Worth Traveling For
Coup de foudre, love at first sight the French way, happens the moment you first glimpse Hôtel Plaza Athénée for the first time. A heart-quickening presence sure to bring on a swoon, the tony hotel radiates allurement from its key position on the Right Bank’s Avenue Montaigne, Paris’ most illustrious high-fashion street. Trimmed with scarlet canopies, each voluptuous Art Nouveau balcony on its facade overflows with bouquets of red geraniums. It’s a field of wildflowers effect but urbane and riotously sexy. Indoors, your love affair with the hotel, (which opened in 1913), will continue as Art Deco interiors seduce you.
Sculptured marble embellishments, lashings of gild, and a world of effortless glamour presented with the world’s best service draws you in. Your compatriots, other effortlessly elegant fashion world habitués, seem like members of a large family come home. Their love for this hotel, the anchor of this haute couture street of streets, underscores Plaza Athenee’s status amongst the fashion house beau monde scene.
Note to love addicts: the trademark red geraniums became de rigueur after Marlene Dietrich broke up with handsome French actor Jean Gabin. The couple had frequented the hotel often after meeting there in the 1940s. Dietrich moved across the street, leaving Gabin to eternally woo her with an extravagance of 100 red roses brazenly displayed on the terrace of their favorite suite. Now for you, the tradition lives on.
Hotel Highlights
People choose Hôtel Plaza Athénée for many reasons. Foremost, is the fashion scene proximity. Thankfully not the crowded Champs-Élysées, quieter Avenue Montaigne wends off the main drag, feeling like a secret pathway for people in the know. Various ateliers and maisons, including Dior which has a long, established relationship with the hotel, occupy grand real estate on this avenue. Overall, the street, and most sublimely, the hotel, feels private club-ish — and over-the-top exclusive.
Romantic to the nines, Plaza Athénée will please gastronomic travelers for its dining and bar scene. Don’t miss historical Relais du Plaza with its 1930s bistro vibes and decor inspired by the SS Normandie — a famous ocean liner. At the innovative Michelin-awarded Jean Imbert au Plaza Athénée, Chef Imbert reimagines dishes from his grandmother’s kitchen within an extravagantly embellished backdrop. On the wellness front, The Dior Spa, a symphony in tranquil white, is an intimate sanctuary with top-of-the-line treatments.
Rooms & Experience
Expect vistas of the courtyard, the buzzy avenue, the Eiffel Tower (or other monuments) from various rooms and suites, each uniquely kitted out with Art Deco and/or sumptuous French flourishes. New refurbishments by the hotel’s preferred design firm Moinard Bétaille conjure thoughts of Parisian apartments with just the right amount of contemporary trappings and classic accoutrements, such as Louis XVI-style bedside tables.
Choose from six signature suites with the Haute Couture Eiffel being the most emblematic of the hotel’s location and fashion world ties. Plush, polished, and deft in its couture-inspired style, this 1,400-square-foot suite captivates with lavish fabrics appointed just so, a white marble bathroom with a mosaic-sheathed tub, and a picture-perfect view of the Eiffel Tower, framed with silver trimmings.
What to Know Before You Book
Don’t expect a staid hotel. This is a convivial bolthole which builds an ice skating rink in the courtyard in winter for families and does unexpected pop ups, such as its summer Terrasse Eden, a seasonal restaurant overlooking Avenue Montaigne that brings a bit of Rome to Paris from April to October. Be sure to book ahead for a late evening table at glamorous Le Bar where Paris’ beautiful people convene.
Address: 25 Av. Montaigne, 75008 Paris, France
Closest Airport: Charles De Gaulle (CDG) (23 miles, 30-60 minutes)
Feature image, courtesy of Hôtel Plaza Athénée; Travel Curator may earn a commission from product or booking links on this page.
