Le Royal Monceau-Raffles Paris

Designed by the architect Louis Duhayon, the hotel opened on 1 August 1928. Its founders, Pierre Bermond and André Junot, were hoteliers known for having created the Carlton in Paris and the Miramar in Cannes. The house reflected the spirit of 1930s Paris, a place where writers, artists and intellectuals came to dine, to talk and to immerse themselves in art and culture, and it has kept close ties with the city's cultural life ever since. Walt Disney, Josephine Baker, King Farouk of Egypt, the Aga Khan and the Maharajahs of Indore and Kashmir all checked in and came back many times.

In 2007 Qatari Diar, the real estate arm of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, bought the hotel and its building, and in June 2008 it closed for a complete transformation, launched with a demolition party at which guests were handed workmen's overalls, mallets and hard hats. The fund also enlarged the hotel by buying the adjacent building at 41 avenue Hoche. Redesigned by Philippe Starck, Le Royal Monceau reopened on 18 October 2010 under the management of Raffles Hotels & Resorts, and in 2011 it passed to Katara Hospitality, the fund's hotel group. It received the Palace distinction on 27 June 2013 and still holds it.

Starck's interiors play with perception: striped halls create op-art effects, and glass and crystal run throughout, from a staircase hung with numerous tiny chandeliers to hall-of-mirrors bathrooms. The collection of more than 300 works includes commissions from Stéphane Calais, Rosson Crow, Nikolaï Polissky and Joana Vasconcelos, and photographs by Harry Gruyaert, Lucien Hervé, Guy Le Querrec and others. The art gallery, which the hotel calls the hub of its artistic and cultural life, welcomes artists, collectors, patrons and art professionals, while the Librairie des Arts is an art concept store with a constantly updated selection of objects, accessories and souvenirs.

The address is 37 avenue Hoche, a historic avenue in the 8th arrondissement, within a few steps of the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Élysées and close to Parc Monceau; the MICHELIN Guide puts the Arc de Triomphe five minutes away. The hotel presents it as an ideal base for discovering Paris among its gardens, galleries and couture houses.

Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle and Orly airports are each around 45 minutes away, Gare du Nord 15 to 20 minutes and Gare de Lyon about 30. Range Rover cars are available on request, and the concierge team, which includes Clefs d'Or members, helps with travel arrangements, guides guests around Paris, advises, organises cultural excursions and keeps art lovers up to date.

Every room has handcrafted contemporary furniture designed by Philippe Starck, and the hotel describes its rooms and suites as blending Parisian design with a warm, lived-in spirit. Each comes with an acoustic guitar, art pieces from the private collection and books chosen by the Art Bookstore. Standard features include a refrigerated bar stocked with French products, a walk-in shower and/or separate bathtub, Clarins products, custom-made linens with goose down bedding, high-definition televisions, high-quality audio and 24-hour in-room dining.

The Artist Room measures 36 m² and has a double bed. The Deluxe Collection Room, at 40 m², has a writing desk and a king-size bed or two twin beds. The 45 m² Executive Room adds a lounge area with a workspace and an expansive bathroom with a separate walk-in closet, and comes with a city, courtyard or garden view.

The suites pair the rigour of 1940s and 1950s design with poetic details, such as books placed at random on the shelves or a message scrawled on a lampshade. From the 58 m² Junior Suite upward, the Raffles Butler service is included; the Junior Suite hides its television behind a mirror and looks onto the city, the courtyard or the garden. No two Gallery Suites are alike, but each measures 68 m² and has a lounge with a table and a workspace. The 72 m² Signature Suite combines wood, art and striking architecture, the 95 m² Lifestyle Suite is defined by carefully selected art, and the 115 m² Prestige Suite blends high-tech equipment with art and designer touches.

The 118 m² Ray Charles Suite, Suite 714, honours one of the hotel's most loyal patrons: it has a Pleyel piano, and snapshots of Ray Charles and his partner Arlette Kotchounian hang on its walls. The 167 m² Penthouse Suite has two bedrooms, a well-equipped kitchen, a workspace and a living room for receiving guests and hosting dinners. Beyond lie the 190 m² Royal Monceau Suite, with one bedroom, a vast living room, a dining room and a walk-in closet; the three-bedroom Avenue Presidential Suite, with a large salon, a private dining room and a home cinema; the fifth-floor Katara Presidential Suite, with its own gym and a fully equipped kitchen; and the 348 m² Raffles Presidential Suite, with three bedrooms, a personal fitness space and a generous reception room.

Il Carpaccio opens onto a glass conservatory flooded with natural light. Its menu was created in partnership with Da Vittorio in Brusaporto: in autumn 2021, in collaboration with Da Vittorio's chefs Enrico and Roberto Cerea, Alessandra Del Favero and Oliver Piras came to Il Carpaccio, where they cook traditional recipes from Italy's many regions, Da Vittorio classics and dishes in a more personal style. Pastry chefs Yazid Ichemrahen and Alexandre Favre have written a dessert menu that gives pride of place to transalpine produce.

With the pair in the kitchen, the restaurant won a Michelin star in early 2022 and has renewed it every year since, including in 2026, when 50 Top Italy also named it the second-best Italian restaurant in the world. Lunch is served from Tuesday to Friday, 12:00–14:30, and the menu includes vegetarian dishes.

Matsuhisa Paris, which opened in 2016, is the sixth Matsuhisa restaurant and the only one in France, offering a contemporary vision of Japanese cuisine with many of Nobu Matsuhisa's signature dishes. Emanuele Bombardier has been its executive chef since October 2022, and with his team of sushi masters he cooks a Japanese cuisine that brings together Asia, Latin America and France.

Le Bar Long, an elegant Parisian brasserie designed by Starck around an iconic long table, serves reinvented French classics from breakfast through dinner, along with inventive tapas, cocktails and desserts by the same pastry duo; there is live music every Thursday. Cigar smokers have the Viñales Lounge, dedicated to Havana and Montecristo cigars, and every restaurant has a terrace for warmer weather.

La Cuisine serves a buffet breakfast daily from 07:00 to 10:30, with organic eggs prepared to order, seasonal dishes and desserts by the pastry chefs, as well as vegan and gluten-free options, and the Sunday Royal brunch runs from 12:00 to 16:00.

Raffles Spa & Wellness covers 1,500 m² and was also imagined by Starck. Its centrepiece is an indoor 23-metre pool bathed in natural light, joined by a Watsu bath, single-gender saunas, hammams and laconiums, a cold plunge in the women's section and an ice fountain. For training there are two fitness studios with the latest Technogym equipment and a Pilates room with Reformer and Cadillac machines, with dedicated fitness coaches on hand. The spa is open daily from 06:30 to 22:00.

Seven treatment rooms, one of them for two people, host facials and body treatments by Dr Barbara Sturm, 111Skin and Nooance. Since 28 September 2026 the spa has also offered the Dimple Amani Method, and the hotel says it is the first address in France to host the British brand's protocols: drawing on Gua Sha, Brazilian lymphatic drainage, Finnish infrared therapies and Ayurvedic principles, the method comes as facials, body treatments and a signature face-and-body ritual. Treatments and coaching run from 10:00 to 21:00.

The Cinéma Katara, a private 99-seat auditorium with its own team of screening and audio professionals, hosts hotel and private events, and once a month the Royal Film Club pairs a film screening with a gastronomic experience. On Saturdays, the Morning Routine begins with a buffet breakfast at La Cuisine, moves on to a hatha yoga class in the spa at 10:00 and ends with a complimentary detox juice, after which guests can stay on in the spa until noon.

Families are looked after with tailored activities and amenities for children, and the Paris Sweet Sixteen experience plans sophisticated activities for a teenager's sixteenth birthday in the city. The Culinary Masterclass teaches professional skills and timeless kitchen tricks to beginners and seasoned cooks alike, and the Jazz Soirée, inspired by Ray Charles, offers an evening the hotel describes as sophisticated and convivial. For a marriage proposal, The Butler Did It arranges a private tour of the Arc de Triomphe, with every detail personalised by a Raffles Butler.