Alone-If You WantIn The Heart Of Paris

The family behind Chopard debuts a glittering new hotel on the exclusive Place Vendôme.

- Susan D'Arcy

AS ADDRESSES GO, Paris’s 1, Place Vendôme just might be the chicest in France. A short stroll from the Seine, it’s the cornerstone of the city’s most elegant 17th-century square, originally built to honour the Sun King, Louis XIV, and now home to flagship stores for Chanel, Dior and Chopard, among others.

The latter has taken its stake in the enclave to the next level, renovating the six floors above its boutique into a lavish 15-suite hotel. “We’ve spent six years and have been involved in every aspect” of the new venture, says Karl-Fritz Scheufele, a graduate of the prestigious Lausanne Hospitality School and grandson of Karl Scheufele, who bought Chopard in 1963.

As Karl-Fritz shows me around during an exclusive preview for