Suite of the Week: Belle Etoile Suite at Le Meurice
Underneath (and down the hall from) the stars in Paris.
Where is it? Paris’ first (and probably best) arrondissement, across from the Tuileries Garden and overlooking the world-famous Louvre. There’s much to be said for Paris’ gentrifying outer neighborhoods, but there’s more to be said for the palace-filled center of the city.
The Hotel:Le Meurice is a palatial, 5-star hotel that has been around, in various guises, since 1815, when it catered to a touring English aristocracy who expected the same sumptuous furnishings abroad as at home. Since then, aside from a brief stint as Nazi headquarters during WW2, Le Meurice has catered to presidents and luminaries with a taste for impeccable Louix XIV style. A list of former guests includes: Franklin D. Roosevelt, John D. Rockefeller, Rudyard Kipling, Salvador Dali, Elizabeth Taylor and Beyoncé.
The Suite: The Suite Belle Etoile is not the largest suite in the hotel, but it is the best. The opulent, 3000 square-foot apartment is nice, but the pièce de résistance is a 2700 square-foot terrace with 360-degree views of sites like Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, Musée D’Orsay and, of course, les étoiles. There are, in addition, four luxurious bedrooms, a dining room, pantry, kitchen, and marble bathroom with views of Paris (out, we presume, not in).
The Selling Point: Getting cozy in the wing where Napoleon’s mistress spent a languid two months; getting faded in the wing where Jay-Z and Yeezy recorded “N***** in Paris.”
By the Numbers: 3000 square feet of living space, 2700 square-feet of star-gazing luxury terrace in the only arrondissement in which royalty would be caught dead. (Number one.)
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