleaming surfaces, rich textiles and the occasional piece of all-star contemporary design.
Late last year it introduced a collection of 39 new suites that tie all of that together in super-generous spaces: the designs, by Lyon-based studio Lally & Berge – have been conceived to bring the Tuileries inside, often with beautiful hand-painted wallpapers alongside passementerie and the occasional stained-glass flourish: rose bushes bloom across walls, cushions in shades of hibiscus and peach line the backs of sofas. The bathrooms – sexy as can be – are clad floor to ceiling in dark-veined white marble. The promise: a fresh take that doesn’t abandon the hotel’s heritage. dorchestercollection.com, from €1,900
The old Champs-Élysées’ slick new face
Soon to be sitting at quite the far other end of the style spectrum is the Hotel Balzac, which now boasts an anything-but-old mien of sleek new design and some very wow features, among them a Japanese spa and two terrace suites (the chef Pierre Gagnaire, whose eponymous three-Michelin-starred restaurant has been here for 20 years, thankfully remains).
Bertrand Hospitality, which boutique group includes the Saint Germain favourite of many, Relais Christine, as well as the Norman and the (also new) Château des Fleurs, has enlisted Charlotte de Tonnac and Hugo Sauzay of Festen – as if any further evidence of their primacy among hotel designers were needed. They’ve stripped back the hotel’s 58 rooms and suites and re-dressed them in the signature Festen tones (earthy, warm) and furnishings (favouring 19th-century austere and early 20th-century forms and influences). The bar, clad in burlwood panels with mirrored tables and dangerously (in a good way) dim lighting, feels primed to become a Champs-Élysées place to be. hotelbalzac.paris, from €590
