Sofitel Paris Le Faubourg is perhaps one of the most luxurious hotel experiences you can seek in Paris, if only because of its location. The Faubourg Saint-Honoré district, directly north of Place de le Concord—which itself lies between the Champs-Élysées to the west and the Tuileries Garden to the east—is home to foreign embassies (the American Embassy is next door to the hotel), financiers, fashion houses, and high-end shopping. It’s the perfect place from which to launch a walking tour of the city: steps from the Louvre, Champs-Élysées, and shopping on Rue Saint Honoré, and within walking distance from the Tuileries Gardens, Musée d’Orsay, and the Grand Palais. The metro, too, is around the corner.
But that’s assuming you can muster the will to leave the property, which, already laden in 18th-century hotel particulier architecture, is fresh off a March 2015 top-to-bottom renovation. Didier Gomez, who has designed the headquarters of major fashion houses like YSL and Christian Dior, plus hotels and restaurants around the world, imbued the property with light, modern elegance. Rooms are soft-hued and palace like—not in space, but in elegance: bedside lights are mini chandeliers; the bed and drapes are coated in luxurious satins and velvets; crown molding is abundant and intricately detailed. Service is remarkable, even when no one is present to deliver it. Details like bedside, switch-on night-lights are embedded into the ceiling to guide you to the bathroom in the darkness, and a Bose speaker implanted in the bathroom ceiling ensures uninterrupted listening no matter where you are in your guestroom. Turndown service will leave you more cakes and treats and Evian than you’ll know what to do with.
Peak Romance
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Pick your season. Perhaps the only time you wouldn’t want to go is in August, when much of France is on holiday. Sofitel commissioned Michelin-starred chef Yannick Alleno opened a fourth outpost of STAY (the others are in Dubai, Taipei, and Beijing) in the hotel’s restaurant space, where he blends Asian and other worldly influences with traditional French flavors. Otherwise, again, this is Paris, so we’ll leave it up to the guidebooks. But if, you’re wondering what will it take to dine with the new hubby or wife inside the Eiffel Tower, the answer is weeks-ahead booking and a lot of cash. A six-course dinner at Alain Ducasse’s Jules Verne, the pricier of the two dinner options, will set you back at least €230.Sofitel commissioned Michelin-starred chef Yannick Alleno opened a fourth outpost of STAY (the others are in Dubai, Taipei, and Beijing) in the hotel’s restaurant space, where he blends Asian and other worldly influences with traditional French flavors. Otherwise, again, this is Paris, so we’ll leave it up to the guidebooks. But if, you’re wondering what will it take to dine with the new hubby or wife inside the Eiffel Tower, the answer is weeks-ahead booking and a lot of cash. A six-course dinner at Alain Ducasse’s Jules Verne, the pricier of the two dinner options, will set you back at least €230.
Lovers Must
Bike along the Seine. Rent a Citi Bike-equivalent Vélib’ at one of 1,800 stations across the city (the nearest to the hotel is two blocks away). Watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle at midnight from the Ponts Des Arts, though, for the record, it doesn’t have to be midnight. After nightfall, the tower’s 20,000 bulbs sparkle every hour on the hour.
Get lost—drop your guidebook and roam the Marais or any other charming Parisian neighborhood. Scout for the quietest, most romantic café you can find and brave the menu.
In the spirit of Parisian high fashion, be sure to visit the Frank Gehry-designed Fondation Louis Vuitton. The museum boasts 11 contemporary art galleries situated beneath 12 giant sheaths of sail-shaped glass.
Warm-weather newlyweds should set aside an afternoon for lunch and relaxation at Paris’s iconic Molitor, where an Art Deco-style hotel surrounds a giant swimming pool from 1929. Cold-weather newlyweds should avail themselves of the exhibitions at the very worthwhile Grand Palais, a short walk from the Sofitel. Sofitel.
Rates start at $350 a night. www.sofitel-paris-lefaubourg.com/en
