WHEN IN PARIS

Historic hotels are having lavish makeovers while stylish new properties are launching to meet visitor demand

- HANNAH BRANDLER

The Parisian hotel industry has not had an easy ride over the past couple of years. It has been rocked by a drop in occupancy rates caused by the gilets jaunes protests and seemingly never-ending rail and metro strikes. Competition from Airbnb hasn’t helped, either – the city represents one of the home-stay company’s biggest markets, with about 60,000 listings.

Still, there are plenty of visitors to go around – the French capital saw a record-breaking 38 million tourists and 24.5 million hotel check-ins in 2018, according to France’s national statistics bureau, INSEE. These figures will undoubtedly increase when Paris hosts the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024, when an anticipated 500,000 tourists will descend.

To prepare for the future, a host of renowned hotels have undergone lavish refurbishments, while new properties with quirky interiors are embracing a certain je ne sais quoi. Stylish hotels by well-known fashion houses and avant-garde skyscraper properties are also on the horizon.

NEW

HOTEL BANKE AUTOGRAPH COLLECTION

Marriott’s Autograph Collection made its Paris debut in May last year with this 90room property in Opéra, located in a former bank headquarters. Rooms are decorated in a palette of cream and chocolate, with marble bathrooms and plaited leather rugs, and the hotel has an impressive art and jewellery collection sourced from around the world. There are two restaurants – the gold-heavy Josefin and more minimalist Banke – and a bar with an extensive list of cognacs. The Salle des Coffres meeting room has 460 of the bank’s safes on display, hence the name. hotelbanke.com

25 HOURS HOTEL TERMINUS NORD