The Hotel Dispatch

Cheval Blanc Paris: A Private House Above the Seine

Paris, France · Opened 2021 · LVMH · 72 rooms and suites

By invitation. LVMH spent fifteen years restoring a department store and then declined to fill it with rooms. Seventy-two keys in a building of that size is the entire point, and every proportion in the hotel follows from it.

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The building

La Samaritaine is one of the great art nouveau and art deco structures in Paris, and the hotel occupies its Seine-facing flank. Peter Marino's interiors are unusually quiet for him — pale woods, curved walls, and a colour palette that lets the windows do the work. The corridors are wide enough to feel residential, which is what 72 keys in this footprint buys.

The rooms

Among the largest in Paris, with an average well above the city's palace standard and bathrooms that are rooms rather than compartments. The Seine-facing rooms are worth the premium; courtyard-facing rooms are beautiful and blind. Dressing rooms come as standard, a detail that matters on a long stay.

Food, spa and the roof

Plénitude under Arnaud Donckele holds three Michelin stars and is the most serious hotel restaurant opened in Paris this decade. Limbar handles pastry, Le Tout-Paris on the roof handles the view and the crowd. The Dior spa has a 30-metre pool — extraordinary for central Paris — and is resident-priority.

Where it falls short

Le Tout-Paris is popular with non-residents and the lift lobby feels it at seven in the evening. The first arrondissement location is central but touristic at street level. And the house is new, so it lacks the layered feel of the Crillon or the Ritz.

Best suite for privacy

A sixth-floor Seine-facing suite — the river, Pont Neuf and the Institut de France in one frame, with the setback terrace that lower floors lack. The Quintessence Suite has the full panorama but sits next to the restaurant floor.

Quiet luxury reading

Restrained for an LVMH house: pale Peter Marino interiors, no logo in sight, arrival through a discreet rue de la Monnaie entrance rather than a grand porte-cochère. The rooftop bar brings in non-residents, which is the one concession.

When to go

May, June, September and October. August empties the city of Parisians and fills it with heat.

Indicative rate

from €1,700 per night

Frequently asked

Is Cheval Blanc Paris worth it?
Yes for a Seine-facing room. The rooms are the largest at this level in Paris, the pool is genuinely rare in the centre and Plénitude is a destination. A courtyard room at the same rate is not the same hotel.
Which suite at Cheval Blanc Paris is best for privacy?
A sixth-floor Seine-facing suite with a setback terrace. The Quintessence Suite is grander but sits near the restaurant floor traffic.
Cheval Blanc Paris or Le Bristol?
Cheval Blanc for modern rooms, the pool and the view. Le Bristol for old-Paris service culture, the garden and a quieter address on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.
Does Cheval Blanc Paris have a pool?
Yes — a 30-metre pool in the Dior spa, unusually large for central Paris, with priority for hotel residents.

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