Paris at Eye Level: Cheval Blanc Paris, A Reviewפריז בגובה העיניים: Cheval Blanc Paris, ביקורת

I have a declared weakness for Paris, so I approached Cheval Blanc Paris with suspicion. A new hotel, by LVMH, in the historic La Samaritaine building facing the Seine, it sounded too much like a fashion statement and too little like a home. I was wrong, and I am glad I was wrong.

The location that is the whole story

The hotel stands right on the Right Bank, facing Pont Neuf, and from the upper rooms you see the Seine curving like a ribbon of silver. Paris unfolds there at eye level, not from a tourist's distance but up close, intimate. I opened the window on the first morning and heard the city waking, and that is worth more than any chandelier.

A good hotel in Paris does not sell you Paris, it gives you a quiet corner from which to love it.

The rooms

The design is younger and more colourful than you would expect from a Parisian luxury hotel, and I loved it. Less gold and lace, more light and colour. The rooms are among the largest in Paris, and the marble bathrooms carry Dior products. Everything is precise, yet not fossilised. I felt I could live there, not only be photographed there.

Plenitude, and that dish

Chef Arnaud Donckele's restaurant won three Michelin stars, and although I am wary of hype, one meal there changed something in me. There was a dish built on a sauce, simply a sauce, in which I tasted more depth than in whole plates elsewhere. Insanely expensive. Unforgettable. Two truths that can live together.

What worked less

The Dior spa is beautiful but small, and at busy hours it is hard to get an appointment. The service, warm as it was, was sometimes young and not fully polished, as happens in a new hotel still finding itself. And much as I adore the place, its price belongs to the category where you should pause and ask whether this is really the time.

Who it suits

People come to Cheval Blanc who know Paris and want to see it from a new angle, younger, less dusty. If it is your first time in the city, you may prefer a classic. But if Paris is already in your blood, this is a wonderful way to fall for it again. After staying here, I also wrote about 48 hours in Paris, for those who want to get to know the city itself.