Hôtel Lancaster Paris

When the Lancaster opened its doors the phrase “luxury boutique hotel” hadn’t yet been invented — but that’s more or less what it’s always been. Back in the Emile Wolf days it was the sort of place you’d catch the likes of Grace Kelly or Noël Coward haunting its halls. Today, a century on, it’s once again family-owned, and is once again among the purest exemplars of Parisian luxury hospitality, at a scale that’s more intimate and more residential in atmosphere than the city’s grand old palaces.

Thanks to a renovation by Studio Jean Philippe Nuel the Lancaster looks as fresh as ever, while retaining the antique elements that give it its character, including furniture chosen by its original owners in the 1920s. In spite of a location just off the Champs-Elysées, the Lancaster is quiet, the way a private mansion ought to be; its comforts, meanwhile, are first-rate, from the marble bathrooms to the modern electronics.

The service is impeccable, erring more on the side of quiet discretion than overt solicitousness. Monsieur Lancaster, the restaurant, is joined by CopperBay Lancaster, an outpost of one of the city’s finest cocktail bars. The 8th-floor spa, meanwhile, takes in views of the Eiffel Tower and Sacré-Cœur. Most magical, however, is the Lancaster’s little garden, a rare bit of private outdoor peace in the heart of bustling Paris.