Hôtel Meurice

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for the hotel in Calais see Hôtel Meurice de Calais.
Hôtel Meurice
General information
Type Palatial hotel
Town or city 1st arrondissement , Paris
Country France
Coordinates 48°51′54.56″N 2°19′40.74″E / 48.8651556°N 2.3279833°E / 48.8651556; 2.3279833
Opening 1815
Website
Official site

Le Meurice (nickname: "The Hotel of Kings") is a 5-star hotel in the 1st arrondissement of Paris opposite the Tuileries Garden, between Place de la Concorde and the Musée du Louvre on the Rue de la Rivoli. [1] From the Rue de la Rivoli, it stretches to the Rue du Mont Thabor.[2] Founded in 1815,[3] the hotel is considered to be one of France's "great old hotels".[4] As of 2011, there are 160 rooms.[5] The hotel employs around 400 people.

History

Early years

In the mid-18th century, the French postmaster, Charles-Augustin Meurice (born 1738), understood that English tourists wanted to be on the continent with the comforts and conveniences they were used to at home. In 1771, Meurice opened a coach inn on Rue Edmond Roche in Calais,[6] the Hôtel Meurice de Calais.[7] In 1815, he opened the Hôtel Meurice in Paris, originally located at 223 Rue Saint Honore. Le Meurice offered everything to make life easier for the traveler; apartments of various sizes, areas set aside where travelers could sit and talk, specialty laundry soap, English-speaking staff, and currency exchange, among other amenities. The hotel advertised, "For an English traveler, no hotel in Paris offers more benefits than Le Meurice".

Hotel lobby

In 1835, Le Meurice moved from Rue Saint Honore to its current location on the Rue de Rivoli, in a new luxurious building, close to the Tuileries Palace.[2] A wealthy clientele followed and during the July Monarchy to the Third Republic, Le Meurice welcomed the high society of the time who appreciated the quality of service, the refinement of the rooms and lounges, as well as the exceptional location of the hotel in the heart of Paris, near luxury boutiques.

In the latter half of the 19th century, Henri-Joseph Scheurich was its proprietor and in 1865 he is documented as managing the hotel under the London and Paris Hotel Company.[8] He is mentioned again in 1867, at which time the hotel offered large and small apartments, or single bedrooms; and featured a reading room and smoking room.[9] In 1891, the hotel had electric lights, new plumbing, and accommodated 200 guests; Scheurich was still the proprietor.[3]

Early 20th century

In the early 20th century, Le Meurice changed direction. One of the shareholders of the new company was Arthur Millon, owner of Café de la Paix and restaurants Weber and Ledoyen. To compete with the Ritz, which opened in 1902, Millon turned to a great Swiss hotelier, Frédéric Schwenter. Under these two men, Le Meurice was enlarged by the addition of the Metropole Hotel, located on Rue de Castiglione. Then, with the exception of the façade, the hotel was rebuilt under the guidance of the architect Henri Paul Nénot, winner of the Grand Prix de Rome. For interior decoration, especially for rooms on the ground floor, the Louis XVI style prevailed. The rooms were equipped with modern, tiled bathrooms, telephone, and electric butler bells. Public rooms were relocated and reinforced concrete was added for privacy,[10] and the elevator was a copy of the sedan chair used by Marie Antoinette. Other additions included the grand salon Pompadour with white trimmings, a restaurant with marble pilasters and gilded bronzes as a living tribute to the Peace of Versailles, and the wrought iron canopy over the lobby. In 1935, the poet Léon-Paul Fargue divided the customers of Parisian hotels into three categories: "poor, good and of the Meurice."

World War 2

Between September 1940 and August 1944, the hotel was requisitioned by the German occupation authorities. In August 1944, the Meurice became the headquarters of General Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris. von Cholitz famously disobeyed Hitler's commands to level the city of Paris. Hitler's reported question screamed to von Cholitz over a Hotel Meurice telephone, "Is Paris burning?", later served as the title of a best-selling book about the liberation of Paris, the 1966 film of which was shot partly at the Meurice.

Recent history

By the early 1950s, the royal guests had gradually given way to international businessmen, movie stars and artists.

The hotel is today owned and managed by the Brunei Investment Agency's Dorchester Collection, 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.

Renovations

During its long existence, Le Meurice has experienced several major refurbishments: one from 1905 to 1907, the second in 1947 and most recently in 1998.[11] Each of these renovations included modernization and beautification of the hotel. Purchased for around US$100 million by the Aga Khan, the spiritual head of the Moslem Ismaili sect, it underwent extensive renovation and restoration between 1998 and 2000.[11] In 2007, Le Meurice began its latest revamping under Philippe Starck and Franka Holtmann, General Manager. Its current decor is in the style of Louis XVI.[12] The latest renovation campaign, led by Jean-Loup Roubert and the architect Nicolas Papamiltiades, has profoundly changed certain areas of the building for technical reasons, with the creation of an underground infrastructure for heating and cooling, and for aesthetic purposes. New reception rooms have been created on the ground floor, while the main entrance was moved to Rue de Rivoli. Decorations, mosaics and moldings were the subject of extensive renovation by skilled craftsmen.

Movies

The hotel has been a setting for several films, including Is Paris Burning ? (1966, René Clément), Julia (1977, Fred Zinnemann), Mata Hari (1985, Curtis Harrington), Angel-A (2006, Luc Besson), Notre univers impitoyable (2007, Léa Fazer), Les Femmes de l'ombre (2008, Jean-Paul Salomé), Demain dès l'aube (Denis Dercourt) and La folle histoire d’amour de Simon Eskenazy (Jean-Jacques Zilbermann) in 2009 and Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen) and W.E (Madonna) in 2010.[citation needed]

Restaurants and bars

Le Meurice has two main restaurants. Restaurant le Meurice, overlooking the Tuileries Garden, which is run by 3 Michelin star chef Yannick Alléno and Restaurant Le Dali which is situated under a 145 square metre (1560 square feet) canvas, painted by Ara Starck, the daughter of Philippe Starck.[13] It also has the cocktail bar Bar 228 with leather armchairs and dark woodwork furnishings. Restaurant le Meurice, with a staff of 74 as of 2003,[6] serves breakfast.[14]

Notable patrons

Salvador Dalí, pictured at the Hôtel Meurice, spent about a month of each year over 30 years in the old Royal Suite Alphonse XIII.

The hotel has accommodated numerous kings, sultans, and other eminent guests.[15] Its location near the seat of government was one of the reasons prompting Miss Howard, mistress and patron of the future Napoleon III, to settle at Le Meurice during Napoleon's stay in the capital. The first monarch to have stayed at the new Meurice in Paris was King Alfonso XIII of Spain. When he was ousted in 1931, the fallen monarch sought refuge from the Meurice and set up the seat of his government in exile.[16] Following him, the Prince of Wales, the kings of Italy, Belgium, Greece, Bulgaria, Denmark, Montenegro, the Shah of Persia, and the Bey of Tunis stayed at the Meurice. Business leaders such as Rockefeller, politicians like French President Gaston Doumergue, who sometimes came to dine with his wife Jeanne-Marie Graves, President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt, Count Ciano, the British Prime Minister Anthony Eden, and others were well known guests.[citation needed]

Salvador Dalí spent about a month of each year over 30 years in the old Royal Suite, (spanning Rooms 106 and 108) which had been used by King Alphonse XIII.[17][18] Others included Giorgio de Chirico, Rudyard Kipling, Edmond Rostand, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Paul Morand, Walter Lippmann, Yehudi Menuhin, Seiji Ozawa, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Plácido Domingo. Past guests also include film stars and directors such as Franco Zeffirelli, Liza Minnelli, Fernandel, Mike Todd, Eddie Fisher, Ginger Rogers, Yul Brynner, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The Brazilian socialite Aimée de Heeren, and Beyoncé have also stayed at Le Meurice on several occasions, as did Mata Hari,and Tara Reid. The manager of the Meurice once even obtained a court order forcing Mata Hari to pay outstanding fees.[19] In December 2006, the President of Algeria, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, after surgery at the military hospital of Val de Grace, continued his recovery at the Meurice. Housed in a presidential suite, the head of the Algerian state gave a television interview from there on December 17; he left the Meurice on December 31 to return home.[citation needed]

In 2011, Jay-Z and Kanye West recorded their hit "Niggas in Paris" at Hôtel Meurice for the Watch The Throne album.

References

  1. ↑ Post, Melville Davisson (August 2001). The Sleuth of St. James Street. Essential Library (xLibris). p. 230. ISBN 978-1-4010-0466-8. Retrieved 6 January 2012. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Clunn, Harold Philip (1958). Face of Paris. Spring Books. p. 24. Retrieved 7 January 2012. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Phillips, Morris (1891). Abroad and at home: practical hints for tourists (Public domain ed.). Brentano's. pp. 126–. Retrieved 7 January 2012. 
  4. ↑ Decanter. Decanter Magazine Ltd. 2004. Retrieved 8 January 2012. 
  5. ↑ Time Out Guides Ltd (8 July 2011). Time Out Paris 19th Edition. Ebury Publishing. p. 311. ISBN 978-1-4070-1172-1. Retrieved 6 January 2012. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Gubler, Fritz; Glynn, Raewyn (25 September 2008). Great, grand & famous hotels. Great, Grand & Famous Hotels. pp. 47–. ISBN 978-0-9804667-0-6. Retrieved 7 January 2012. 
  7. ↑ Rider, Nick (1 May 2005). Short Breaks Northern France, 2nd. New Holland Publishers. pp. 33–. ISBN 978-1-86011-183-9. Retrieved 7 January 2012. 
  8. ↑ Bradshaw, George (1865). Bradshaw's illustrated hand-book to Italy (Public domain ed.). pp. 300–. Retrieved 7 January 2012. 
  9. ↑ Hughes, John William C.; Bradshaw, George (1867). Bradshaw's hand-book to Brittany (Public domain ed.). Adams. pp. 42–. Retrieved 7 January 2012. 
  10. ↑ Denby, Elaine (2 April 2004). Grand Hotels: Reality and Illusion. Reaktion Books. pp. 278–. ISBN 978-1-86189-121-1. Retrieved 7 January 2012. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Backman, Michael (2001). Asian eclipse: exposing the dark side of business in Asia. J. Wiley. p. 217. ISBN 978-0-471-47912-3. Retrieved 6 January 2012. 
  12. ↑ Clemente, Maribeth (15 May 2007). The Riches of Paris: A Shopping and Touring Guide. Macmillan. pp. 127–. ISBN 978-0-312-36163-1. Retrieved 7 January 2012. 
  13. ↑ "Restaurants and bars". Le Meurice. Retrieved 8 January 2012. 
  14. ↑ "Restaurant le Meurice". Le Meurice. Retrieved 8 January 2012. 
  15. ↑ Pearl Violette Newfield Metzelthin (1999). Gourmet. Condé Nast Publications. p. 192. Retrieved 6 January 2012. 
  16. ↑ Pearl Violette Newfield Metzelthin (1992). Gourmet. Condé Nast Publications. p. 104. Retrieved 8 January 2012. 
  17. ↑ Metzelthin, Pearl Violette Newfield (1983). Gourmet. Condé Nast Publications. Retrieved 13 January 2012. 
  18. ↑ Gubler, Fritz (25 December 2008). Waldorf hysteria: hotel manners, misbehaviour & minibars. Great, Grand & Famous Hotels. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-9804667-1-3. Retrieved 12 January 2012. 
  19. ↑ Wheelwright, Julie (1992). The fatal lover: Mata Hari and the myth of women in espionage. Collins & Brown. ISBN 978-1-85585-105-4. Retrieved 6 January 2012. 

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Coordinates: 48°51′54.56″N 02°19′40.74″E / 48.8651556°N 2.3279833°E / 48.8651556; 2.3279833

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