Le Meurice is a 5-star hotel in Paris, located opposite the Tuileries Garden, between Place de la Concorde and the Musée du Louvre. This hotel is owned and managed by the Dorchester Collection
After an extensive two-year renovation, completed in 2000, Le Meurice was restored. Today it is part of the Dorchester Collection Hotels (owned by the Brunei Investment Agency), which includes The Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, The Dorchester and 45 Park Lane in London, Coworth Park in Ascot, the Hôtel Plaza Athénée in Paris and the Principe di Savoia in Milan.
In 2007, Le Meurice began its latest revamping under Philippe Starck and Franka Holtmann, General Manager.
Le Meurice has been around for over two centuries, and its current clientele as well as its historical patrons speak for its significance in Paris. The history of the hotel begins in 1771 in Calais, where upper-class British travellers on their way to Paris would arrive after crossing the Straits of Dover. There, an enterprising regional postmaster, Charles-Augustin Meurice (1739–1820), welcomed them to French shores, putting them up in his Calais coaching inn and arranging rides to Paris aboard his coach service. It was a 36-hour trip, and Meurice built a second coaching inn in Paris in 1817. Le Meurice moved in 1835 to its present site, overlooking the Tuileries Garden.
Because so many British travellers stayed at Le Meurice, (where all the staff spoke English), the hotel was nicknamed 'City of London'. English author William Makepeace Thackeray once wrote, "If you don't speak a word of French, if you like English comfort, clean rooms, breakfast and maîtres d'hôtel; if in a foreign land, you want your fellow countrymen around you, your brown beer, your friend and your cognac - and your water - do not listen to any of the messengers but with your best British accent cry heartily: 'Meurice!' and immediately, someone will come forward to drive you straight to the rue de Rivoli."
A limited liability company named Hôtel Meurice was formed in 1898 to own and operate the hotel. Arthur Millon, who headed the new company, and his director, Mr Schwenter, responded to the expectations by undertaking a major renovation of the property in 1905.
The extensive two-year renovation and enlargement gave the property its modern-day appearance and amenities such as private baths.
During the renovation, the workers took in a stray dog, a greyhound. It was adopted by the hotel's personnel and thus became its mascot. A second greyhound was added to accompany the first, forming the emblem of Le Meurice that is still the symbol throughout the hotel today.
During World War I, the hotel closed for several months, and it served for a time as a hospital for wounded soldiers.
During the Second world war, Le Meurice housed German military command as well as the commanding governor Dietrich von Choltitz - a nazi official famous in popular culture for having decided to ignore Adolf Hitler's- order to firebomb Paris as depicted in the movie "Is Paris Burning".
One of the hotel's most outrageous guests was the surrealist painter Salvador Dali, who spent at least one month per year at Le Meurice. His behaviour could also be surrealistic.
Artists, writers, and musicians who have stayed at Le Meurice include Giorgio de Chirico, Rudyard Kipling, Walter Lippmann, Yehudi Menuhin, Liza Minnelli, Seiji Ozawa, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Placido Domingo. Past guests also include film stars and directors such as Franco Zeffirelli, Fernandel, Mike Todd, Eddie Fisher, Ginger Rogers, Yul Brynner, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The Brazilian Beauty Symbol Aimee de Heeren also stayed at the hotel. Le Meurice's has also been a setting for several films, including Mata Hari and Julia, directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Jane Fonda. The superstar Beyoncé always stays at Le Meurice when she comes to visit Paris.
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