24 hours in a Palace: Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme

Having entered via the double doors and passed the concierge desk, the Park Hyatt eschews the traditional niceties. This hotel has been designed as a private residence. So you enter here with no further formality and are immediately in tune with this sociable bustling atmosphere encouraged by generously proportioned, free-flowing public areas and spaces where contemporary art finds an actual home. The Palace is conceived as an unabashed gallery that’s free to enter and enjoy in total freedom. That's impressively chic!

Soft New Zealand lambswool carpets, lighting level appropriate to the time of day... Every one of the 156 rooms including 45 suites at the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme is designed as a sophisticated private pied à terre. The best idea? The Japanese inspired bathrooms that can become an integral part of the room simply by sliding open the wooden screens.

Bathed in natural daylight from its distinctive glass ceiling, the restaurant is equally popular for business lunches, lunch with friends or relaxed lunches for two. In the summer months, you can dine on the terrace beneath the olive trees. What do we particularly like? The open space where the only separation is the large double-sided fireplace.

Occupying the hotel basement and directly accessible by lift from the bedroom floors, it’s easy to slip away discreetly for a few minutes’ wellbeing. The Park Hyatt spa is 250 m2 of serene sanctuary created from wood, stone, mahogany and onyx, offering balneotherapy, a softly-lit Jacuzzi, hammam, sauna, fitness studio and four treatment rooms run in association with La Mer, the brand that pioneered the use of natural algae.

Every day, from breakfast onwards, an endless ballet of celebrities, star journalists and financial wizards enter, leave, come and go through the lobby and gather around the fireplace that has become rather an icon of this Palace. It’s a great place to sit incognito and enjoy a speciality tea at teatime after a hard afternoon’s shopping, tour of the capital or a restful sauna.

Nestled in a multi-faceted alcove, the new bar counter comes alive and shine even after dark. As a social heart of the hotel, the atmosphere is warm and elegant, with a more rhythmic ambiance in the evening while creative cocktails clink and piano notes fly away.

Pur’- Jean-François Rouquette is open every evening for gourmet dinners with all the energy of an open kitchen. There’s no division between dining room and kitchen so that everything is cooked in full view of the diners! And thanks to the artful interplay of mirrors, the dining room melts into the kitchen. Or perhaps it’s the reverse... A performance staged around a circular colonnade in which the Michelin-starred chef is in full control of every plate of food down to the tiniest detail. A feast for the eyes and the taste buds... and an experience of pure pleasure!

There’s still a little more time to enjoy this wonderful view of the Place Vendôme. It may be time to check out, but you can still take with you a fragranced reminder of your time at the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme. The creator of the fragrance Blaise Mautin is also responsible for designing the ambient fragrance of this Palace. Russian leather, powdered patchouli, Florida orange... to extend the pleasure of a rare and all-enveloping luxury to your own home.