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Rue Saint-Honoré is one of the Glass team’s favourite streets in Paris – filled with stores we love, chocolatiers we crave and boulangeries we miss. Perfect for us then that the Mandarin Oriental group have opened an oasis of luxury right in the middle of this most stylish of streets. From its dramatic street entrance onwards (you can just imagine photographers lining the short passage to the lobby), the Mandarin Oriental (or MO to its regulars) is a spacious bastion of understated glamour, a surprisingly rare combination in the capital of chic.
Set around a stunning courtyard garden, the hotel blends Parisian, Art Deco and Oriental influences to create a sanctuary of natural calm amid the inevitable shopping storm. Its 99 rooms and 39 suites are among the largest in Paris, and have Bang & Olufsen entertainment systems, heavenly soft beds and covetable Diptyque toiletries. Fine dining with an Asian twist comes courtesy of Sur Mesure with Thierry Marx (another Glass favourite since his days at Château Cordeillan-Bages in Pauillac) – the sweet bento with ylang-ylang had us in rapture.
Marx also oversees the more informal, all-day restaurant, Camelia, as well as a divine cake shop. The natural, muted tones of Bar 8 set a sophisticated tone for late-night lounging. Equally impressive are the leisure facilities. A subterranean 15-foot pool complex feels gloriously cavernous, and exquisite private spa suites offer heavenly pampering for the body. With superlative service as standard, we heard a group of visiting fashionistas proclaim it ‘a destination in itself’. Glass couldn’t agree more.
by Nicola Kavanagh
(www.mandarinoriental.com/paris)