Review: 1, Place Vendôme

Why book 1, Place Vendôme, Paris?

To get a fresh, exclusive and fully serviced perspective on Paris’ regally glamorous 1st arrondissement. The city has plenty of dream hotels with Studio 54-style wait lists and storied suites with legendary patrons of yore that keep visitors coming. What 1, Place Vendôme brings is a stealth wealth elegance that’s as quintessentially Parisian but infinitely more homely (especially for those accustomed to butler service). This is the first hotel from Swiss fine jewelry and watchmaker Chopard and the Scheufele family who have owned the brand since 1963. A members' club as much as a hotel (it’s only accessible to guests and their visitors) it is a hushed enclave amid the City of Lights’ irrepressible motion.

Set the scene

Above the Chopard boutique, guests enter through one imposing blue door plus another in smoked glass (it’s a dusky view out, impossible to see in) unbranded except for an enigmatic cursive ‘C’. Inside, there’s no lobby, just the grandeur of an 18th-century fireplace, the sweeping curvature of a stone staircase encircling a single lift, and a towering aquamarine Murano glass bead installation by French artist Jean-Michel Othoniel. There’s no standard check-in; as with dining, that happens wherever guests please—in the salon, the public spaces, or in their rooms. Go deeper, and you’ll see the Winter Garden conservatory with a jungle-themed mosaic mural crafted from thousands of cabochon gemstones; an innovative scent-extracting Chinese-inspired fumoir; a stately fireplace; and a library replete with Scheufele favorites (what occupies the shelves is decided via a Scheufele family WhatsApp).

The backstory

The Scheufele family bought the building in 2014 when it was operating as another hotel. The building, which dates back to 1723 (the roof and facades are protected as historical monuments), then went through a five-year renovation process from 2019. Painstaking restoration under the combined stewardship of famed interior designer Pierre-Yves Rochon (Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, The St. Regis in Rome, the Four Seasons Megève) in tandem with the Schefuele family vanguard—Karl-Fritz, his father Karl-Friedrich, Aunt Caroline and both grandparents—brought 1, Place Vendôme to birth.

The rooms

The original hotel’s 29 bedrooms have been reordered into just five rooms and 10 suites, artfully resuscitated via artisans including Auberlet & Laurent (the moldings), Les Ateliers Philippe Coudray (curtains and wall hangings) and L’Atelier Mériguet Carrère ( decorative paint). All are distinctly different—from the classical drawing room style of Rubis to the modernist Pop Art flavors (stark white, cobalt blue and curvaceous felt easy chairs) of the attic-level Astronomie suite. Come to Paraiba for embroidered wallpaper, a mosaic shower room and showgirl door tassels. Top of the pile is the Appartement Chopard, a double-height, Versailles-worthy confection of fantasy with a four-poster bed and its own hammam. Cutting-edge, barely perceptible tech plays a subtly seductive role—from the opulent mirrors whose inky reflections transform into TV screens to supersonic Dyson hair dryers that dry hair in two minutes.

Food and drink

From his outrageously alluring jet-black, gold, and brushed steel Molteni-powered bat-cave of a kitchen, chef Boris Algarra, who brings seven years of Mandarin Oriental experience, sets the fluid culinary stage by offering breakfast, day and night menus that run consecutively 24/7. You eat when you want and, in the absence of a contained restaurant, where you want—be that library, living space or room.

The menus are a study in elevated classics, adaptable to the diner’s palate (if a dish is too bitter for some, the kitchen will create something sweeter). The sea salt-crusted beetroot has a bright, earthy tang with heat from freshly grated horseradish and popping spheres of emulsion. The carpaccio of scallop arrives with Kilimanjaro basil and caviar and the chicken breast with mushrooms and gravy sounds homely til you notice the “gravy” is a sauce barigoule laced with foie gras. Wine comes from the Scheufele’s Monetiser La Tour chateau in Bergerac. There are no walk-ins here. The best table is the “host’s table”, which looks straight into the kitchen.

The spa

There’s no permanent therapist on site, but the top floor hosts a pristine treatment room primed for specialist therapists booked on request. There’s also a petite fitness room with an exercise bike and rowing machine.

The service

The team melts in and out of the shadows to gently streamline every aspect of your stay, from the formidable but immaculate gentleman who appears at the door on arrival, to the concierge who is always standing in the same spot outside the lift no matter which floor or when. Discreet and engaging, the staff are adept at identifying guests’ cultural passions and then fixing exactly what you need.

The neighborhood

Place Vendôme is pivotal to the core of classical Paris; the heartland of the original flâneurs. It’s just north of the Tuileries Gardens (every magazine editor’s personal catwalk come Fashion Week), the Rue Saint-Honoré, and the beginning of the Rue de la Paix. It’s a haven for luxury jewellers, including Bulgari, Cartier, Graff, and Rolex. And showy neighbors have long been a draw, from the razzmatazz of Coco Chanel’s “home”, The Ritz, to the model’s favorite Hotel Costes—which is what makes the arrival of the artfully low-key 1, Place Vendôme, so refreshing.

Who comes here?

Prestige professionals and city connoisseurs are unlikely to be sampling Paris for the first time. It will no doubt also attract Chopard super fans, who are likely to be afforded special privileges.

Families

Children are welcome and are dispensed with mini-me bathrobes; whilst dogs under 10 kilos can also pass through the hallowed doors.

Eco effort

Sustainability is not foregrounded here, but the menus do use ingredients predominantly sourced in France, refilling has replaced individual product miniatures in the bathrooms, and triple rather than double-glazed windows conserve more energy.

Accessibility

Lifts service all the hotel’s floors, with split-level spaces equipped with covert ramps that can accommodate anyone unable to use stairs.

Anything else to mention?

This is a hotel team that can make the seemingly impossible possible without missing a beat, like sourcing last-minute tickets for a sold-out exhibition. It’s an invaluable level of service for a city that will always pivot around pleasure regardless of how much business is on the agenda.

Is it worth it?

For a Paris that’s quintessentially Parisian but prizes privacy over buzz and prefers classically styled haute home comforts to the theatre of a grande dame, this is a must-try hotel.