Avenue George V had the Four Seasons and the Prince de Galles for decades before a third house appeared at number 30, between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine. Bulgari Hotel Paris, Paris, opened on 2 December 2021, the seventh hotel of the collection and its first in France.
History
The site was a 1970s office building on the avenue, bought by the investor Jean-Bernard Lafonta's group and rebuilt from the frame outwards. Bulgari announced the project in 2016 with Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel as architects and designers, as for every hotel of the collection since Milan in 2004. Construction and the pandemic pushed the opening to the end of 2021. The hotel was conceived as a counterpart to the historic palaces of the Triangle d'Or: contemporary throughout, with no pretence of a Belle Époque past, and smaller than its neighbours.
Architecture and design
The facade is a new composition of stone and bronze-framed glass, taller in the middle bays, set back behind the avenue's trees. Inside, Citterio and Viel used the collection's materials, black Zimbabwe marble, oak, bronze and Italian furniture, with a palette lighter than in Milan. The ground floor opens at the rear onto a garden courtyard with a glass pavilion that houses the bar. Art includes commissioned pieces and photographs of Bulgari jewels worn by actresses of the 1960s, the house's recurring reference.
Rooms and suites
There are 76 rooms and suites, large for Paris, with the bigger suites on the upper floors looking towards the Eiffel Tower. The Bulgari Penthouse on the top floor is one of the largest in the city, with its own garden terrace over the avenue, a dining room for ten and a view across the Seine. All rooms have marble bathrooms and walk-in dressing rooms, and the top categories have butler service.
Dining
Il Ristorante Niko Romito serves the chef's Italian cooking, as it does in Milan, Dubai, Beijing and Shanghai, in a dining room facing the garden. Il Bar, in the courtyard pavilion, serves cocktails and Italian aperitivi and has become an address for the fashion crowd during the Paris shows. Breakfast and lunch are also taken in the garden in warm weather.
Wellness
The spa covers around 1,300 square metres over two floors below the garden, with a 25-metre pool lined in mosaic, a hammam, a sauna, treatment rooms and a fitness centre. The pool is among the longest in a Paris hotel, and the spa is open to a limited membership as well as guests.
Weddings and events
The hotel has a ballroom and a set of private rooms on the ground floor, with the garden as an outdoor extension in summer, which is rare on the avenue. Weddings and private dinners use the ballroom and Il Ristorante's private room; the penthouse terrace takes small receptions. Corporate groups from the fashion and jewellery houses nearby are the hotel's core events business.
Location
30 avenue George V is in the 8th arrondissement, within the Triangle d'Or formed by the Champs-Élysées, avenue Montaigne and avenue George V, with the couture houses at the door. The George V and Alma-Marceau metro stations are close by. Gare du Nord is about 25 minutes by car, Charles de Gaulle airport about 45 minutes and Orly about 40 minutes. As a luxury hotel in Paris it is the newest on the avenue, and the only one built entirely for the purpose in the 21st century.
At a glance
What sets it apart
- 01Opened 2 December 2021 at 30 avenue George V
- 0276 rooms and suites, the penthouse with a garden terrace
- 0325-metre pool in a 1,300-square-metre spa
- 04Il Ristorante Niko Romito and Il Bar in a courtyard garden pavilion
- 05Building rebuilt and designed by Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel
Chronology
Dates that matter
2016
Bulgari announces a Paris hotel on avenue George V with Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel as architects.
2021
Bulgari Hotel Paris opens on 2 December, the collection's first hotel in France.
