Let’s be honest: if you’re heading to Monaco, you probably aren’t searching for an idle trip of rest and relaxation. You want to see some 007-looking fellows at the Monte Carlo Casino, or a few 200-foot yachts that belong to an oil tycoon, or a prince, or oil tycoon princess. So, even in a country where over-the-top is the default, how do you make sure your wildest expectations are met? Enter, Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo.
Everything about this landmark palace screams over-the-top decadence, from its three-Michelin-starred restaurant to the world’s largest wine cellar. Hôtel de Paris is a magnet for the silver screen: not one, but two Bond movies have been filmed here. The latest facelift takes it to an unprecedented level of luxury.
The world-renowned, iconic Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo wrote a new page in its history. In the centre of Monaco, the area around Place du Casino has undergone a huge transformation, giving rise to a new Monte-Carlo – with the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo at its heart. A metamorphosis aimed at giving an even greater sense of definition to François Blanc’s dream of “a hotel that surpasses everything created up to now” and of perpetuating the legend in the 21st century.
The hotel of stories, of royals and dreamers alike, at the forefront of luxury stays
Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo was built in 1864 on the arid Plateau des Spélugues, when Monte-Carlo was barely taking shape. Thanks to support from Prince Charles III and Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer et du Cercle des Etrangers, the billionaire François Blanc took a big gamble and decided to entirely change an area of the city covered in olive trees and lemon trees into a decadent venue of gaming and luxury – Casino de Monte-Carlo and Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo. For players travelling from all over Europe to discover the new face of the Principality, he had a hotel built on the model of the Grand Hôtel in Boulevard des Capucines in Paris.
Affluence in all its splendour, the international elite rushed to stay – Kings, Princes, Heads of State, Ministers, the very best from governances, industry, science and the arts.
Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo, along with Casino de Monte-Carlo, established the foundations of the “resort concept”. Over the years, it has been modernized on numerous occasions to meet the demands of the international clientèle. In 1909, the hotel was entirely renovated, when the architectural style of the Belle Epoque was adopted in Monte-Carlo. From its renovation to its extraordinary history, its life has been marked by visits of countless VIPs, world-renowned artists and celebrities. From the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII, Alexandre Dumas, Jacques Offenbach and Winston Churchill, to James Bond (where the cast of Golden Eye stayed) and artists and stars of the stage and screen including Sarah Bernhardt, Charlie
Chaplin, Maria Callas and Salvador Dali. Errol Flynn also celebrated his marriage there in the Salle Empire. During the 1950s, the world came to visit the Princely Couple, Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace, where the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo soon became a favorite venue for the Princess.
This elegant 1864 Belle Époque palace stands right next to the Casino and Opera House. Gorgeous interiors are gilded and heavy with marble. The wine cellars have more than 600,000 bottles; Le Grill’s retractable roof opens in summer to let in the air, the stars, and the sound of the sea; and you’ll have views of the Mediterranean as you dine on Brittany lobster salad and grilled duck foie gras. Nineteenth-century-style rooms have printed fabrics on the walls, and the Winston Churchill suite showcases furniture that once belonged to the statesman. At the nearby Thermes Marins spa (connected to the hotel by a tunnel), the facilities include a heated saltwater pool and a hammam. January 2019 saw the end of a four year total renovation, including the addition of restaurant Ômer, the second by Alain Ducasse in the hotel.
“There, there is nothing but order and beauty, luxury, calm and sensual pleasure”,
- Charles Baudelaire
Monte-Carlo is being reinvented for the 21st century and a new chapter began
The first part of the metamorphosis of Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo wasits exalted architecture, with a façade that regains its Belle Epoque spirit from 1909. The hotel’s timeless feeling is preserved and enhanced by a contemporary design by the architects, Richard Martinet and Gabriel Viora, who put themselves at the service of the building. A monumental porch now decorates the hotel’s entrance, along with a new lift, of which the decorative railing has been reused from an earlier lift in the Lobby, adding a touch of modernity, while giving a second life to historic features that capture the hotel’s soul.