Return Of The Crillon
Travel+Leisure|October 2017

After a four-year closure and lavish renovation, Paris’s storied hotel unveils a daringly modern new look.

Alexandra Marshall
Return Of The Crillon

Each of Paris’s ultra-luxury hotels occupies its own niche in the city’s landscape. Fashionistas haunt the Ritz and the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme; one-percenter American families and jet-setting sheikhs go for the Four Seasons Hotel George V. The Hôtel de Crillon has always been for traditionalists and heads of state, thanks to its location overlooking the Place de la Concorde, within a stone’s throw of the Élysée Palace and several major embassies.

You could do worse for French national glory. Commissioned by Louis XV in 1758, the Crillon has had several lives—as government offices, a private residence for a noble family, and finally a hotel, beginning in 1909. The heritage look of crystal chandeliers and gilt tipped chairs had its admirers, but by 2010, when Saudi royalty purchased the property, a revamp was in order.

It would have been tempting to go the way of the Ritz, which faithfully maintained the arch-traditional look in its recent overhaul. But the team behind the Crillon’s makeover— Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, architect Richard Martinet, and Aline Asmar d’Amman’s Beirut- and Paris-based firm, Culture in Architecture—did the opposite, applying an audacious, contemporary lens to 18th-century maximalism and artisanal techniques.

This story is from the October 2017 edition of Travel+Leisure.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the October 2017 edition of Travel+Leisure.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM TRAVEL+LEISUREView All
Costa Rica
Travel+Leisure US

Costa Rica

Picture yourself on a white-sand beach, surrounded by palm trees. In the distance, surfers ride the breaking waves. Behind you rises a dense rainforest, where white-faced capuchin monkeys jump from branch to branch. Welcome to Costa Rica. The following pages will show you why there’s never been a better time to visit this Central American country with an outsize hold on our imagination—and a trailblazing vision for a sustainable future.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 2023 - January 2024
On the Right Track
Travel+Leisure US

On the Right Track

Italy is reviving old railways as visitor attractions and breathing life back into underappreciated regions. Taras Grescoe rides a locomotive through the Piedmont countryside.

time-read
4 mins  |
December 2023 - January 2024
THE HEIGHT OF ADVENTURE
Travel+Leisure US

THE HEIGHT OF ADVENTURE

With its ancient ruins and vertigo-inducing topography, the Amazonas region of northern Peru can feel like Indiana Jones territory. On a journey through this remote landscape, Tom Vanderbilt finds all of the thrills-and none of the crowds.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 2023 - January 2024
I DREAM OF INDIA
Travel+Leisure US

I DREAM OF INDIA

Palaces, peacocks, tigers, and jewels: few places have the power to bewitch children quite like Rajasthan, in northwestern India. Flora Stubbs takes her kids on a spring break like no other.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 2023 - January 2024
GO BIG OR GO HOME
Travel+Leisure US

GO BIG OR GO HOME

Generations of skiers have known Big Sky, Montana, as a low-key ski destination. But with new luxury resorts and tricked-out lifts, word is about to get out. Gloria Liu clicks into her skis to test her limits.

time-read
10 mins  |
December 2023 - January 2024
IN VINO VERITAS
Travel+Leisure US

IN VINO VERITAS

Rome's restaurants may be legendary, but sometimes what you need is a great wine bar. Ray Isle takes a tour of the city's finest enoteche, from the old-school to the cutting-edge.

time-read
7 mins  |
December 2023 - January 2024
COMMON GROUNDS
Travel+Leisure US

COMMON GROUNDS

The Costa Rican bean is prized among coffee connoisseurs, but, as Tom Vanderbilt discovers, it's just one of a cornucopia of unique foods produced in the country.

time-read
4 mins  |
December 2023 - January 2024
ORIGIN STORIES
Travel+Leisure US

ORIGIN STORIES

Think of a visit to Costa Rica, and you'll probably imagine ziplines and eco-lodges. But there's a deeper way to interact with this environment: through the Indigenous communities that have called it home for centuries.

time-read
5 mins  |
December 2023 - January 2024
FRESH BREEZES
Travel+Leisure US

FRESH BREEZES

A superyacht charter represents the newest and most exclusive - way to explore the country.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 2023 - January 2024
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
Travel+Leisure US

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

The best way to experience Costa Rica's wild side? A walking trail from the Caribbean to the Pacific. Jen Murphy goes off the beaten path.

time-read
5 mins  |
December 2023 - January 2024