18 TRAVEL+LEISURE | OCTOBER 2019
CO
UR
TE
SY
OF
MO
NT
E-
CA
RL
O^ S
OC
IÉT
É^ D
ES
BA
IN
S^ D
E^ M
ER
The Princess
Grace suite at the
newly renovated
Hôtel de Paris.
rooms with new parquet flooring and
gleaming white-marble bathrooms,
wall moldings and carpet patterns
created to original specifications, and a
number of restored chandeliers.
The top floors contain two vast new
suites, each named after one half of the
most glamorous couple in Monaco’s
history—Prince Rainier III and Princess
Grace. The latter has a terrace roughly
the size of my Paris apartment; both
come with a private heated pool and a
price tag of around $40,000 a night.
Inside, some of the sovereigns’ personal
effects are on display: here, a painting
by Princess Grace; there, Prince
Rainier’s set of crystal circus figurines.
Amazingly, there is an even more
exclusive part of the hotel: the truly
high rollers now have a fully equipped
private casino room, with its own
roulette and baccarat tables.
Though I’d never stayed there
before, the name Hôtel de Paris had
always represented the epitome of
Monegasque elegance in my mind—a
place where people dressed to the
nines and wore diamonds to dinner.
Though nightly black tie may have
fallen by the wayside, the hotel’s old-
world grandeur remains undeniable.
But for me, parts of the renovation
felt too glitzy—as if Blanc’s vision had
been repurposed for a new generation
of oligarchs.
Happily, both the hotel’s main
restaurant, the Salle Empire, with its
gilded moldings and ornate chandeliers,
and the wood-paneled Bar Américain
have been refreshed, but are otherwise
unchanged, and the latter is still an
institution. (Princess Caroline’s dashing
son, Pierre Casiraghi, breezed through
one evening.) The casino’s architectural
splendor is still unmatched by any I’ve
visited. At the roulette table, I found
myself up $100 after just five minutes.
The pros in the Monte Carlo suite would
no doubt have played on, but I cashed
in and walked out onto the Place du
Casino, a spring in my step.montecarlosbm.com; doubles from $590.F
ROM THE GET-GO, Monaco’s Hôtel de Paris was
primed for excellence. The property’s original
owner, a French entrepreneur named François
Blanc, declared that “it must surpass everything created up
to now.” When it opened in 1864 on Monte Carlo’s Place du
Casino, it instantly became the town’s hub. Over the years,
visitors included everyone from Marlene Dietrich to
Winston Churchill, who brought his pet parrot. But lately,
the sheen had begun to wear off—the last full-scale
renovation was in 1909.
The recent $300 million revamp took four years and
included the demolition and reconstruction of three wings—
during which, remarkably, the hotel didn’t close. It now
features a wellness center and an outdoor terrace, largerPLACE DU
CASINO
The Hôtel de Paris ren-
ovation was part of a
program to transform
this strip of central
Monte Carlo. The most
important addition is
the One Monte Carlo
(montecarlosbm.com)
development, co-
designed by Richard
Rogers, home to a
string of luxury bou-
tiques (Chanel, Lanvin,
Celine, YSL, and more).
There are also offices
and apartments avail-
able for rent—for up to
$3.3 million per year.
MONTE-CARLO
BEACH
Your Hôtel de Paris
key card gives you
access to the ultra-
chic club Monte-Carlo
Beach (montecarlo
sbm.com), which
includes the Olympic-
size pool where Prince
Albert took swimming
lessons as a child, a
new Le Tigre spa, and
the superlative
organic restaurant
Elsa (entrées $31–
$66), where chef
Paolo Sari cooks with
produce from the
kitchen’s garden.LE LOUIS XV
& ÔMER
Le Louis XV (entrées
$90–$185), Alain
Ducasse’s high-end
restaurant at Hôtel de
Paris, has had three
Michelin stars since
1990, and remains one
of the hottest tables in
the principality. Ômer
(entrées $42–$58),
Ducasse’s laid-back
new eatery on the
property, is an ode to
Mediterranean cuisine,
from Lebanon to Spain.
The chef’s focus at
both is on staying true
to the ingredients.More Reasons to Visit (or Revisit) Monaco