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| Hôtel Ritz Paris |
The Hôtel Ritz is a grand palatial hotel in the 1st arrondissement (heart) of Paris, France. The hotel overlooks the octagonal border of the Place Vendôme at number 15. It is cited as arguably the most prestigious and luxurious hotel in the world and the finest and most expensive in Paris. It is one of the The Leading Hotels of the World. One of the seven recognized Parisian palace hotels, it was established in 1898 and is the oldest Ritz Hotel. Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Al-Fayed dined at the hotel shortly before their deaths in a car crash on August 31, 1997. The hotel has been owned by the businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, Dodi's father, since 1979. As of 2011, the hotel contains 159 rooms.
The lot was purchased in 1705 by Antoine Bitaut de Vaillé and a private building constructed, later becoming the Hôtel de Gramont. The façade was designed by royal architect Jules Hardouin Mansart. In 1854 it was acquired by the Péreire brothers who made it the head office of their Crédit Mobilier financial institution. Sometime later it became the Hôtel de Lazun.
In 1888, Swiss hotelier César Ritz opened a restaurant with Auguste Escoffier in Baden-Baden, and the two were then invited to London by Richard D'Oyly Carte to become the first manager and chef of the Savoy Hotel, positions they held from 1889 until 1897. The Savoy under Ritz was an immediate success, attracting a distinguished and moneyed clientele, headed by the Prince of Wales. In 1897, Ritz and Escoffier were both dismissed from the Savoy, when Ritz was implicated in the disappearance of over £3400 worth of wine and spirits. Before their dismissal, customers at the Savoy had reportedly urged them to open a hotel in Paris. Aided by Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle, who had been indebted to Ritz for coming up with the name "Grand Marnier" for one of his Liqueurs in 1880, Ritz purchased the palace and transformed the former Hôtel de Lazun building into a 210-room hotel. Ritz stated that his purpose for the hotel was to provide his rich clientele with "all the refinement that a prince could desire in his own home." Ritz hired architect Charles Mewes to update the original 1705 structure.
The hotel opened its doors on June 1, 1898 to a "glittering reception". Together with the culinary talents of minority partner Auguste Escoffier, Ritz made the hotel synonymous with opulence, service, and fine dining, as embodied in the term ritzy. It immediately became very fashionable with Parisian high society socialites, hosting many prestigious personalities over the years such as Ernest Hemingway, for whom a bar in the hotel was named, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Marcel Proust, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, Shah of Iran, Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Orson Welles, Maurice Chevalier, Jean-Paul Sartre, Elton John, and couturier Coco Chanel who made the Ritz her home for more than thirty years. Many of the suites in the hotel are named after their famous patrons. Hemingway once famously said "When in Paris the only reason not to stay at the Ritz is if you can't afford it".
In 1904 and 1908, the Ritz garden café was painted by the Swiss artist, Pierre-Georges Jeanniot. Proust wrote parts of Rememberance of Things Past here from around 1909. Queen Marie of Romania stayed at the Ritz Hotel with her two eldest daughters: Elisabeth (of Greece), Maria (of Yugoslavia) in 1919 whilst campaigning for Greater Romania at the Paris Peace Conference. Many other prominent royal figures and heads of state slept and dined at the hotel over the years. Edward VII reportedly once got stuck in a too-narrow bathtub with his lover at the hotel. In summer 1940, the Luftwaffe, the air forces of Nazi Germany during the Second World War set up their headquarters at the Ritz, with their chief Hermann Goering.
In 1979, the last heir sold the Ritz hotel to Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed for $20 million. He renovated it completely for several years without stopping its activity, achieved by annexing two town houses, joined by an arcade with many of Paris's leading boutiques. The renovation of the hotel was headed by architect Bernard Gaucherel from 1980 to 1987. In 1988 the Ritz-Escouffier School of French Gastronomy was established in honor of Georges-Auguste Escoffier.
On 31 August 1997, Princess Diana and her lover Dodi Al Fayed, son of Mohammed Al Fayed, and chauffeur Henri Paul dined in the Imperial Suite of the hotel, before their fatal car accident in the Pont de l'Alma.
The palace and the square are masterpieces of classical architecture from the end of the reign of Louis XIV. The façade was designed by the royal architect Mansart in the late seventeenth century before the plot was bought and construction ensued from 1705. The Hôtel Ritz "consists of the Vendôme and the Cambon buildings with rooms facing Place Vendôme and on the opposite side, rooms overlooking its famous garden."
The Ritz was reportedly the first hotel in Europe to provide a bathroom en suite, a telephone and electricity for each room. The Hôtel Ritz Paris currently offers 159 rooms, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant, two bars and a casual dining restaurant.
A travel publication Holiday in the 1970s claimed that "practically every royal head of state has snoozed under down quilts on the finest linen sheets, beneath fifteen-foot-high (4.6 m) ceilings in rooms looking out, through huge double windows, on the elegant Place Vendôme." Frommer's, who describes the hotel as "Europe's greatest hotel", describes the furnishings as follows, "the public salons are furnished with museum-calibre antiques. Each guest room is uniquely decorated, most with Louis XIV or Louis XV reproductions; all have fine rugs, marble fireplaces, tapestries, brass beds, and more. Ever since Edward VII got stuck in a too-narrow bathtub with his lover, the tubs at the Ritz have been deep and big." The bathroom contains unique golden swan taps and peachy colored towels and robes as they were believed to be more flattering to a woman's complexion.
The most expensive hotel in Paris, employing a staff of over 600, the rooms as of May 2011 start at €850 a night. Suites start at €3,600 and can go up to €13,900 a night for the most lavish ones (Suite Impériale being the most expensive). These finest suites are known as the "Prestige suites"; these include "Vendrome", "Cesar Ritz", "Elton John", "Windsor", "Coco Chanel" and "Imperial". There are ten prestige suites in total which according to the Ritz are " a world for aesthetes where 18th century panelling echoes allegorical ceilings, old masters and priceless antique furniture. Each suite is unique and each seems to still breathe the spirit of the illustrious guests who once stayed there, Coco Chanel, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Ernest Hemingway." The Vendôme Suite is one of the most spacious of the hotel, containing Louis XI furnishings, with a red and ivory theme and grand windows overlooking the square. The César Ritz Suite overlooks the square and contains Louis XV furniture and a portrait of Ritz himself. The room is decorated in shades of green and light yellow with a canopied bed in one room and silk floral pattern in the second. The doors of the sitting room of the suite are edged in gold leaf. The Elton John Suite, decorated in strawberry pink and cream contains two bedrooms, a thick pink carpet and attic windows. John reportedly hired the entire floor for his 42nd birthday. The Windsor Suite contains tapestries and gilded mouldings and portraits of the Duke (Edward VIII) and Duchess of Windsor. They are decorated with Louis VI furniture and colours such as almond green, salmon and pearl grey. The master bedroom is decorated in pearl grey in a shade which the Ritz calls "Wallis blue", a favorite of Wallis, Duchess of Windsor. The suite as with the others, now contain a large bath tub after their mishap. The 1,670-square-foot (155 m2) Coco Chanel Suite where Coco Chanel lived for some 35 years consists of two bedrooms and a living room and features Coromandel lacquers, Chinese furniture, baroque mirrors and over-sized sofas with quilting created by Grande Mademoiselle. The suite is said to be "equipped with the most sophisticated technology including fax, Jacuzzi, steam-bath shower, and ultra-modern walk-in closets."
The Imperial Suite (Suite Impériale) is the finest suite of the hotel, and due to its sheer grandeur exuding that of a Baroque royal palace it is listed as a National Monument of France in its own right. The Imperial Suite is located on the first floor and consists of two exquisite bedrooms, a grand salon, and a dining room. The suite features 6-metre-high (20 ft) ceilings, great chandeliers and windows overlooking the Place Vendôme, a massive long gold framed Baroque mirror between the windows, red and gold upholstery and a contains a four-poster bed which is said to be identical to Marie Antionette's room in the Palace of Versailles. The other bedroom is in the style of Louis XVI, with a baldaquin bed and columns. The suite is lavishly decorated in French art and bas-reliefs and 18th century paneling which is protected under this historic monument. The bathroom is a former boudoir and overlooked the Vendôme garden, with 18th century paneling and a Jacuzzi bath and steam-bath shower and has its own plasma television and cosmetics fridge, juxtaposing old French tradition with the modernity of the 21st century. Aside from the obvious facilities such as a DVD player, high-speed internet, and fax, the suite features a kitchenette near the salon and has its own small personal wine cellar filled with a variety of the finest French wines. Over the years the suite has hosted some of the world's most prestigious guests from the Shah of Iran to George Bush, Sr. The suite was Hermann Göring's choice of residence during World War II and was also where Princess Diana and Dodi ate their last meal.The World Travel Awards of 2007 selected the Imperial Suite as Europe's Leading Suite.