Paris's Left Bank Has a New Grand Hotel

The Hotel Lutetia is the newest grand luxury hotel on Paris’s Left Bank.

It’s actually the only large luxury hotel on the Left Bank, and it first opened over a century ago.

The hotel, which is named after the original Roman settlement on the banks of the Seine, reopened on July 12 after a complete closure and reimagining. The refresh took four years to restore and renew the vintage Beaux Arts-era building to pay homage to its original design, with amenities and interior furnishings to suit the contemporary traveler.

The reimagined hotel will have 184 rooms, 47 of which will be suites. Prior to the renovation, the hotel had 233 rooms, which allowed the designers to incorporate larger rooms. In Paris, where hotel rooms are famously petite, this is an easy luxury point of distinction. At least two of the suites will have private terraces with 360-degree views of the city.

Guest rooms are redone with polished oak floors and are configured to take advantage of natural light. When illumination is required, hand-blown Murano glass features in the lighting fixtures. Bathrooms get their share of natural light, which illuminates white Carrara marble and bath amenities from Paris luxury retailer Hermès.

Self-care seekers can take advantage of the Akasha Holistic Wellbeing Center, a brand introduced to the Lutetia from The Set’s other hotel locations. There are six treatment rooms, steam room, sauna, whirlpool, fitness room, and a 55-foot swimming pool (a rarity for Paris hotels) taking advantage of the same natural light as the guest rooms.

Hotel Lutetia also sets out to retake a position in the community with an impressive number of dining and drinking outlets. The Michelin three-starred chef Gérald Passedat is at the helm of Lutetia Brasserie. Guests wishing to pay homage to celebrated habituée and frequent guest Josephine Baker can do so at Bar Josephine, while those wishing to see the historic and lovingly restored glass roof can do so at Salon Saint Germain, which is a bright, airy space with a new art deco patio for al fresco diners. Breakfast is taken in the high ceilinged, clean lined art deco L’Orangerie, while cigars and brandy habituate Bar Aristide, fronting the Rue de Babylone.

When the hotel first opened in 1910, it was built and operated by the owners of the nearby Le Bon Marché department store. The first guests were well-heeled provincial guests who would visit the city to provision their chateaux outside of Paris, in addition to a growing coterie of international visitors who would come to the city to export fashion from the famous department store. Beds and bedrooms of the period were generally smaller, and bathrooms were shared, even in accommodations for the ultra rich.

Later in the century, as the Left Bank became a haven for writers and artists, James Joyce is purported to have written Ulysses while in residence, seeking occasional edits from Ernest Hemingway, who also frequented the hotel. Picasso and Matisse were also known to be frequent residents or patrons. The building was requisitioned by the German Army for administrative purposes during the Second World War, and at the order of General de Gaulle was used as staging for repatriation of prisoners of war and displaced persons after liberation by the Allies.

Operated as a luxury hotel by the Champagne magnates Taittinger through most of the 20th Century, the hotel closed in 2014 and has reopened as part of The Set Hotels, which is growing a collection of grand European hotels. Other group hotels include London’s Hotel Café Royal and The Conservatorium in Amsterdam. The hotel is also a member of The Leading Hotels of the World.

General Manager Jean-Luc Cousty, who oversaw preparation of the hotel for closure and renovation, and now returns to the hotel explains, “For decades Lutetia has been the living room of the Left Bank and soon the hotel, the Brasserie, and all our beautiful restaurants and bars will once again welcome the beau monde of Paris and the world.”

Now, almost 118 years after the hotel first opened, it has been reset and refitted, ready to welcome the next generation of guests to the City of Light.