Le Burgundy Paris
The Parisian hotel with a distinctly English name
Although the building dates to 1723, a design by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the architect behind the Palace of Versailles and the Dôme des Invalides, the hotel itself opened in 1850, when the Madeleine district was Paris at its most alive. Theatres, jewellers, fine grocers, and an aristocracy needed somewhere to stay for several months at a time, and Le Burgundy became it.
Among the names recorded in the earliest guest books is Charles Baudelaire, which explains why, 170 years later, both the Michelin-starred restaurant (Le Baudelaire) and the cocktail bar carry his name.
The origin of "Le Burgundy" is, genuinely, a mystery. The hotel's own history notes it was likely chosen to attract Victorian clientele arriving in numbers during Paris's Anglomania period. Maybe it was thought that a French hotel, named for a French wine region, but styled to sound English, could be trusted. That particular contradiction has aged rather well.
The 2010 renovation saw artist Guy de Rougemont, a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, act as the creative voice. His glass-roofed atrium anchors the lobby, his mosaics line the pool walls, and a Marco Del Re fresco keeps watch over champagne-sippers in Bar Le Charles.
Some of the hotel’s 59 sumptuous rooms and suites overlook a leafy inner courtyard, while others open onto rooftop views across the Paris skyline. Keep an eye out or ask specifically for the apartment with its own private patio when booking if you’d like your own outdoor space away from the hustle and bustle.
Le Baudelaire operates a seasonally changing tasting menu for lunch and dinner, while Bar Le Charles caters all the way from breakfast through to evening tapas. Don’t forget to check into the underground spa by Sothys includes a generous 15-metre pool, hammam, sauna, steam room, and two treatment rooms.
Paris’ shopping epicentre Rue Saint-Honoré is steps away, lined with ateliers from Chanel to Dior, and the equally high-nosed Place Vendôme sits two blocks east. Stroll the Tuileries Gardens a few minutes south, with the Louvre at one end and the Orangerie, home to Monet's Water Lilies panels, at the other.
Ultimately, although still pricey, Le Burgundy is a 1st arrondissement base that costs slightly less in time than nearly any comparable property in Paris.
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