What it is

A newly reborn 1910 grande dame with a 7,500-square-foot spa, swimming pool and restaurant helmed by a chef who garnered three Michelin stars elsewhere.

What it isn't

Expected. This is reportedly the only ultra-luxury hotel on the Left Bank.

What we think

Fame slept here. Icons were born here. And that’s not an overstatement. Among the boldfaced names who’ve stayed and sipped here: Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Josephine Baker, and James Joyce, who penned Ulysses right here—alongside Ernest Hemingway, his intermittent editor. And today, the hotel is more illustrious than ever, thanks to a complete overhaul by architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte. While age-old stunners remain (note the hand-painted ceiling frescoes), rooms are decidedly “now”; even the simplest options—Superior Rooms—are fitted with Murano glass sconces, Hermes toiletries, Statuario marble in the bathrooms, and brushed oak flooring that smacks of all the souls that walked here before.

You're here because

You’re an obsessive foodie, and even in Paris, a hotel with a decent restaurant is a tall order. Not so at Lutetia, where chef Gérald Passedat is reimagining seafood one exquisite dish at a time (order the whole sea-bream flambeed in pastis liqueur).

The Moment

Parisians know external beauty gets amplified in stunning spaces, which is part of why most of its streets look like they were concocted by a design wizard for a dream movie set. Splashing gently into the pristine pool in Akasha spa, you feel immediately at ease; but when your Lomi Lomi passages begins, you’re an entirely new person. The type of person that goes to Paris and comes back not ten pounds overweight (thanks, gruyere!) but renewed and restored, like Hotel Lutetia herself.

Restaurants & Bars

Lutetia Brasserie - Gérald Passedat will bring his creative expertise to the kitchen of the legendary Lutetia Brasserie.

Salon St Germain - an iconic destination on the left bank to enjoy continental breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner in an intimate and refined atmosphere.

Restaurant L’Orangerie - A uniquely peaceful area of the hotel, bathed in natural light and surrounded by orange trees.

Bar Aristide - Artfully glamorous blend of the old and the new. Open from midday until 1am, the bar offers international cuisine with a lunch menu for sharing and an exquisite selection of snacks for dinner.

Bar Marguerite - facing Rue de Babylone, it's an intimate venue to enjoy one of our two smoking rooms; Blues and Jazz.

Location

On the Left Bank, just five blocks from the 17th-century Jardin du Luxembourg and two from shopaholic mecca Le Bon Marche.