Enjoy the view of the Eiffel Tower at Shangri-La Paris.
Whether you might be considered one of the 15 million tourists who travel to Paris for the Olympics For the nearly 37 million visitors who come to the town all year long, a stop in your itinerary Shangri-La Paris.
The City of Light is home to a few of one of the best hotels on this planet, but in some ways this Forbes Travel Guide five-star hotel outshines all of the others.
A wealthy history
Many Paris hotels boast the title of “palace,” a government distinction given to upscale hotels with exceptional locations and first-class service. And while the Shangri-La Paris easily deserves this status, when it was in-built 1896, it was a real palace for Prince Roland Bonaparte, Napoleon’s great-nephew.
The prince was a geographer and botanist and his house was on the time the biggest private herbarium on this planet, with greater than 2.5 million plant species, including almost half of all of the flowers on earth. Fittingly, it’s the primary European hotel to receive the Forbes Travel Guide’s “VERIFIED Responsible Hospitality” seal, combining nineteenth century luxury with twenty first century environmental awareness.
The Prince Bonaparte Apartment overlooks Avenue d’Iéna.
room with view
You can stay in Bonaparte’s former chambers. The one-bedroom L’Appartement Prince Bonaparte encompasses a Directoire design in blue and gold, 5-meter-high ceilings with moldings and goldwork, Versailles-style parquet floors, a front room, a dining area and a completely equipped butler’s kitchen.
While the Prince’s Suite is impressive, the hotel’s crowning glory is the accommodations overlooking the Eiffel Tower. About half of the hotel’s 100 rooms and suites offer front-row seats to views of the Iron Lady of Paris and the Seine. As night falls, you will find yourself drawn to the windows, waiting for the tower’s hourly five-minute twinkling—a light-weight show that never loses its magic.
The light-filled accommodations exude classic elegance in shades of azure, white and ivory. They also include subtle nods to the hotel brand’s Asian heritage with chinoiserie elements equivalent to black lacquered dressers and silk embroidered wallpaper. The marble bathrooms with Guerlain toiletries, freestanding bathtubs and underfloor heating take the experience from luxurious to utterly pampering.
Sit under the dome and Murano chandelier at La Bauhinia.
Fine food and drinks
A soaring glass dome gives the two-storey all-day restaurant La Bauhinia a light-weight and airy feel, and in summer the leafy terrace opens for al fresco dining. Mornings are a celebration of French pastries. The breakfast buffet is a treasure trove of delights, from strawberry-filled madeleines to flaky croissants. Pair your pastries with an all-natural Nutella-like spread, made fresh on the touch of a button.
As the day progresses, La Bauhinia switches to a menu of inventive small seafood dishes like crispy rice with tuna and a decadent caviar topping. But it is the lobster French toast that steals the show. A round of soppy bread is dropped at your table and the waiter then spoons on succulent chunks of lobster, sea beans and bisque. This hearty tackle French Toast is comfort food that has been elevated to an art form.
Shangri-La’s first European hotel is French through and thru, but its Asian roots are on full display at Shang Palace, considered one of the town’s finest Chinese restaurants. Set between wood screens and pillars inlaid with carved jade flowers, standout dishes include a fastidiously arranged platter of stick-cut vegetables topped with ginger-flavoured salmon sashimi, crispy blue lobster with salted egg yolk and melt-in-your-mouth cubes of grilled A4 Wagyu beef.
Order a drink on the bar.
For a nightcap, head to Le Bar Botaniste. After the prince’s death, his extensive plant collection was donated to Claude Bernard University in Lyon, however the hotel continues to pay tribute to Bonaparte’s love of botany with this intimate, hidden bar. Cleverly designed to resemble a Napoleonic tent with striped wallpaper, the bar includes loads of nods to nature, from the luxurious green wall to edible floral garnishes in your cocktails.
The botanical-themed menu features drinks just like the almond-scented Three Clicks Left with Gin Anaë (an organic French spirit), gentian (a plant used as a bitter), peach liqueur, almond brandy and grapefruit soda. It’s an appropriate method to enjoy a Health to the Prince’s botanical heritage.
Opulent design
The Paris hotel makes an impressive impression once you arrive at its white Louis XIV-style façade, whose French stone is decorated with lions and other figures. Bonaparte commissioned Ernest Janty, who carried out restorations on the Louvre and the Tuileries Palace (which served as a royal palace before Versailles), to design his urban sanctuary.
As you step inside, the white stone interiors are much more magnificent. The lobby is a masterpiece of marble art, with five sorts of marble from the Pyrenees, the Alps and Tuscany covering the ground in shades of maroon, marigold, fir green and white. Continue to the vaulted-ceilinged rotunda and you may see a powerful sculpture of Black Venus on the left, wearing a loincloth with gold feathers and a snake wrapped round her legs. The torches she holds above her head light your way across a checkered floor to a sweeping staircase of white Carrara marble with an ornate steel and polished brass banister winding its way upwards – it’s one of the striking backdrops within the extremely photogenic hotel.
The spacious Grand Salon.
As you climb the steps, you will find a series of salons. Although we do not normally recommend visiting a hotel’s meeting rooms, these spaces served as Bonaparte’s dining and family rooms, and he spent most of his time in these opulent rooms. The Louis XIV-style Grand Salon is roofed in gleaming gold leaf from the high ceiling to the partitions. Look closely, and you may spot Bonaparte family crests – imperial crowns and bees – among the many goldwork. Golden lion heads adorn the white marble fireplaces, silent sentinels of the room’s splendor.
Next door, the Salle à Manger holds a secret that was uncovered through the Shangri-La’s renovation in 2006. Beneath 14 layers of paint were hand-carved mahogany panels commissioned by Bonaparte, depicting battle weapons and war trophies – a nod to the family’s martial heritage. This unexpected find was fastidiously restored, transforming the room into a phenomenal salon.
If you like a more feminine aesthetic, head to the Empire-style Salon de Famille, where the soft blue partitions are decorated with painted figures, including angelic women with wings surrounding a medallion.
If you must experience a salon fit for a king, treat yourself to a Bonaparte dinner. This special private event recreates the previous owner’s lavish banquets, from the porcelain plates bearing the imperial crown to the four-course French meal, in a room that has hosted generations of the elite.
Swim within the inviting pool.
A sparkling pool and spa
If you must get well out of your Parisian adventures, visit CHI, the spa at Shangri-La Paris. The four-star spa continues the hotel’s botanical motifs, from the fragile floral wallpaper that covers the hallways to the white plant reliefs within the treatment rooms. Even the refreshments follow the theme: sip turmeric, ginger, coconut and Indian basil tea, or water with orange blossom, sumac, ginger and verjuice. Book a soothing CBD massage to show you how to rest well after an extended flight.
The spa also encompasses a 17-metre-long pool with a mosaic floor and sky-high ceiling, lined with columns. A wall of windows allows loads of natural light, and if you must get some fresh air on a chaise longue, there is a small terrace covered in foliage. It’s a welcome change from its previous life because the palace’s stables.
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