Anyone who has ever browsed the displays at the gastronomic emporium FAUCHON in Paris knows the quality of the cheese, charcuterie, pastry, caviar, foie gras and other elite products on offer. Starting in July, dining on those specialties will get even easier when FAUCHON L’hotel Paris, a member of Leading Hotels of the World, opens on Place de la Madeleine next door to the famous store. All guests will have to do is open a specially designed cabinet inside of the rooms and sample the assortment within it in the “gourmet bar” presented free of charge by the hotel.
Food will also figure into the design of the rooms which will have expanded areas for dining with meals prepared by private chefs although there will also be a restaurant for public dining, the 150 seat Café Fauchon. Otherwise, the 60 rooms, of which 20 will be suites, will be designed in contemporary style and all will have views over Place de la Madeleine or Boulevard Malesherbes. The hotel’s overall construction, the combination of two historic Haussmann buildings previously housing the Baccarat boutique, is being overseen by architect Richard Martinet who was responsible for the creation or renovation of four other Paris palace hotels, the Peninsula Paris, the Hotel Shangri-La Paris, the Hotel de Crillon and the Hotel George V. The reported cost is 40 million euros.
Apart from the physical structure and its location near the Opera, Place de la Concorde and the designer boutiques of rue Saint-Honore, the hotel aims to set itself apart from other luxury hotels in the French capital by providing personal experiences in the city—still being designed in advance of the opening. And then when guests return, they can pick some foie gras or a macaroon out of the cupboard.
