LE ROYAL MONCEAU RAFFLES PARIS

1. An invitation to travel

Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris is a project which has made real a dream of creating somewhere different: somewhere nourished with its own history and vibrations, as well as with Paris; a sentimental space woven from encounters, sensations and emotions, inhabited by the French spirit, impregnated with culture, and dedicated to the sole genuine elegance – that of the heart.

It all started with the desire to remodel the classic codes of luxury hotels and so project them into a new dimension. But the project also derives from an affirmation of a slightly insane, infinitely poetic determination to break with custom, to steer clear of the apparently inevitable, to welcome the unusual, and to declare a tenderness for panache and impertinence, for fantasy and excess, while still cherishing rigour and perfection.

This desire embodies a "je ne sais quoi", a spirit that some have called the French Revolution, others the French Touch, a happy synthesis of movements and influences, of grace and authenticity, of fidelity and critical acumen. As a luxury hotel from the roaring Twenties, a rendez-vous for artists and writers, as well as for gentlemen and adventurers, Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris has always embodied “Parisian elegance” in all of its spontaneity, culture and sagacity. It still remains a rendez- vous for those who are not afraid of their own era and instead provoke improbable encounters, those who savour “lost time”, the white magic of unexpected moments and that sweet melancholy which seizes us as soon as we leave behind the helter-skelter of our daily existences.

In the words of Philippe Starck, who has entirely reimagined Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris: “a hotel is intrinsically pointless, it is just a shelter for people, who deserve our attention, generosity and consideration”. It is for this reason that art and culture, beauty and creation have been given a presence which is so original, dominant and genuine.

This can be seen everywhere: in the layout of the spaces, in the furnishings or in the service. Not forgetting the atmosphere. Here, creativity is offered up quite openly, as an invitation to travellers to experience something memorable. People come to Le Royal Monceau - Raffles Paris to live out their lives, or else a different life, borne up by the spirit of the place, transported by a shared élan, a light, imperceptible pulsation, which can never be forgotten.

“A hotel is intrinsically pointless, it is just a shelter for people, who deserve our attention, generosity and consideration”

PHILIPPE STARCK

Here, everyone can find what suits them, between intimacy and sharing, between effervescence and rest, according to their desires, their mood or the moment of the day.

Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris is not just somewhere to be passed through, but for staying, because it creates the singular sensation of being both at home and away, with familiar faces and yet among strangers, as both host and guest, in a constantly seething mix of culture, creation and emotion

2. A past of magic

Paris, August 2nd, 1928: there has been a heat- wave for the past week. By nine o’clock, the capital is beginning to melt into the haze. In front of 37 Avenue Hoche, a man is pacing about, seeking out the coolness of the plane trees that border the service road beside the avenue; he then turns and gazes at the discreetly monumental façade, elegant high windows and smooth line of the awning. The man is Pierre Bermond and the hotel is Le Royal Monceau - Raffles Paris, which opened the previous day. Another man now emerges from it, hails the doormen and porters, then walks over to join him. This is his associate, André Jugnot.

After founding the Miramar Hotels in Biarritz and Cannes, several hotels in Evian, and the Carlton and California Hotels in Paris, here they now are on this peaceful, sumptuous avenue, shunned by the trams and buses, which still rustles with the trotting of the horses that drove Anatole France to Madame Arman de Caillavet’s literary salon.

Pierre Bermond walks down the avenue, which is soon to be overwhelmed by the sun. Before setting up his hotel group, he was born in Nice, then studied to become a lawyer in Aix-en- Provence and thus knows how to negotiate with the heat: economise your movements, gather every breath of air, seek out the shadows of the trees. Did he not provide Le Royal Monceau hotel with a spacious garden, the only one of its kind in Paris? Though, it is true, the 8th arrondissement did lend itself to this purpose...

In the 18th century, this area of Paris was still the countryside, dotted with isolated villages and hamlets. It was here, just by the village of Monceau, that the Duke of Chartres decided to establish a park of eight hectares in 1773. He entrusted this project to Louis Carrogis, or ‘Carmontelle’, a playwright, revel-maker and avant-garde landscape designer, who devised an Anglo-Chinese style garden, decked with a multitude of miniature buildings, or ‘follies’.

Amid the woods, along the spacious lawns, and in the flowerbeds or lakes could be found a Dutch windmill, a minaret, Chinese bridges, an obelisk, a pyramid, a grotto, a medieval castle... This theatrical set, in which everything has been planned for amusement, was the scene of sumptuous festivities until 1792, when the Duke of Chartres, now Philippe Égalité, gave it over to the Republic. After a dark period, during which it fell into disuse and then was cut in half, the Duke of Chartres’s folly became the property of the city of Paris in 1860. It was then renovated by Baron Haussmann and renamed Parc Monceau.

Thanks to its fantastical landscaping, Parc Monceau helped to make follies fashionable. So it was that, in 1775, Nicolas Beaujon acquired a dozen hectares next to the Butte de l’Étoile, where he established a quite extraordinarily sumptuous property.

It was progressively sold off in lots after its owner’s death until, at the beginning of the 19th century, it became the Beaujon quarter, attracting artists and writers: Théophile Gautier lived there with his ponies, Arsène Houssaye had a Gothic manor built there, surrounded by a garden of vines, Rosa Bonheur made it her home for a time...

It was at this time that the redesigning of Place de l’Étoile was commanded by imperial decree. In 1854, Boulevard Monceau was opened, which was then renamed Avenue de la Reine- Hortense before receiving the name of a revolutionary general, Lazare Hoche, in 1879. Avenue Hoche was skirted by sumptuous buildings and town houses, boasting among its residents the parents of the future Anna de Noailles, Basil Zaharoff the adventurer and arms dealer, as well as Albert and Léontine Arman de Caillavet, famous for their literary salons.

A little further up towards Place de l’Étoile, a spacious property contained a retirement home belonging to an order of nuns. After the First World War, it was purchased by the hotel group belonging to Pierre Bermond and André Jugnot.

While the gardens were preserved, the buildings gave way to an elegant construction of harmonious proportions: Le Royal Monceau hotel.

It was designed by the architect Louis Duhayon who, along with his associates Charles Lefebvre and Marcel Julien, also created Les Arcades du Lido on the Champs-Élysées, among other luxury addresses.

As soon as it was opened in 1928, Le Royal Monceau hotel became a rendez-vous of choice for artists and intellectuals. Its worldwide clientele appreciated its gardens, its spacious bar, its gaming rooms for bridge, table tennis, or billiards and... its barbershop. Everything had been thought out to provide luxury, calm and modernity: its 265 rooms, its Appartement Royal and its Suites contained the most recent appliances, while the service was attentive and discreet, and its restaurant became a gastronomic delight. As for the private salons, they were to witness historic events, beginning with the social and economic hum at the start of the 3rd French Republic.

So it was that players on the political scene would run into Josephine Baker, or else Maurice Chevalier, Ernest Hemingway and Mistinguett. It was an era of exuberance, glamour and liberty. The Dadaists, then the Surrealists, proclaimed the kingdom of the imagination; Parisian nights echoed with jazz; theatres and cinemas prospered. Malraux published Les Conquérants, Marcel Pagnol directed Topaze and Maurice Ravel composed Boléro, while Gabrielle Chanel was imposing her own form of modernity.

Having been requisitioned during the Second World War, Le Royal Monceau hotel regained its independence in 1945 – in particular, it entertained General Eisenhower, Field Marshal Montgomery and the allied high command – before resuming its activities the following year. In 1947, Ho Chi Minh spent seven weeks there during the Fontainebleau Conference, which was to determine the future of Franco- Vietnamese relations.

Prestigious guests came, returned and met up: Joseph Kessel, Walt Disney, the Maharajahs of Indore and Kashmir, King Farouk of Egypt, the Aga Khan... In their footsteps would later come Michael Jackson, Madonna, Robert de Niro, Lou Reed and Sofia Coppola.

Over the years, while remaining a rendez-vous for Parisians and a select address for travellers from all over the world, Le Royal Monceau hotel started to slumber.

3. To sleep, to dream, to share... and live

This is the place. Here, where the awning above the majestic entrance sheds a ruby-coloured light, while the porters, bellboys and doormen welcome travellers, opening the doors to those who, for one night or, perhaps, for several years, will make this place their “home”. As a delightful step in a journey or trip, for a rendez- vous or when out roaming, arriving at Le Royal Monceau means starting quite naturally in the intimacy of La Réception, which Philippe Starck – who has rethought the entire hotel – has conceived as a reunion or return to a family house, to a “home”, with a promise of peace, rich with fertile surprises.

This gentle antechamber then opens out into the lobby. It appears as a huge central aisle punctuated with little private salons and tiny display cases; it seems full of sentimental, familial chaos, in which any attempt at order is instantly overthrown by the shades or traces of travels: a Siberian knickknack, an Italian vase, a work of art...

Its three hundred square meters lead to the historic, monumental staircase – multiplied endlessly by a play of mirrors reflecting Le Royal Monceau’s collection of chandeliers, grouped into clusters – which echoes with a half- forgotten melody as it rises to the upper floors and intimacy of the bedrooms, Suites and private apartments.

A room of one’s own, to sleep, perchance to dream. And to live. After the effervescence of the public areas on the ground floor – which can be returned to later for exploration – now comes a secret serenity favouring abandon. The bed occupies stage centre.

In a unison mingling the exacting elegance of the 40s and 50s – rigorous lines, fine materials, warm colours – with the poetry of sensitive details, each of the eighty-five rooms seems full of a life and a history which its occupants, no matter how long or short their stay, are invited to extend: books placed here and there on the shelves, a light-shade decked with a sketch, a shell of Murano blown glass, party photos leant against a wall, a signed acoustic guitar, love letters left in the drawer of a desk - which has itself been drawn up beside the bed so as to allow for midnight jottings – a scarf, a pearl necklace... they are all traces of a traveller besotted with the wild blue yonder, or of a dandy, a woman of letters, an artist or passionate collector.

This history continues in the stone, steel and glass world of the bathroom, a celebration of extreme cleanliness in which lurks a painting, or photos stuck behind a mirror...

Finally, the dressing room, in an allusion to the fitting-rooms of haute couture, reveals a succession of mirrors and neoclassical furnishings in a shadowless light. Such is the layout of these rooms which seem to be whispering how life, real, beautiful, nonchalant, pulsating in all its lightness, is possible quite simply only in Paris.

Conceived in the same spirit, the sixty-four Suites are fully-fledged private territories, or staging posts for the world’s wanderers and artists, providing them not only with a space to work but also an inspiring environment, bearing the memories of all their predecessors.

For example, Suite 714 where Ray Charles once lived, now bears his name and contains photographs by Arlette Kotchounian who wrote The Sun Died essentially for him. The three Private Apartments provide the advantages of a private dwelling, while at the same time offering all of the hotel’s services.

4. A collection of spectacular private Suites

The 41 Avenue Hoche is the best private address in Paris. Wonderfully elegant and luxurious yet understated and very welcoming.

Behind a discreet entrance on the chic avenue Hoche, next to Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris, is a collection of heavenly Suites, including three spectacular 350sqm Private Apartments. Each one is designed as an exclusive private residence, with levels of service worthy of a great private house.

Set over five floors, these beautifully sophisticated, flexible Suites offer their guests not only the services of the most exciting hotel in the city, but also private and secure entry through 41 avenue Hoche, and direct access to the hotel’s idyllic Spa Clarins & myBlend.

The largest Suites also have a private hammam and gym (with a personal trainer). A sublimely skilled and creative florist is on hand to make the wildest of floral dreams come true. And – the ultimate of luxuries - a chef who will interpret the culinary desires of every guest, day or night, to create unforgettable meals.

Original architectural features are brilliantly blended with contemporary French design and individual character. For business trips, multigenerational tra-vel, shopping sprees, or romantic interludes, the Private Apartments offer a combination of the discretion and space, underpinned by the comforts of a 5-star hotel. This is the height of Parisian luxury.

5. Restaurants & Bar

Matsuhisa Paris

World renowned Chef Nobu Matsuhisa and Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris have partnered to introduce the first Matsuhisa restaurant in France.

Further to the internationally celebrated Matsuhisa Beverly Hills and the celebration of six other exclusive destinations around the world, Matsuhisa Paris opened in March 2016, under the expertise of Nobu's team of sushi masters. Matsuhisa Paris brings a highly contemporary vision of Japanese cuisine; a gastronomic encounter between Asia and Latin America – two cultures dear to the heart of Nobu himself. The extensive and original menu at Matsuhisa Paris offers a unique Peruvian- Japanese culinary experience with a bespoke array of Nobu’s legendary signature dishes including: Albacore Tuna Sashimi with Jalapeño Peppers, Black Cod with Miso, and Sashimi Tacos as well as traditional sushi.

Open from Monday to Saturday for lunch and daily for dinner.

Lunch and dinner in the garden during warm weather.

Il Carpaccio

Our Italian restaurant draws on a Sicilian baroque style with an extravagant shell decor on the walls, opening onto a lovely glass conservatory drenched in light.

Il Carpaccio restaurant in collaboration with the three-star restaurant Da Vittorio, is led by Chefs Oliver Piras and Alessandra Del Favero since October 2021. They are proposing a gastronomic Italian cuisine, authentic and gourmet. It has been awarded 1 Star only six months after its reopening in the Michelin Guide 2022.

Classic Italian desserts are successfully reinterpreted by our pastry Chefs and our outstanding Sommelier shares with great pleasure his passion for Italian wines.

Open from Tuesday to Friday for lunch and from Tuesday to Saturday for dinner.

Lunch and dinner in the garden during warm weather.

Le Bar Long

A place to meet and talk, this bar is an unusual spot – its structure is broken up by large white linen curtains, works of art and a surprising collection of lamps and chandeliers. Located at the heart of the hotel, Le Bar Long is a high, long, narrow and luminous bar.

For this space, designer Philippe Starck wanted to break with convention, the repetitive face- to-face layout between patrons and a bartender moving behind a bar. This is a place where people stop, talk, read and enjoy the great classics of luxury hotel bars or chic tapas, all served with original cocktails.

Open daily all day long.
Served in the garden during warm weather.

La Cuisine

Every morning, our buffet of every pleasure is generously prepared by Chef Norihisa Semboshi to meet your every need, offering you exceptional products. Whether you’re looking for a savoury escapade with our organic eggs prepared just in time and topped up to your taste, a moment of intense indulgence with our Pastry Chef’s must-tries, or a more vegan craving with our dedicated corners, our breakfasts will satisfy all your desires with a high-quality offering. These are essential steps in the smooth running of your day.

The Royal Sunday Brunch offers a gourmet stroll through seasonal cuisine, sublimated by finely selected products from passionate and talented artisans. Not to be missed are the unmissable desserts and a selection of pastries.

​A true sense of Parisian flair with a focus on quality, service and experience.

Open daily for breakfast. Brunch on Sunday.

La Terrasse

The terrace is a leafy haven at the heart of Le Royal Monceau - Raffles Paris – a world away from the hustle and bustle of the chic Avenue Hoche. It is the perfect setting to enjoy the first rays of spring sun and peoplewatching, in the calm of a garden in bloom (weather permitting).

Tables from restaurants Matsuhisa Paris and Il Carpaccio spill out softly to share this jewel of a space. The doors of Le Bar Long open here to create a unique blend of activity and tranquil chatter throughout the day. Guests can enjoy a delectable lunch, sip a smooth coffee, or delight an exquisite pastry, al fresco. The terrace flourishes and transforms throughout the day and the seasons. Benches surround the pond in the middle of the garden. Deep within it, you can see the water moving in the spa swimming pool below.

Open during the warm weather.

6. Art & Cultural Services

The Art Concierge and her blog

Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris offers a unique service: an Art Concierge. Our cultural mediator Julie Eugène guides and advises our guests as they visit Paris, keeping them posted on current art news and devising tailor-made plans. She can also offer customized visits of the hotel’s private collection.

What is an Art Concierge? Designed by Philippe Starck, the Art Concierge role is essentially an advisory role and a cultural mediator with the clients as well as the staff. The Art Concierge is there to answer any inquiries regarding art and culture.

The creation of this new service in a luxury hotel in Paris is a world first, and covers two aspects: the implementation of art exhibitions at Le Royal Monceau - Raffles Paris Art District gallery, the production of editorial content on the blog Art For Breakfast, and services to customers such as: museums visits, guided tours of an exhibition by the curator, visiting artist studios, art galleries or private collections, private viewing of special pieces, private guitar lessons, cultural activities for children, cultural tour in Paris guided by an art concierge, etc.

Available every day.

When it reopened in October 2010, Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris developed an elaborate cultural policy, offering customers a range of cultural options including an art bookstore dedicated to contemporary art, a modern cinema, a contemporary art gallery, a private collection of over 300 works of art and a cultural service run by our Art Concierge. The artistic program of the hotel is multidisciplinary, multimedia and intergenerational.

Art District, the art gallery

This exhibition area is the hub of the artistic and cultural life of the hotel. A new venture into the world of contemporary art in Paris, Art District welcomes artists, art connoisseurs and collectors, patrons and art professionals. The space is dedicated to premiere exhibitions in Paris: retrospectives, commissions for Le Royal Monceau - Raffles Paris, presentation of new or previously unseen collections.

Since autumn 2021, Bel-Air Fine Art, one of Europe’s leading contemporary gallery groups, has become an official partner of the gallery.

Free entry. Open from Tuesday to Sunday.

Art bookstore ‘La Librairie des Arts’

The leading contemporary art bookstore in a Parisian luxury hotel, La Librairie des Arts is an emblematic element of art and culture at the hotel. Echoing its art program and worldwide cultural current events, the bookstore has over 700 titles as well as objects by artists and architects, limited editions and various unusual formats. Yet another place to meet and share, La Librairie des Arts has a wide selection of works, constantly updated.

Open daily.

7. Private Art Collection

Works from the collection of Le Royal Monceau - Raffles Paris are exhibited in each of the hotel rooms and Suites, as well as in the public areas and the garden.

The creation of this collection for the rooms and Suites represents a major investment, notably in fine - art photography, with such artists as Simon Chaput, Koichiro Doi, Guy Le Querrec, Lucien Hervé, Rune Guneriussen, Thierry Dreyfus, Harry Gruyaert and Marie Maillard. One Suite is decorated with a series of portraits by Arlette Kotchounian of Ray Charles, once a familiar face at the hotel. A view of the hotel interpreted by hyper-photographer Jean- François Rauzier hangs in Suite 341.

The works of art exhibited in the public areas were all commissioned specially for the hotel from international artists. Stéphane Calais’ fresque murals, Jardin à la Française, adorns the ceiling of the restaurant Matsuhisa Paris. Rosson Crow’s Grand Salon, Maison d’Alsace, 1929, hangs in the VIP room of the restaurant Il Carpaccio. Craftsman Thomas Boog also worked on the decor of the Italian restaurant, creating a fresco of hand-glued shells.

On the first landing, the impressive Salle des Trophées by Russian artist Nikolay Polissky consists of an installation of 15 life-size wooden elk and deer. English artist Stephen Smith designed the mirrors on the each of the hotel’s landings.

8. The Katara Cinema

Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris innovates in the world of the Parisian luxury hotels. With its own integrated movie theater, the hotel intends to keep Paris on the front line for major international film premieres, creating an institution, a one-step meeting place and venue for international actors, directors, writers, producers and promoters alike.

The Katara Cinema is the first class 99-seat theater, with integrated state-of-the-art sound and projection equipment in 35 mm, digital and 3D.

A comprehensive team of screening and audio professionals, unique in the luxury hotel industry, are on-hand throughout the event. The screening room is also available for hotel guests to organize private screenings, to watch auctions, to broadcast concerts or to organize seminars.

The Katara Cinema is also one of the key elements in regard to the presence of art and culture in the hotel.

9. Clarins & myBlend Spa

The luxurious Clarins & myBlend Spa at Le Royal Monceau - Raffles Paris is a white paradise of relaxation and pampering. At the center of the 1500m2 spa is an eye catching 23- meter swimming pool; bathed in natural light.

The revolutionary new concept, myBlend by Dr Olivier Courtin, is a unique range of fully customizable skin care products designed for the individual needs of every skin type at every age. The bespoke facial treatments, exclusively available at Le Royal Monceau - Raffles Paris, begin with an in-depth skin analysis to determine the biological age of the skin, followed by expert application of the personalized treatments by ‘My Beauty Coach’.

The Spa also offers the essential Clarins products and includes body treatments, massages and traditional facials for men and women. The Spa aims to ensure guests feel like they are floating on a cloud and this feeling of total serenity is attended to by carefully selected experts: highly trained ‘Beauty Coaches’, ‘Pool Coach’ providing swimming lessons and aqua fitness, ‘Body Coaches’ for personal training and ‘Spa Concierges’ managing the appointments of hotel guests and spa members.

The Clarins & myBlend Spa features a watsu pool, a hammam, a laconium room, an ice fountain, a sauna and seven treatment rooms (including one VIP double cabin), where ladies are pampered in rooms of pure white with feminine hints of translucent pink and gentlemen are welcomed into their treatment zones via a large stainless-steel hall. Our Ladies & Gentlemen’s relaxation rooms also offer a unique “shower experience”, which can be tailored with different choices of light, music and essential oil.

The four generously proportioned fitness rooms feature state-of-the-art Technogym and Kinesis equipment, a private Thai Boxing studio, one room entirely dedicated to Pilates with the latest Reformer and Cadillac machines, and a yoga room offering Hatha, Vinyasa, Ashtanga and Power Yoga.

Open daily for in-house guests, members and visitors.