Inside LVMH’s New Hotel In Paris, Where Rooms Start At $1,500 A Night
Image via Cheval Blanc Paris
After expending all their energy picking up designer items from LVMH’s US$900 million La Samaritaine mall, shoppers can now put their feet up at the nearby Cheval Blanc Paris, which freshly opened its doors on September 7.
But staying at the posh 72-room hotel isn’t going to cost any cheaper than that brand-new bag. Bloomberg reports that the most modest of rooms from this LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE establishment would set guests back about US$1,500 per night.
For starters, the basement houses a 100-foot infinity pool with a reflective ceiling that makes it seem like your swim could last forever. The sense of being surrounded by waters is brought closer with digital displays fixed along the deck that showcase animations of the Seine.
But even this communal pool is too simple for whoever occupies the top-floor penthouse. At 11,000 square feet, it has a personal 41-foot pool, a panoramic terrace, and a projection area.
However, it all comes down to location, location, location. Cheval Blanc Paris takes over the 1928 Art Deco building designed by Henri Sauvage, just five minutes away from the Louvre by foot. That doesn’t just place it at the heart of Parisian landmarks, but just about every one of its windows is highlighted by the flowing Seine outside. In contrast, the rivaling Peninsula hotel does offer an intimate glimpse of the Eiffel Tower, but it’s only limited to a few suites.
Unsurprisingly, guests can get to the adjacent LVMH mall by a private hotel elevator.
The hotel was designed by American architect and decades-long LVMH collaborator Peter Marino, who had essentially been gifted a blank canvas when the project was handed to him. “It was an unusual and exhilarating opportunity for me because I had so much time—years!—to design every piece of furniture, lamp, and coffee table,” Marino said in a statement obtained by Bloomberg. The designer seized the undertaking with almost 600 artisans.
Like the mall, Cheval Blanc Paris is embellished with touches from brands under the luxury conglomerate. Tiffany & Co gems line the lobby windows, while rooms are stocked with beauty amenities designed by a Parfums Christian Dior alumnus.
Rooms, common areas, and corridors double as art galleries with hundreds of modern masterpieces by artists like Frank Gehry, Sonia Delaunay, and Ingrid Donat. Tweed, marble, velvet, and stone adorn the interiors of lodgings.
Image via Cheval Blanc Paris
Image via Cheval Blanc Paris
Image via Cheval Blanc Paris
Among the hotel’s four restaurants is a brasserie decked in a familiar red and yellow scheme. While Bloomberg acknowledges the look is “theoretically Jasper Johns-inspired,” others might liken it to “an upscale McDonald’s.”
Although the stately hotel might leave some locals in distaste, for fear that Paris may lose its old charm to tourists, Marino describes, “The other five-star hotels in Paris are owned by the Qataris, the Saudis, the Chinese, the Hong Kongers… This will be the only one owned by the French.”
[via Bloomberg, images via Cheval Blanc Paris]
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