After 4 years of expert renovation to the highest standard, a new “palace” is opening its doors on August 1. The Peninsula Paris is blending French aesthetic with a strong dose of Chinoiseries in a century-old classic building that has been restored to its Haussmanian soul, yet fully modernized for the 21st century. We give you a sneak peek of what to expect.
The late 19th century classic French-style building was first built as one of Paris’ most famous “grands hotels,” The Majestic, which opened in 1908 as the first Parisian hotel to offer private bathrooms in its guestrooms. In 1936, the hotel was sold to the French government and became the UNESCO Head Office between 1946 and 1958, and then the International Conference Centre for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, hosting high profile events until 2009. In 1973, the Paris Peace Accords, which ended the Vietnam War, were signed here.
The building is full of history.
On May 18, 1922 five of the greatest artists of the 20th century (James Joyce, Marcel Proust, Pablo Picasso, Sergei Diaghilev and Igor Stravinsky) sat down to a late supper at the hotel at the invitation of Sydney and Viola Schiff to celebrate the debut of Diaghilev’s ballet “Le Renard.” The menu featured dishes plucked from Proust’s novels.
George Gershwin wrote An American in Paris while staying there for 4 weeks in 1928.
Restoring the hotel to its former glory was a labor of patience which took 4 years and was carried out in close consultation with France’s three principal heritage bodies – Les Architectes des Batiments de France, Les Monuments Historiques, and La Commission du Vieux Paris.
The four-year renovation included 40,000 pieces of gold leaf, 1,000 individual pieces of wood removed, restored and replaced, “fish scale” slate roof tiles fashioned by hand, and 20 stonemasons working on the façade
The delicate blue and gold Etruscan-style Salon Adam was recreated and hand-painted from four photos of the original salon by Gohard artists, using extensive research to ensure an identical replica of the original.
40,000 pieces of gold leaf, each measuring 8 sq cm and covering an area of approximately 200 sq m, were used in the restoration of The Peninsula Paris. Following 22 initial steps to prepare the wood, each gold leaf was applied by hand and small brushes by the team of Gohard Atelier, a family company founded in 1962.
Three types of limestone were used for the façade – St Leu-la-Foret, Chauvigny and Comblanchien. They all came from the same quarries as the original construction which started in 1906. The façade restoration employed the talents of 20 skilled stonemasons from historic monument specialist Degaine to restore the 10,000 sq m area with its elaborate carved stone flowers, bows and ribbons. Each flower cascade took a stonemason three weeks of work, with 12 hours for a small bow.
The grand white lobby gives a sense of arrival to guests. The “Dancing Leaves” installation by Lasvit with 800 individual hand-blown crystal leaves is a nice change to the usual central flower decorations. It was designed to replicate the leaves on the plane trees lining Avenue Kléber, one of the 12 avenues leading to the Arc de Triomphe.
The hotel has a few art installations including "Moon River” by the Spanish sculptor Xavier Corberó.
The bronze and wrought ironwork of the ornamental staircase leading from the Lobby was created by Schwartz & Meurer, the company which constructed the Eiffel Tower.
Lili One of the hotel signature restaurants is Lili, dedicated to Cantonese cuisine. Its entrance offers a world-first – a large 3 x 3.3 m fibre-optic portrait of nylon webbing and net fabric, woven through with optical fibre to produce a glowing, flowing effect. It was created by Design Percept, a company founded in 2004 by industrial designer Clementine Chambon and fashion designer Francoise Mamert, in conjunction with The Peninsula’s interior designer Henry Leung and Jerome Declercq of Passementiers Declercq.
The rest of the restaurant has been designed to resemble a Chinese opera house, with a center dome inspired by the sound stage of a hall in Shanghai, four custom-made blue Oriental tassels using 15 kg of silk created by Passementiers Declercq, a triptych of traditional Chinese paper-cut panels using paper from Chinese-French dictionaries.
The hotel was re-roofed with 100,000 slate tiles from the same quarry in Angers-Trélazé as those on the original building in 1906. Its top floor restaurant and bar offers a stunning view of Paris.
The customised car fleet includes a 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II (pictured here), along with a Rolls-Royce EWB Phantom, two MINI Clubmans and 10 BMW 7 Series limousines - all in The Peninsula Hotels’ signature green livery.
With all this grand architecture, let’s not forget the rooms! The Peninsula Paris’ 166 rooms and 34 suites are among the most spacious in Paris. Each bedroom has a hand-carved leather headboards whose design has been inspired by the domes of the Grand Palais. They also have all the latest technological amenities, including a printer.
