Consistently remained on various World’s Best Hotels lists over the many decades. Both the hotel and its atmospheric Le Bar Américain, purveyor of an incredibly changing array of cocktails and indulgent afternoon teas, are considered the places to see and be seen in this town. In its 155 years, the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo has been hosting royalty, presidents and prime ministers, artists and actors, and made appearances in more than a handful of films, including two James Bond films: GoldenEye and Never Say Never Again, as well the 1948 Moira Shearer classic that inspires every would-be prima ballerina, The Red Shoes.
The Place to Be
Dominating its location on Monte-Carlo’s Casino Square, just a few steps from the Casino itself, the massive transformation of this iconic palace hotel began in 2014, completed in December 2018 with “finishing touches” added to greet the New Year. Experienced in all its refurbished splendor during the 2019 Monaco Yacht Show, the hotel is a marvel of tastefully rendered transformation that preserves the very the best of the golden age of Belle Epoque architecture, seamlessly merging it with sleek and refined urban style. Begun around the same time that several equally iconic “palais” hotels in Paris -- most famously The Ritz -- shocked travelers by shuttering during their renovations, the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo closed only for a month at the onset of major construction, re-opening with reduced inventory to accommodate those who could not bring themselves to stay anywhere else.
Before & After
In the freshly envisioned de Paris, gone are the imposing dark woods, bombé chests, and Régence furniture that filled the lobby on arrival. The immense oriental carpets have left as well, revealing gleaming marble floors and wide-open spaces that welcome guests in. Check-in is also far more intimate and relaxed. If by chance, one must wait in the lobby for fellow guests or visitors, the cossetting Nordic-styled armchairs in plush grey shades provide a temporary, restful haven. This Palace is “now writing a new chapter in its history,” as its P.R. team likes to say, and it shows.
Further inside, guestroom corridors are brighter overall. The multi-year renovation saw a suite inventory increase. There are fewer rooms now, in response to guest demand for more suites, but the paring down was well worth it: room sizes have also increased. The dark wall-to-wall carpeting removed and replaced with scalloped area rugs so satin-y parquet hardwoods could peak through. Soothing warm gold and silver tones are plentiful, in both textiles, walls, and furniture finishings. And the baths? They are nothing short of splendid: Italianate marble and fixtures all upgraded, with interior lighting greatly augmented. In fact, natural lighting throughout bedrooms was significantly enhanced. Most rooms -- along with the suites — have now had balconies added or existing terraces expanded. Views (either Ocean, Port Hercule yacht basin, Patio, or Casino), abound and invite drawing open the drapes. In fact, the view both from both inside and outside was certainly enhanced by the painstaking relocation of the gardens in Casino Square, completed earlier this June.
Breakfast has been moved downstairs from the 8th Floor Le Grill (with its retractable roof) in the curvy La Rotonde wing completed September 2018, to ground-level ÔMER, an Alain Ducasse venue which debuted in the same wing this year in January. A review of NAVIS’ private dinner event held there at this year’s Yacht Show appears in the October/November issue.
