Paris’ First Grand Hotel
For anyone looking for boutique hotels, Paris rightly has a reputation as a fertile hunting ground. The chic capital of the French Republic can offer you an incredible variety of options when it comes to fashionable places to rest your head, enjoy a cocktail, or base yourself while exploring everything the delightful city has to offer. Paris has a long history as the home of top hotels, having been the preferred bolthole for much of the European aristocracy throughout the 19th century. This patronage led to the development of some incredibly swanky locations, and this spirit remains to this day in both the luxury and boutique hotels Paris offers to its multitude of visitors.
Going Grand
One of the most famous hotels in the French capital is the Hotel du Louvre, formerly known as the Grand Hotel du Louvre. The hotel (alongside the rest of the Palace du Louvre) was established in the mid-19th century, by a town planner known as Baron Georges-Eugene Hausmann. Hausmann dedicated himself to clearing the cluttered buildings that had developed from the Middle Ages and refashioning the area into an impressive, airy, space, complete with the tree-lined boulevards that have made the city famous. Even if you forgo the Hotel du Louvre in favour of one of the many fantastic boutique hotels, Paris’s Place du Louvre is still likely to feature on your itinerary of iconic sites.
Revolutionising Paris
The Hotel du Louvre was designed by Alfred Armand and opened just in time for the Exposition Universelle 1855, an international exhibition that took place on the Champs-Elysées and highlighted the finest examples of the worlds of agriculture, industry and the arts. The Hotel du Louvre was the first of Paris’ luxury hotels and the first Grand Hotel in the city.
All Mod Cons
A far cry from today’s quirky and fashionable boutique hotels, Paris’ Grand Hotel du Louvre originally had two steam-powered lifts. Although they sound pretty rickety now, these lifts were the height of sophistication at the time. A staff of 1,250 was employed to attend to the needs and desires of the guests who were housed in 700 guest rooms. The Grand Hotel developed a solid reputation for culinary excellence, enticing guests to sample the local and international cuisine served. Famous guests included the impressionist Camille Pissarro, who painted some of his most famous pieces while staying at the hotel, and Arthur Conan Doyle, who went on to feature the hotel in several of his Sherlock Holmes stories.
The hotel has dropped the ‘Grand’ in its modern incarnation, but it continues to be one of the city’s most exclusive hotels.
If you’re looking for boutique hotels, Paris has a wonderful selection. Roberta Stuart is the Travel Manager for World Hotels, a company offering the best rooms at a Paris boutique hotel and a selection of unique and four and five star hotels around the world.
This article was provided by LeadGenerators, the smartest online marketing agency in London, and the proud host a series of internet marketing training seminars.
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