The Peninsula Paris offers luxury on a large scale, from fine dining to the city's biggest hotel spa and pool
Words: Jonathan Whiley
On the vast rooftop of The Peninsula Paris is a plane suspended in midair, its flight path bound for the Eiffel Tower. Welcome aboard LOiseau Blanc,the hotel's two-Michelin-star restaurant named in honour of the plane that two French pioneers of aviation – Charles Nungesser and François Coli – used to attempt a non-stop transatlantic crossing.
It disappeared in 1927 and now a replica, with an 11-metre wingspan, stands as a tribute to their adventurous spirit, occupying hearts, minds and Instagram accounts the world over.In a neat segue, chef David Bizet promises a culinary journey of his own with a tasting menu titled “Travel book in six journeys”, served up with some of the city's most breathtaking views.
If French fine dining isn't your hashtag, then the hotel's ground floor offers Chinese cuisine at LiLi or more casual fare at Le Lobby, with an elegant 20th-century dining room offering a menu that spans refined bistro dishes (truffle croque-monsieur) to pad thai and masala chicken. It may cater for the new-world jet-set, but the hotel's rich history is for ever and unmistakably intertwined with the City of Light. Located on Avenue KlĂŠber, a short stroll from the Arc de Triomphe in the 16th arrondissement, it's set in a late 19th-century building that first opened as one of the city's most luxurious hotels – Hotel Majestic – in 1908.
The stately Beaux-Arts building became a hotbed for creatives. Artists, writers and musicians including James Joyce, Pablo Picasso and Igor Stravinsky all stayed here and in 1928, George Gershwin spent almost a month at the hotel as he composed An American in Paris. Referred to as “little Versailles”, The Peninsula Paris opened in 2014 following a meticulous six-year renovation. A selection of France's finest artisans were handpicked for the fine marble and gold-leaf finishing, with 20 stone masons hired to restore the building's facade alone. More than a decade later and the grandeur and glamour remains; an artful cascade of 800 crystals (inspired by the trees that line Avenue KlĂŠber) is a show-stopping lobby installation that sets the tone.
The rooms – 200 in all, including 86 suites – are among the biggest in Paris. The Katara Suite offers a private terrace garden on the rooftop, while the Peninsula Suite is a striking and authentic Haussmannian residence with a grand piano. Size matters and even the hotel's wellness facilities are vast – they include the city's largest hotel spa and pool. Mercifully for such a cavernous building, it never lacks energy or atmosphere; in the public areas there always seem to be slick preparations for an imminent glamorous gathering. Summertime in Paris and the livin' here is particularly easy.
