Rue Cambon in Paris’ tony 1st arrondissement is not only a beautiful street, full of 18th- and 19t century houses and what the French call hôtels particuliers, or mansions. It’s also full of history.
La Comtesse de Castiglione – Napoleon III’s lover, famous for her astounding beauty – lived at No. 14 for the last years of her colorful life. Henry James wrote “The American” on the third floor of No. 29. And, in 1910, Coco Chanel, who needs no further introduction, opened her first boutique at No. 31, next door to the elegant Hotel Castille..
The Chanel boutique, almost incredibly, is still there, bearing the Chanel name, and so is the luxury five-star Hotel Castille – actually three houses knocked into one – now restored to earlier nobility.
I say “nobility,” but nobility implies a certain manner, a quiet self-assurance as much as it suggests any kind of grandeur. If you want the big name in Paris (and astronomical bill to match), no question you go to the Ritz. If you want massive Corinthian columns and a breathtaking view of the Place de la Concorde (and you’ve already put the kids through college), you might choose the Hôtel de Crillon. If you want vast suites, magnificent flower arrangements and razzmatazz, it would have to be the Four Seasons George V.
But fabulous as those hotels unquestionably are, for people with individual style, and good but not extravagant taste, people who know they have “arrived” without having to shout about it, then let’s just say they’re the ones likely to be checking in at the Hotel Castille.
Some basics, because carried away as I get by the subject of Paris hotels, there are some need-to-knows. The Castille’s 108 rooms, including 26 suites and junior suites, actually occupy two wings of the building, each with a character of its own. The Rivoli wing is where you’ll find the irresistible Art Deco-inspired suites in homage to Coco Chanel, and the Opéra wing, more contemporary in style, is where you’ll head for French “bourgeois” interior design. Two very contrasting styles, one difficult choice to make between them.
Because of its relatively small size and situation on the quite Rue Cambon, the Hotel Castille can feel more like an apartment with the amenities of a five-star hotel than an actual five-star hotel – and that is all to the good. Like any great hotel, it has character and flair, of course – original furniture upholstered in richly-colored velvets in the main reception rooms, for instance – and like any private home, Hotel Castille has a pet, Capucine, a purring Chartreux cat, just waiting to be stroked.
In the ground floor salon de thé, you can indeed have a great cup of tea, or soak up the ambiance at the adjoining bar over a cocktail, or perhaps even a toddy, perfect for colder days. (The Parisians love their rum, or grog, by the way.)
But the Castille – like all of Paris, to be fair – really comes into its own when the days grow warmer, when you can eat under the stars to the sound of birdsong in the hotel’s indoor courtyard. It’s an utterly charming setting, with its fountain and original fresco, which was commissioned by the hotel’s first owner, an exiled Spanish royal who named the hotel “Castille’ with understandable nostalgie for his homeland.
Getting hungry? Boy, do you eat well at L’Assagio, the Castille’s restaurant. It’s an Italian affair, because the current owning company, Star Collezione, is Italian, and Michelin-starred chef Ugo Alciati is a remarkable cheerleader for his native Piedmont cuisine. Expect superb dishes like Vitello Tonnato and Agnolotti del Plin.
It’s not just dinner, either. Breakfasts are abundant – I love the way the pastry chef visits each table himself with a basket of freshly-baked madeleines – and the business lunch represents great value in a city where value is, let’s face it, not always that great.
Step out of the hotel and needless to say you have Paris on the doorstep, with the Tuileries, the Palais Garnier (opera house), the Church of the Madeleine and Place Vendôme all minutes away. The Louvre Museum is also but a hop, skip and jump. (But just no pinching of any pictures please, as the authorities frown on it.)
If all this makes the Hotel Castille sound like a sophisticated place to hang your hat, well, it certainly is that. But happily, children are welcome, too, and the Castille wants to make them feel right at home. With its “V.I.K. Very Important Kids” service, younger guests receive their own welcome kit, featuring amenities, surprises and tips, while for babies and toddlers, the hotel will provide cribs, cots, changing tables, even strollers.
Good to know, too, that Hotel Castille works well as a business hotel. I saw quite a number of “suits” (and very well-cut ones at that) during my stay. The area beside the concierge leads directly to three private rooms, holding up to 70 guests, diverse spaces that are perfect for work meetings (with all the latest technology) or dressed to accommodate private parties.
Informed by its glamorous history – Coco Chanel used the hotel as her saloon, hobnobbing here with the likes of her bestie, Jean Cocteau, while more recent visitors have included Patti Smith, Heidi Klum and Karl Lagerfeld – but not hidebound by it, the Hotel Castille is also reassuringly up to date, appreciating what contemporary guests need and want. Its in-room technology is first class and the hotel has recently upgraded its fitness area, adding a “Vital Dome,” which uses infrared therapy for detoxification and improved sleep, and a “Vital Tech” Lounge Chair, which, I was informed, provides “deep relaxation and regeneration through InfraTherapy, along with vibroacoustic music.”
Not being a fitness sort of person myself, I thought it safer to remain at the bar rather than assume a zero-gravity position in the fitness area, although doubtless it will be a great amenity for a good many guests. But what Madame Chanel or for that matter the Comtesse de Castiglione would have made of it, I don’t know – although, come to think of it, as fit and emancipated women both, I imagine they might have loved it.
Jeremy Wayne is a travel adviser with Superior Travel of New York. Email him at jeremy@superiortravel.com.
