Historical Hotels - Le Meurice in Paris had many important royal guests

On the opposite of the Tuileries Garden, between the Place de la Concorde and
the Musée du Louvre on Rue de Rivoli , a magnificent historical palatial hotel
is located: Hotel Le Meurice.

Already from the street, Hotel Le Meurice looks fabulous and classy, but this
blog is about royal history, so my surprise was big, when I researched more about
this interesting topic.

Hotel Le Meurice in Paris, France
own picture taken in 2017

Some History

During the 18th century, a French postmaster called Charles-Augustin Meurice
knew that English tourists wanted to be on the continent with the comforts they
were used at home.

In 1815 he opened the Hôtel Meurice in Paris, however it was originally located
at Rue Saint-Honoré.

In 1835, Le Meurice moved from Rue Saint-Honoré to its current location on the
Rue de Rivoli in a new luxurious building. A wealthy clientele followed and
from the July Monarchy till the French Third Republic, Le Meurice welcomed
the high society of that time. They liked especially the excellent location of
the hotel, which is in the heart of Paris and near the luxury boutiques.

In the early 20th century, Le Meurice was enlarged by the addition of the
Metropole Hotel, located on the Rue de Castiglione.

The interior, especially the rooms on the ground floor was in Louis XVI style.
The elevator was a copy of the sedan chair used by Queen Marie Antoinette.

Between September 1940 and August 1944 the hotel was occupied by Nazi
Germany during World War II. In August 1944 it even became the
headquarters of General Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris.

In 1997, the hotel was sold to the Sultan of Brunei's Brunei Investment Agency,
who made it part of the company's Dorchester Collection.

Famous Royal Guests

Five star hotel Le Meurice hosted many kings, sultans and other eminent guests.
Inter alia:

King Alfonso XIII of Spain stayed here in his exile;
Charles, Prince of Wales;
Kings of Italy, Belgium, Greece, Bulgaria, Denmark, Montenegro;
Shah of Persia;
Bey of Tunis.


Shah of Persia: Source picture: Wikipedia


Other famous guests were inter alia:
Anthony Eden, the British Prime Minister;
Salvador Dali;
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton;
Mata Hari;
Jay-Z
and many more.

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