Hotel Review: Mandarin Oriental Paris

There’s nothing quite like arriving at a Paris hotel after the disorienting, short night on the transatlantic flight; the blur of the airport; and the maze of Parisian streets in the cab before the door is opened. 

And entrance to the city is made even better when the hotel in question is Mandarin Oriental, Paris. The property took up residence on rue St. Honore 11 years ago, occupying an understated street front near Place Vendome in the very center of the city’s most fashionable luxury shopping district. (This is the epicenter of the leisure visitor’s Paris — close to the Tuileries Gardens, the Louvre, Champs Elysees and Place de la Concorde.)

After my bags were deposited with liveried door staff clad in chic hats, I was escorted through a two-story entry into an intimate lobby bathed in light — a welcome contrast to the gray January weather. 

Over the reception desk are 135 crystal butterflies — one for each room of the hotel — glinting over a charming Parisian welcome. The lobby is comfortably furnished, flooded with natural light and decorated with furniture and art pieces just eclectic enough to allow for moments of amusement. 

"How about a glass of Champagne to celebrate your arrival?” a staff member asked me as I was escorted to one of the plush couches to complete registration formalities. 

Guests visiting the lobby can also admire the Mandarin Oriental fan, commissioned to one of the city’s master embroiderers and made of leather, vintage sequins, pearls and decorated with butterflies. 

The Guestrooms at Mandarin Oriental, Paris

Like the lobby, my Deluxe Suite was similarly bathed in light, with both contemporary art accents as well as flair from the 1930s, courtesy of artist Man Ray. 

Designer Sybille de Margerie was deliberate about blending the influences of modern Paris with the sensibilities of the 1930s, so that the hotel’s spaces ooze Paris, but is sprinkled with subtle Asian influences for which the brand is known.

Overlooking the courtyard’s living wall, the Deluxe Suite is a spacious 764 square feet. The hotel’s coziest room is just under 400 square feet — virtually arena-size by Parisian hotel standards. 

Rooms are well-wired, with electronic controls for privacy, housekeeping and lighting by the bedside. Desks come equipped with all manner of plugs and adaptors — having forgotten my own, I happily borrowed the provided one. 

I mentioned to the hotel staff in the post-stay survey the tiniest quibble: the Nespresso in-room coffee setup didn’t provide stirrers or swizzles, and there was no liquid creamer — only powdered milk meant to be mixed with hot water from the kettle. 

The response was that they were certainly available upon request (I must have momentarily forgotten I was in a five-star palace hotel where such requests are “de rigueur”) and that my Fans of Mandarin Oriental profile had been updated for all Mandarin Oriental properties to know my preferences in advance of my next stay.

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Bathrooms include niceties such as Japanese toilets and heated towel racks; Diptyque products in eco-friendly large-format refillable containers (returning to the generously sized tubes of Lait Frais body lotion became a habit of mine); gigantic rainfall showers with interior seating; and generous bathtubs. 

Housekeeping drops by twice daily (or more often, upon request), and evening turndown service yielded another treasure: a tasseled bookmark in the shape of a fan segment that — I later recognized — matched the fan in the lobby. 

Such mementos are what sets top-tier luxury hotels in a class of their own, and it’s easy to see why the Mandarin Oriental was awarded the Palace Hotel distinction just three years after opening — making it one of 12 five-star hotels in Paris to receive the designation. 

Mandarin Oriental’s Newest Suite

The latest addition to the hotel’s collection of suites — which includes the two-story Mandarin Penthouse Suite with views of the Eiffel Tower from the dining room and terrace — is the Parisian Apartment, clocking in at more than 4,600 square feet when booked as the full pair of two-bedroom suites (the Parisian Apartment can also be divided into two separate two-bedroom suites). 

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In addition to a full kitchen and convivial living, dining and reception spaces, there’s also a secluded 2,400 square foot terrace hidden among dense foliage, with secluded seating and a pergola-covered dining area. 

3 Unique Dining Venues

The building also surrounds a garden, where outdoor spaces are shared between Bar 8 and the three-meal restaurant Camelia. Camellias are grown in the garden and appear in visual themes throughout the hotel and spa, a nod to the Asian heritage of the brand, and perhaps also to fashion designer Coco Chanel, who famously used the camellia as her emblem and whose longtime Paris atelier is just a few steps from the hotel on Rue Cambon. 

Bar 8 is an intimate space with a green-accented Lalique crystal wall, evoking forest rainfall, and a bar carved from a single nine-ton block of brown Spanish marble. Outdoors, in the garden, there are seating spaces, made cozy against the January chill with head lamps and faux fur throws. 

Both Bar 8 and Camelia offer a selection of well-executed dim sum proudly presented in stacks of steaming bamboo trays served as bar nibbles or for breakfast. Breakfast is also a great time to try a Parisian starter of coffee and bread or devour a full American-style spread (and one of the most gigantic, perfect omelets I have ever seen). 

For high-end dining, guests can reserve a table at the Michelin two-star Sur Mesure by Thierry Marx (who also serves as the hotel’s executive chef) and enjoy lunch or dinner in a spacey, all-white atmosphere.  

The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Paris

The nearly 10,000-square-foot spa extends over two floors and offers treatments developed from traditional Chinese medicine and European spa traditions. A wall of carved white camellias welcomes guests to the space. The spa sits next to an expansive indoor lap pool, which, along with the fitness center, is open to all guests. 

With charming service and interiors that evoke the free-wheeling, exuberant spirit of Paris coupled with the refined, harmonious calm of the Far East, Mandarin Oriental Paris is a hotel that is almost certain to linger in guests’ memories long after they depart. 

For my part, I’ll treasure my bookmark and my small jar of honey from the rooftop apiary — reminders of the sweet sense of welcome and belonging I felt throughout my stay. 

The Details
Mandarin Oriental, Paris