Elevation to Palace Status

“Back in March 2013, the landmark Hôtel de Crillon shocked Paris with the news that this historic ‘grande dame’ hotel, a veritable icon of Right Bank elegance, would close its doors for at least two years while it underwent sweeping

renovations. Then, a year later, the Hôtel Lutetia, the Left Bank salon so beloved of generations of artists, writers, intellectuals and politicians, announced that it would be following suit. For both hotels, the projected two-year, top-to-toe transformation turned into a four-year operation as each took on the delicate – and staggeringly expensive – task of rehabilitating a Paris institution while remaining true to its history. But there was another consideration: how to join the rarefied ranks of Paris’s 10 Palace hotels?”