Le Bristol in Paris : Le Bristol Paris is a palace located at 112 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, in the 8e district Paris.
It is considered one of the largest and most prestigious palaces from Paris and France.
History: In 1758, during the construction of the Place de la Concorde, the Duke of Noailles sold to Jean François Sandrié, contractor of the King's Buildings, a market garden of 60 ha on which a private mansion was built. This building began to be built in 1718 by the banker Law who, forced into the bank-road, did not have time to see it completed. Bought by the Countess of Damascus, the latter on her death in 1827 bequeathed it to her daughter, widow of Count Charles-François de Vogué. The house was sold in 1829 to Count Jules de Castellane who had the private theater installed there, which was the winter restaurant of the Hotel Bristol until 20111. Abandoned for several years, the Hotel de Castellane is acquired in 1923 by Hippolyte Jammet, entrepreneur and son of the owners of the famous restaurant “Bœuf à la mode”. The hotel, redone in the Art Deco style with the help of architects Gustave Umbdenstock and Urbain Cassan, was officially opened in April 1925, in the middle of the Roaring Twenties. It is named "Bristol" in homage to Frederick Hervey (4th Earl of Bristol), a great British traveler in love with luxury.
From 1945, the hotel became a major gathering place for world ambassadors and diplomats. It was consecrated in 1949 by obtaining its “4 luxury stars”, then was ranked in first position by the American guide Fielding's Travel Guide to Europe, in 1962, ensuring it notoriety in the United States of America.
In 1978 Rudolf-August Oetker, chairman of the German industrial group Dr. Oetker, acquired the hotel. A year later, it expands with the construction of a new wing on the garden side, a former “convent of the Little Sisters of Good Hope”. Two other symbols of Bristol will soon see the light of day: the swimming pool and the vast 1200m² garden.
In 1994, Pierre Ferchaud was appointed hotel manager, then president.
In 2004, Le Bristol changed its graphic charter, with a logo dominated by green in resonance with the garden, and launched a line of derivative products.
On September 15, 2009, the Bristol expands to 21 rooms, 5 suites and a new restaurant, the “114 Faubourg” thanks to the acquisition of the adjoining building.
In 2014, Sonia Papet was appointed head concierge at the Bristol, becoming the only woman to hold this position in a Parisian palace.
In 2017, the Bristol changed pastry chef after the death of Laurent Jeannin. Chef Julien Alvarez takes over the Palace pastry shop.
In 2019, Le Bristol is installing an authentic cereal mill on its premises to make its own flour in order to make its own pain. The same year, the Palace created its internal chocolate factory where all the chocolate confectionery offered to hotel guests is made.
Oetker family: Hotel le Bristol is owned by the Oetker family. The group Oetker Collection is present in several sectors including that of luxury hotels. To date, the Oetker family owns the Brenner's Park Hotel (in Germany), the Cap Eden Roc (in Antibes), the Château du Domaine Saint Martin (in Vence), The Courchevel Apogee in Savoie, Le Palacio Tangara (in Sao Paulo), L'Eden Roc (in St-Barths), Le Lanesborough (in London) and finally Le Bristol Paris. In these places, the hotel group regularly competes with LVMH Hotel Management. The Bristol luxury hotel project in Abu Dhabi, announced in 2009, was finally discontinued in 2013.
The latest addition to the Masterpiece Collection is Jumby Bay Island (in Antigua)
Characteristics: In 2018, the palace employed 558 people.
A hall with paintings by masters and sculptures from the 1930th and XNUMXth centuries acquired in the XNUMXs at an auction from the Louvre Museum's reserves, as well as two large Gobelins tapestries and their country scenes;
190 rooms including 100 suites. The largest suite is the Imperial Suite of 320 m2. The panoramic suite served as the backdrop for Woody Allen's film Midnight in Paris;
The largest private garden of Parisian palaces with 1 m200. The average price for a standard room is 2 euros per night in 1500;
A swimming pool dressed in teak is located on the 6th floor and offers a panoramic view over the rooftops of Paris and the Sacré-Coeur;
7 air-conditioned lounges, 4 of which open onto the garden;
A new Hot Tub
Le Bristol by La Prairie and fitness room;
Catering and bar:
- The gourmet restaurant Épicure (Chef: Eric Frechon, three stars at Michelin).
- Le 114 Faubourg (Chef: Loïc Dantec, one star in the Michelin Guide), the luxury brasserie in Bristol.
- Le Bar du Bristol It is one of the two great Parisian hotels (with the Plaza Athénée) have their own bakery. A bakery with its own mill à cereals. The Bristol bakery teams work with 6 varieties of wheat different carefully selected to achieve pains exceptions;
- An experienced management chocolate.
Various facts: During the German occupation, the architect Léo Lehrman, Jewish, remained hidden in room 106 of the Bristol, one of the rare large hotels in Paris not requisitioned by the Germans because the owner Hippolyte Jammet concluded in June 1940 , an agreement with the Ambassador of the United States of America William C. Bullitt, to make it a residential annex of the American Embassy, in return for the free availability of the establishment and its services. At night, when the hotel was empty, Lehrman would leave his hiding place to secretly plan the future work of the hotel, including the wrought iron twisted elevator. This secret was kept by the 210 employees of the Bristol.
On the night of Monday 25 to Tuesday 26 May 2009, in suite no 503 of the hotel Le Bristol, Kinga Legg, a Polish businesswoman, is found naked, her body covered with bruises, lifeless in her bathtub . She was murdered shortly before her body was found. The autopsy attributed his death to a triple trauma, cervical, cranofacial and pancreatic, the latter resulting in abdominal hemorrhage. The perpetrator of this crime is Ian Griffin, English entrepreneur who was her lover and fled to England. The police found several pieces of furniture such as chairs or a nightstand found on the ground, which suggests that an argument preceded the tragedy. According to staff at Le Bristol hotel, the man and his partner had been staying in the palace for two days and constantly ordering bottles of champagne. In addition, roommates claim to have heard endless arguments from the couple's bedroom. Arrested a few days after the events in England, Griffin was extradited to France in March 2011. Tossed between Fresnes prison and psychiatric establishments because of his bipolar disorder, he was released and placed under judicial supervision in March 2013. Sentenced in first instance to 20 years in prison in 2014, Griffin was again sentenced in 2016 on appeal, to 14 years in prison, the Assize Court of Essonne having declared him responsible for his acts but having retained an alteration of his discernment at the time of the facts.
Movie theater :
1993: The time of innocence by Martin Scorsese, a final scene of the film is shot in a room of the palace
2009: The concert, one of the musicians rents a room at the Bristol
2011: Midnight in Paris by Woody Allen, Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams sleep at the Bristol; a lot of scenes happen there
Economic data: The company Hotel le Bristol was created in 1957, it has been managed since 2016 by Luca Allegri, its turnover reached 62 M € in 2016 and the net loss for this financial year is 11 M €. The 2018 workforce is 558 people.
Official hotel website The Bristol