The real pulse of Paris isn’t found upon the bustling café-lined boulevards or in the tourist-laden neighborhoods, but while strolling along the river that separates the right bank from the left. Was this why Cheval Blanc Maison chose a location overlooking the Seine for their first urban hotel? Or was it a question of heritage? After closer inspection, the central Paris setting is defined by the belief that experience plays as much a role as location.
This past September, Cheval Blanc Paris – part of the hotel group founded by luxury brand LVMH – opened its Art Deco doors in an illustrious building designed by Henri Sauvage in the 1920s. Four years in the making, this highly anticipated address was brought to life by visionary architect Peter Marino who infused the hotel with “the energy and dynamism of the present”. From the immense blue canvas painted in 1978 by French artist Georges Mathieu to the vivid photo assemblages by Brazilian-American artist Vik Muniz, the lobby is reminiscent of stepping into an art collector’s home.
The art tour continues with colorful lithographs by Sonia Delaunay leading to 72 rooms dominated by opulent Seine-facing suites. The bathrooms with grand marble tubs highlight bath products designed by Dior perfumer François Demachy. Splurge on the top floor two-story 7,000-square-foot Quintessence Suite defined by original artwork by Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, four ensuite bedrooms and a private swimming pool.
Dining options include trendy 7th-floor Art Deco brasserie cum cocktail bar Le Tout-Paris and neighboring Milanese restaurant Langosteria which entices with its Italian cuisine, playful ambiance and buzzing energy. Meanwhile, Chef Arnaud Donckele invites into a fusion of French tastes at gastronomic restaurant Plénitude set on the first floor. The most casual yet equally stylish of the four eateries takes its cues from Pastry Chef Maxime Frédéric, transforming into a swanky bar by night steered by mixologist Florian Thireau.
The subterranean spa helmed by Christian Dior features six treatment rooms each with its own sensorial experience. The menu of 43 face and body treatments included an “invisible cut” by Italian hairstylist Rossano Ferretti. A dip into the spa’s 30-meter long pool decorated with moving artwork by Franco-Israeli artist Yorame Mevorach, also known as Oyoram, will give the sensation of swimming along the river’s edge.
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