Tried & Tested

Hotel check: Le Meurice

1 May 2007 by business traveller

WHAT'S IT LIKE? A member of the Leading Hotels of the World group, Le Meurice is also part of the Dorchester Collection of hotels (the others being the Dorchester, London, the Beverley Hills Hotel, California, the Hotel Principe di Savoia, Milan, and the Hotel Plaza Athénée, also in Paris). The hotel dates back to 1835 and is decorated in classic French palace style, from the green and white marble floors and art nouveau glass roof in the lobby area, to antiques and art on loan from Sotheby's and Christie's. This opulent atmosphere has inevitably attracted royalty and celebrities over the years, and it's said that on one of the many occasions that Salvador Dali stayed there, he asked for a herd of sheep to be brought to his room so he could shoot at them with blank bullets.

WHERE IS IT? On Rue de Rivoli, a couple of minutes' walk from the Place de la Concorde, and overlooking the Tuileries gardens. The closest Metro stop is Tuileries on line 1, from where it's about 15 minutes to the Gare du Nord, home of the Eurostar.

HOW MANY ROOMS? 121 deluxe rooms, 16 junior suites and 23 suites. Keys are required to access the bedroom floors from the lift.

ROOM Facilities If at all possible, get a front-facing room. The view across the Tuileries, with the Louvre to the left, the Musée d'Orsay straight ahead and the Eiffel Tower to the right, is simply stunning – the best vista of any city hotel I have stayed in – so be firm when requesting your room. Inside, all of the guest rooms at Le Meurice are individually designed, with at least 100 yards of French and Italian fabrics adorning the windows, furniture and beds – in my case pastel greens were the order of the day, but there are also rooms in blues, reds and yellows. There are flatscreen TVs with 120 satellite channels, iPod docking stations and complimentary broadband access in all rooms, along with a large safe and private bar area. There were no tea, coffee or ironing facilities, although an iron and ironing board were brought up within minutes when requested. Bathrooms are in white marble, with separate bath and shower, Penhaligon's amenities, bathrobes and slippers, and electronic scales.

RESTAURANTS AND BARS Le Meurice's eponymous restaurant is reason enough to visit the hotel, given that its head chef, Yannick Alléno, has recently been awarded a third Michelin star. This means that, with Alain Ducasse's signature restaurant at the Hotel Plaza Athénée, the Dorchester Collection has the only three-star hotel restaurants in Paris. The restaurant is undoubtedly the showpiece of the hotel, with ornate gilding, original paintings and Louis XVI chandeliers creating a feeling of opulence in which to enjoy dishes such as koulibiac of smoked salmon with sea scallops and caviar. If you can't get a reservation at Le Meurice, there is always Jardin d'Hiver, the hotel's second restaurant, also overseen by Alléno – I tried the skewered Dublin bay prawns to start (€25) followed by preserved lamb shoulder with mashed potatoes with olive (€38) and wasn't disappointed with either. The surroundings of Jardin d'Hiver aren't quite as sumptuous as those of Le Meurice (both it and the lobby area are due to be given a complete Philippe Starck makeover later this year), but you'll get a chance to sample the latter at breakfast, providing you can meet the €48 charge for the full breakfast. Bar Fontainebleau serves Dom Perignon by the glass in cosy dark wood and leather surroundings.

BUSINESS AND MEETING FACILITIES There are three function rooms – Pompadour, Tuileries and Jeu de Paume – which can accommodate from 26 people classroom-style to 200 reception-style. There is also a small business corner, with two PCs, a printer, a scanner and a fax machine, and guests can also request laptop computers and fax machines for their rooms. Wifi internet access is available in the public areas.

LEISURE FACILITIES The hotel's Spa Caudalie harnesses the health-giving properties of grapes to offer guests vinotherapy treatments such as the Crushed Cabernet Scrub (€105). There is also a large spa bath, sauna and steam rooms in each of the changing rooms, and a well-equipped fitness centre with free weights and cardio-vascular machines.

VERDICT This is not your average hotel, and it's unlikely that cost-conscious travellers will be checking in on a regular basis. But for the high-end business traveller looking for a great location and a restaurant to wow clients in (so long as they book ahead), it's hard to think of many hotels that will surpass Le Meurice in terms of elegance and French chic.

PRICE Rates for a stay in mid-June start from €720 for a Deluxe room (cancellation up to 48 hours in advance).

CONTACT Le Meurice, 228 rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris; tel +33 1 44 58 10 10; lemeurice.com.

Mark Caswell

Loading comments...

Search Flight

See a whole year of Reward Seat Availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Be up-to-date
Magazine Subscription
To see our latest subscription offers for Business Traveller editions worldwide, click on the Subscribe & Save link below
Polls