Review:đź“ŤInterContinental Paris Le Grand
This luxury hotel is a Paris legend. Charles de Gaulle dined here the evening Paris was liberated during World War II. Oscar Wilde and Victor Hugo hung out in the hotel’s lobby cafe. Tsars, kings, queens, and icons including Josephine Baker and Marlene Dietrich have all stayed here since this property first opened in 1862.
There is nothing casual about the InterContinental Paris Le Grand. From check-in to the breakfast table, this historic hotel offers a white-glove, upscale experience in the heart of Paris. It’s an experience that’ll cost you a minimum of several hundreds of dollars a night but if you choose a room with an opera house view you might find the experience priceless.
Location
The InterContinental Paris Le Grand takes up an entire city block in the stylish 9th arrondissement. It’s just across from the Opera Garnier and about a 15-minute walk from the Louvre. A few train stations — Opera, Madeleine, and Auber are located within easy luggage rolling distance of the hotel.
The hotel is a particularly good home base for anyone interested in exploring the city’s museum. In addition to the legendary Louvre, the HĂ´tel de la Marine, an opulent 18th-century palace that opened as a museum in 2021, and the MusĂ©e de l’Orangerie are also located nearby.
Address: 2 rue Scribe, Paris
Phone: +33-1-40073232
Website: https://parislegrand.intercontinental.com
Vibe
There is nothing casual about this property, which opened its doors during the reign of Napoleon III. The InterContinental Le Grand is the kind of hotel that attracts more heads of state than it does hipsters and flashpackers, and it shows.
The five-star hotel is huge, spanning more than 360,000 square feet and taking up an entire city block. It features a sprawling atrium over what was once an entry for horse-drawn carriages and event spaces literally fit for royalty.
This is a place where you’ll find top-notch service, privacy, and pampering inside a gorgeous piece of Parisian history but I wouldn’t expect an impromptu dance party to break out in the lobby.
Rooms
The InterContinental Le Grand has more than 450 rooms and suites, and even standard rooms are spacious enough you may forget you’re in Paris. You can expect a spacious bathroom, closet, and a seating area as well as enough space to dance along to whatever music you hear from the street outside when you open your window.
I found the beds to be really comfortable, like falling asleep on a cloud. The only thing better was waking up to the gorgeous opera house outside my window.
If you’re looking to really splurge or for a room that’s even bigger or traveling with a group, the InterContinental Le Grand also has revamped several of its suites. One of them, the chic and modern La Parisienne, offers a view of the Eiffel tower from bed. Another pays homage to French actress Sarah Bernhardt who was once a regular guest.
There is also a suite designed for diplomats and others who may be traveling with an entourage that includes security. It includes a very formal living space and several bedrooms.
Food & Drinks
There’s no place like Paris for dessert, and that is especially true here. The InterContinental Paris Le Grand offers just two restaurants, and both offer the kind of desserts people travel to Paris to indulge in. I try to limit sweets, and these were definitely worth the splurge.
La Verrière offers a collection of tables and sofas under the hotel’s soaring atrium. It serves salads, sandwiches, and entrees like fish and chips, organic free-range duck breast with mashed pumpkin, figs and grapes, and steamed pollack. Beef tartar and escargot also are on the menu.
This hotel’s second restaurant, Cafe de la Paix, is a legend in itself. It has been a favorite of the city’s creative class for years and was once frequented by Ernest Hemingway and Victor Hugo.
Indoors, it is an upscale restaurant featuring a multi-course menu you can really linger over. This is fine dining at its best — complete with two variations on beef tartare, a long list of oysters, and a broad selection of wines.
Outdoors, Cafe de la Paix is a bit more relaxed. The outdoor cafe offers epic views of the opera house steps and top-notch people watching. It is the perfect place to linger with coffee and a croissant as you start another magical day in this magical city.
Amenities
This hotel offers private check-in and check-out, concierge services, currency exchange, and tour booking services. Childcare and a private club lounge also are available, but you’ll have to swim and have your spa services elsewhere, at least for now.
The hotel includes a small gym with a handful of cardio machines, weights, and strength training equipment. It has a spa that’s closed while undergoing a makeover. The hotel does not have a pool and is not pet-friendly.
Booking.comBottom Line
This hotel is a historic legend that sleeps like a brand new property. This location is hard to beat, and rooms with opera house views can be well worth the splurge if you can afford it.
Room prices start at around $400, more for rooms with an opera house view. But there are few things better than falling asleep on a bed so comfortable you feel as if you’re snoozing on a cloud. Waking up — or falling asleep —with the OpĂ©ra Garnier or the Eiffel Tower outside of your window may be one of them.
