Paris loves to show off and with the newly re-opened Royal Monceau there’s no need to share the limelight.

Located in the heart of the 8th arrondissement, famous for its haute couture fashion houses and multinational businesses the building is a short walk from the Champs Elysées, Arc de Triomphe and the Parc Monceau. This grand salon first opened in 1928 and immediately became a destination for artists, intellectuals and celebrities including Ernest Hemingway, General Eisenhower and Ho Chi Minh. Originally designed by Louis Duhayon the hotel closed for renovations In 2008 and over the following two years underwent a magnificent transformation, overseen by the doyen of French chic, Phillip Stark. Reminiscent of its heritage Stark delicately wove period detail into the interiors and public spaces giving the building a lux-chic persona with a warm heart.

The newly renovated hotel includes 150 luxury rooms instead of the previous 260 and now features 54 suites and 10 prestige apartments. The entire remodelling process made way for even larger and more luxurious rooms each one possessing a unique feel through the distinctive use of lighting and furnishings. Art plays a big part in the hotel’s design, incorporating photographic prints throughout the guest quarters and public areas. Service includes a dedicated art concierge who can arrange personalized art-themed itineraries to Parisian museums and galleries. Don’t want to leave, then visit La Librairie des Arts which provides reading material or check out Le Cinéma de Lumières – a first for a Parisian hotel this 100-seater cinema serves ice-cream, gourmet bento-box snacks and popcorn by Pierre Hermé. It’s also designed to accommodate an entire movie promotion in one place, from red carpet premieres and champagne receptions to media interviews.

Should the rhythm really get going guests are able to loan the hotel’s mobile sound studio!

Aesthetically the feeling is decidedly lived-in palatial luxury. The rooms are filled with personal trinkets, art books and design pieces. It’s like walking into the most exquisitely decorated home where guests are encouraged to kick of their boots and slip their feet under a cashmere throw. The suites are designed as a private home-away-from-home for world-weary and following their artistic mood each comes with a signature Royal Monceau acoustic guitar. Should the rhythm really get going guests are able to loan the hotel’s mobile sound studio!

But who wants to stay in when you can go out – in the Royal Monceau. Despite its enviable central Parisian location guests don’t need to leave the building for some of the city’s top destination eateries. Within the hotel are La Cuisine, traditional French specialties from Chef Laurent Andre, Il Carpaccio – a gastronomic Italian restaurant, Le Bar Long – cocktails and light meals and Le Grand Salon – open for light meals and refreshing cocktails from early evening until late night. The third space is Le Jardin, a wild-looking bucolic garden for 100 guests, created by Stark and landscape gardener Louis Benech. This mini oasis offers guests what Stark described as a place for ‘contemplation et d’inspiration’. Not peckish, then choose from Paris’s largest indoor hotel pool at 26 meters long, Le Royal Eclaireur, the fashion-decorating boutique overseen by the team of L’Eclaireur or Le Spa My Blend by Clarins, a full service spa and treatment center providing the ultimate in health and beauty.

This grand salon first opened in 1928 and immediately became a destination for artists, intellectuals and celebrities

Essentially a hotel is somewhere to rest between destinations but at the Royal Monceau the design and consideration given to detail renders it so much more. The hotel’s exquisite renovation in combination with its unique cultural capital make it Paris’s newest palace hotel and a haven of the very best in French lifestyle, luxury and sophistication.