Formerly the home of Napoleon Bonaparte’s grand-nephew Roland, Shangri-La Hotel Paris is as elegant a hotel property as you’re likely to find in the City of Lights. From its tall, impressive black cast iron gateway on Avenue d’Ilena, domed entryway and giant Ming dynasty-inspired porcelain vases to the intricately-ornate ceiling of the grand ballroom and perfectly-proportioned staircase leading to it, the 101-room (including 36 suites) Shangri-La oozes class.
Much of the original architecture was, and remains, a blend of styles from the 17th and 19th centuries. The hotel was designed by the same architects and sculptors whose craftsmanship is also obvious in the Louvre and the Tuileries Palaces. Its façade is inspired by the Louis XIV era with masonry stone from L’Oise and features the family’s coat of arms. Due to its age, the 65,000-square-foot building dates from 1896, Shangri-La was listed in 2009 with the prestigious title monument historique. Four years of renovation uncovered magnificent, hand-carved mahogany panels in the dining room that had been personally commissioned by Roland Bonaparte.
To dispel the notions that its historic status has permitted any dowdiness, the hotel comes to life every Wednesday evening when its two salons become the hotbed for young, attractive cosmopolitan Parisian trendsetters.
Historical significance begins upon entering the foyer, a wide marble corridor under a large hanging chandelier. Five different types of stone, from the Pyrenees, the Alps and Tuscany, were used to create the effect. The vaulted ceiling above features zodiac symbols.
Two rooms sit just off the corridor, and the smaller of the two, is a cozy sitting room offering an open fireplace, several soft sofas, lacquered Chinese vases, and several diverse paintings including 18th-century Parisian street scenes. The open doorway to the right leads back in time, to a larger set of rooms (where the Wednesday evening soirées take place). Delightful furnishings including an intricately-carved walnut fireplace, ornate wood ceiling, various paintings, and lamps decorated with alabaster cherubs, reflect sheer elegance. There are two more rooms, one whose sides are covered in gold-colored wallpaper and the other with the bronze statue of a winged angel above a central fireplace, a large lacquered Chinese cupboard and a modern, and a quite dramatic, impressionist oil painting. Beyond these is a short, carpeted stairway that led to our ground-floor suite.
The first thing that should be said about our suite is that it came with a private garden terrace that granted a wonderful view towards the Eiffel Tower. Outside, a table and chairs created a perfect platform for midnight Champagne and leisurely afternoon conversation and reading. The high-ceiling suite reflected a classic design with stucco décor, gold-rimmed wall paneling and chandeliers. Highlighting Roland Bonaparte’s predilection for collecting flora from different parts of the world, the paintings in the suite are mostly of plants.
The suite is spacious, and included a large sitting room with beige sofa, beige armchair, accompanying gold embroidered cushions, and a separate room for clothes and accessories. The bathroom has a marble step-in shower, separate bath and double sinks. Each room comes furnished with a flat-screen television, including one embedded in the glass of the bathroom mirror. The suite is decorated in shades of white, gold and ecru, in keeping with both the European Empire and Asian aesthetics of the property, with silk-threaded wallpaper, textured wall-panels and custom-made furnishings, designed under the guiding force of Pierre-Yves Rochon.
Below ground, what was once Bonaparte’s horse-stables have been transformed into a 157-square-foot swimming pool and fitness area, filled with airy light pouring in through large glass windows looking out on to the Iron Lady. In the spa, two spacious rooms offer a selection of facial and body treatments by Carita.
The hotel boasts nearly 2,800 square feet of event space suitable for weddings, conferences and banquets, with three connecting rooms: The Grand Salon, the dining room and the Salon de la Famille which leads to a first-floor gallery. The former features an impressive white marble fireplace, decorated with bronze and a trumeaux mirror. Two golden wood and marble tables, and two crystal chandeliers enhance the space. The Salon de la Famille, in delicate blue tones, is decorated according to Empire style. Its paneled walls are painted with winged women around a medallion, while the ceiling features an orb of sphinxes and plants. The dining room features mahogany carvings of battle arms and military trophies within the upper arches above the salon doors and windows opening on to an extensive terrace.
Reflecting its spacious diversity, the hotel offers a range of restaurants to dine in, including La Bauhinia (French and Southeast Asian cuisine), L’Abeille (two-Michelin star gourmet French food), and Shang Palace (traditional Chinese, Cantonese-inspired, one-Michelin star). The hotel also features a cozy bar simply called La Bar, designed after a Napoleonic post-Egyptian theme invoking a romantic sense of voyage, adventure and discovery. The black granite bronze and mahogany bar is complemented by tones of jade and a nearby Tisserand bronze light fixture.
Head barman Christophe Leger’s cocktails feature exotic flavors such as horseradish, wasabi, Szechuan peppers and pomegranate. La Bar’s signature drink is the Pink Lady in four variations named after Lady Mendl, better known as Elsie de Wolfe, a New York interior designer who formerly lived in the building’s private apartments in the 1930s and famously entertained Parisian society there.
Nestled at a chic address in the refined residential 16th arrondissement, the Shangri-La lies but a stone’s throw from Place Trocadero high on Chaillot Hill and across the Seine from the Tower. The area has one of the highest concentrations of museums in Europe. Mere steps away is the renowned Guimet Museum with Paris’s most extensive permanent collection of Asian art and Oriental exhibits. Also nearby, the Palais Galliera, Palais de Tokyo, the Museum of Man, the Museum of Modern Art and the Marmottan Monet Museum, are all within walking distance, along with the prestigious Avenue Montaigne and the Champs-Élysées.
For sheer elegance and true-to-form Parisian chic, with fine dining at Michelin-star restaurants and an easy ramble to many of the the world's most impressive museums, the Shangri-La Hotel Paris is the place to be.
