Located directly across from the Eiffel Tower, La Réserve Paris stays true to its name through interior architect Remi Tessier’s refined take on discreet opulence.
Location
In the smartest part of town overlooking the roofs of the Pantheon and, in the near distance, the Grand Palais and the Eiffel Tower is the discreet front door to the exquisitely decorated hotel which has both an airy grandeur and a rarefied kind of intimacy.
Style and character
The hotel was originally built for the Duc de Morny, Napoleon III’s half-brother, so spaces are airy and grand, although not over-bearingly palatial. This is a space that feels more like the bourgeois home of a Parisian millionaire, such as its last owner, the fashion designer Pierre Cardin, than a hotel. Nothing other than the grand fireplaces remain of the old homes, though. The rest has been re-imagined by the theatrical maestro of hotel design, Jacques Garcia, using a dramatic palette of black, white and gold, with flourishes of peacock green and ruby in the public spaces, and pale champagnes and greys in the bedrooms. While the intimate bar and living room are open to the public, the library, lined with leather-bound books and furnished in peacock green velvet and silk, the candlelit spa with its 16m pool, and its cosy smoking lounge are restricted to guests only.
Rooms
Because this hotel has been built from scratch, the owner has been able to make every part of the 26 suites and 14 rooms as fine and polished as can be. Particular favourites are those on the fifth floor, in the mansard roof, with far-reaching views, and the third-floor suites with balconies furnished with wrought-iron tables and chairs. Walls are lined with silk damask, and window curtains in heavy silk and fine white voile which can be easily drawn back to reveal views through double-glazed floor-to-ceiling French doors. Wardrobes are built from heavy oak, with elegant hangers and a big umbrella for Paris showers. Mattresses have feather toppings, pillows are filled with fine goose-down, and beds are swathed in crisp white Quagliotti linen. Bathrooms are lined in white and grey Carerra marble, with spacious walk-in Roselli rainshowers, capacious silver-sided bathtubs and own-brand La Reserve toiletries, super-thick bathmats, as well as soft slippers and cotton and towelling robes. When it comes to technology it is all high tech, with televisions disguised in mirrors, high-quality speakers that connect wirelessly to devices, temperature-controlled kettles and high-tech touch-screen phones and tablets.
Food and drink
The restaurant offers gourmet-style fine French dining, but of a light and inventive kind, rather than traditional and rich. The chef, Jérôme Banctel, delivers dishes from tender milk-fed lamb to marshmallow-light pepper-filled ravioli, and red-mullet with asparagus to wild-strawberry tiramisu, all of which can be enjoyed in the decadently dark dining room, all woods, Chinese-style black furnishings, mirrors and gilt that give it a romantic, Parisian feel.
Spa
Set around the 16-meter indoor pool are just three treatment rooms, a fitness area with a sports coach and a steam room, creating a peaceful atmosphere where one is finally relieved of pressure and can succumb to a complete disconnect from the daily grind. men are not forgotten, with a range of services indispensable to the modern-day gentlemen.
La Réserve is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, a collection of authentic and uncommon luxury hotels. Rooted in the locations where they are found, the hotels embody the very essence of their destinations. Offering varied styles of architecture and design, and immersive cultural experiences delivered by passionate people, LHW’s collection is for the curious traveller looking for their next discovery. Established in 1928 by several influential and forward-thinking European hoteliers, Leading Hotels has an eight decade-long commitment to providing remarkable travel experiences.
