One day in July, during a little reading break on the Web, I stumbled across this funny, offbeat interview with Charlotte Le Bon.
One of his answers intrigues me. Unlike the others, she’s serious. She simply states that her “favorite hotel is Le Mandarin Oriental, in Paris, for everything”. My curiosity piqued, I decide to discover this Parisian palace, which opened just a year ago on Rue Saint-Honoré.
This prestigious 8-storey hotel boasts 99 rooms and 39 suites, including 8 exceptional duplex rooms, most with discreet private terraces overlooking the interior garden.
It also houses the Bar 8 terrace, whose centerpiece is an imposing Italian marble cocktail bar. One of their specialties: Champagne and finger-food recipes concocted by Chef Marx.
Thierry Marx, whose reputation is well established, has set up his gastronomic restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental, “Sur Mesure”, 2 stars in the Michelin Guide.
To discover the two evening tasting menus, book 2 months in advance… and if lunchtime is more your thing, the 5-course menu is available at €75.
This astonishing restaurant has been designed as a cocoon, all white, very intimate, with no background music and decorated with furniture and crockery entirely “made-to-measure” in collaboration with the Chef.
If you come, don’t miss the colorful touch in the restaurant’s toilets, with the brilliant effects and reflections of red vinyl petals.
For those looking for a simpler setting and refined, accessible French cuisine, Camélia is the hotel’s “bistro-chic”, open to all from breakfast to dinner.
This place, a blend of tradition and design, features a beautiful dining room with a large central island where you can enjoy lunch and watch the cooks in action.
In fine weather, the garden can be furnished with a few place settings to enjoy the greenery and the lake. For a special occasion, you can reserve the unique “raised” table for a warm,private meal for lovers or friends.
At 10 a.m. on August 15, it was time for an express detox treatment! On the menu, to get this hot, grey summer’s day off to a good start, was a wellness breakfast called “Delight”.
Developed by Chef Marx and naturopath Liliane Israel, this complete meal combines balance and indulgence in an original format: a Bentox Box accompanied by several dishes, to be enjoyed in a precise order for maximum benefit.
A whole program of flavors, colors and sensations: Jasmine green tea, fresh carrot juice, pomegranate juice, mango smoothie, almond milk, seasonal fruits, walnuts and almonds topped with honey, 0% cottage cheese accompanied by wholemeal bread soaked in a delicious olive oil that smells of Provence, spelt cakes serving as blinis for fresh salmon…
As varied as a brunch, with the refinement, freshness and quality you’d expect from a Palace, this breakfast offers all the vitamins and antioxidants you need to feel good about your body.
The particularly soothing atmosphere of the place (sober sound, sober colors, discreet lighting…) contributes to the relaxation that this meal brings. You feel good, you take your time, which flies by, and it’s good to let go.
At 12.20pm, we leave the Camélia, regretfully abandoning this enchanted interlude where the service was discreet, friendly and attentive all at once. “There, all is order and beauty, luxury, calm and pleasure.“as Charles Baudelaire wrote. If you too are tempted to combine well-being and pleasure during a gourmet morning, the Mandarin Oriental welcomes you from 7 to 11 a.m. for breakfast (€48).
The hotel’s other “wellness card” is an exceptional 900m2 spa. Open to all, a range of “in-house” treatments, as well as the cosmetics used, allow you to escape the stress of the city. You’ll be welcomed into a zen-like “bubble”, and enjoy a private cabin with hammam/sauna. And if you’re a hotel guest, you’ll have access to a fitness center and a magnificent swimming pool. The Asian culture from which the Mandarin Oriental originates can be felt here, in all its delicacy and discretion.
In this establishment, the first in France to achieve High Environmental Quality accreditation, you’ll find all the charm of Parisian life. The modern, ingenious Paris of today, but above all the spirit of the 1930s, when the original building was constructed.
Art is everywhere, in the corridors, the living areas and the rooms: drawings, sculptures, paintings or photographs by Man Ray, as a reminder that the capital is the cradle of the greatest artists. Not only that, since Paris, the capital of fashion, is the setting for the hotel, where the theme of couture is omnipresent, even on the fan – a symbol of the Mandarin Oriental group – custom-embroidered by Ateliers Lesage.
It’s also said that Chanel’s teams, working just two blocks away on rue Cambon, enjoy feeling Coco’s soul, her camellia flowers, in the Palace…
Charlotte was right: you’ll find everything, and especially the best, at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Paris. Every detail is researched, and the details are numerous. It’s a delightful experience for the eyes, the taste buds, the body and the soul. A unique place for everything.
Jessica Gauzi
Find out more about the Palace’s services at http://www.mandarinoriental.com/paris/
Cette publication est également disponible en : Français (French)
