LE ROYAL MONCEAU IN PARIS BY PHILIPPE STARCK – A Modern Palace Hotel With An Artistic Sensibility!

Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris must be doing things right. In 2013, the historic luxury hotel earned itself the official French ministerial “palace distinction” – one step higher than five star – thereby joining an elite circle of just eight Parisian hotels (a viable alternative to the Bristol, the Meurice, the Four Seasons Hotel George V, the Plaza Athénée, the Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme, the Shangri-La or the Mandarin Oriental) to hold this highly sought-after title. This award is not just about having bigger rooms, more facilities and higher service standards, but also about the hotel’s design and its contribution to the spread of the French art de vivre (art of living).

After studying numerous criteria, the Palace Commission jury highlighted the hotel’s unique location – just minutes away from the Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe in the 8^tharrondissement – its prestigious heritage and its exceptional guest list, including the likes of French novelist Joseph Kessel, Walt Disney, Indian maharajahs, King Farouk of Egypt, the Aga Khan, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Robert de Niro, Lou Reed and Sofia Coppola – all of whom have stayed here at one point or another.

The outstanding cooking at its French and Italian restaurants, La Cuisine (which has now closed to make way for the first French outpost of Japanese fine dining restaurant Matsuhisa by celebrity chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, known for his empire of Nobu restaurants around the world) and Il Carpaccio respectively, was also a determining factor, as were the hotel’s architecture and interior design, with its one-of-a-kind art collection and large number of suites, including the most sizeable presidential suites in Paris, each measuring an impressive 350 sqm.

In 2008, Le Royal Monceau was given a complete two-year makeover by French designer Philippe Starck – his third hotel in Paris after Hôtel Le Meurice and Mama Shelter – who imagined colorful contemporary interiors encompassing a glamorous, artistic sensibility, thereby recreating the vibrancy of Les Années Folles (the Golden Twenties, an exuberant era of prosperity and wild youth, when people indulged in newstyles of dancing and dressing, and rejected many traditional moral standards, following the economic boom France enjoyed after WWI) from when the hotel first launched in 1928, and was frequented by the greatest artists, intellectuals and adventurers of the time.

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This same spirit continues to permeate the hotel today through the contemporary art collection displayed throughout, its Michelin-star restaurant and the gracious hospitality it offers, as it seeks to form an emotional connection with its guests – what it terms “emotional luxury”.There are 149 luxurious rooms and suites in Le Royal Monceau, which is today a Raffles property with interiors carefully crafted to welcome creative, cultured and elegant guests, each influenced by the 1940s and 1950s and centered around art: there is an acoustic guitar placed in every room, alongside artworks, art books, an art newsletter and photography from the hotel’s collection.

The strong focus on art and culture sets Le Royal Monceau apart from other luxury hotels in Paris and creates a distinctive ambiance. Guests can get insider’s suggestions from the hotel’s art concierge – the first in Paris – or acquire a piece for their own art collection. The hotel also displays more than 320 photographs and houses a private exhibition area known as the Art District highlighting the best of French and international contemporary art with four major installations throughout the year.

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Less concerned with materials, styles and trends, Starck focused on imbuing the hotel with a spirit, more interested in how people live and feel and in answering questions like why guests would want to stay at the hotel and what would entice them to return. The rooms are an eclectic combination of furniture, lighting, carpets and fittings by different designers – rather than product placement of his own countless creations – including Murano glass lamps, classic 1970’s Milanese designs and white stone-topped oval tables with polished metal pedestals.

Attention to detail is evident throughout: rather than terry cloth slippers in guestrooms, Starck opted for traditional French canvas espadrilles, and oversized mirrors leaning against walls transform into televisions at the flip of a switch. For La Cuisine, he invited a group of contemporary artists to hand-paint porcelain plates displayed in tall showcases he designed that line one side of the dining room.

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LE ROYAL MONCEAU IN PARIS BY PHILIPPE STARCK

Source: Daily Design News