The luxury hotel at the corner of two famous Paris streets—the Avenue George V and the Champs-Elysées—will soon be showing off the fruits of a six-month makeover. Come July, Hôtel Barrière Le Fouquet’s Paris will reopen with an entirely new look. As we previously reported, the hotel shuttered in February right after the 42nd César awards (the French equivalent of the Oscars); Fouquet’s brasserie famously hosts the post-awards dinner—a lavish, sit-down affair with the film industry’s A-listers.
Interior designer Jacques Garcia decorated the 81 rooms and suites with a nod to “1950s and 1960s chic.” His three pillars? “Warmth, comfort and elegance.” The official press release notes “the clean lines of the cornicing, the elegant wooden paneling, the Harcourt photographs recalling the pencil skirts that preceded Givenchy’s suits…” The idea was to create sumptuous guest rooms more akin to private Parisian apartments.
Facilities include the “Le Marta” bar, a library lined in ebony wood, the “Le Joy” bar-restaurant and an outdoor terrace. The Fouquet’s brasserie will reopen on July 10 with a menu designed by super chef Pierre Gagnaire. (We like the sound of the king crab slaw served with steamed bok choy and wasabi mayonnaise.) Don’t miss the cocktails made by award-winning barman Stéphane Ginouvès at L’Escadrille bar, which was a haunt of First World War airmen then the Aeropostale aviators.
Today the high-end Group Barrière operates 33 casinos, 18 hotels (mostly five-star establishments), and 120 restaurants and bars including the world-famous Fouquet’s in Paris (with other outlets in Cannes, Courchevel, La Baule, Marrakech, Toulouse and Enghien-les-Bains).
