Arrival at the hotel
We arrived at the hotel on a Friday afternoon. Its location is pretty convenient, next to the rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré (8th arrondissement), 3 minutes walking distance from Hermes, Chanel, Lanvin and others luxurious stores within this area. It is also pretty close to the Place de la Concorde. The Champs Elysées and the Arc de Triomphe are 5 minutes away by car. Valet parking is available to take care of your car but you can also park within the streets around or at the Madeleine public parking, 10 minutes from there. If you come from Charles de Gaulle airport, you’ll need approximately 45 minutes to reach the hotel.
When you enter into the Buddha Bar Hotel Paris, you directly feel the change of scenery. The decoration is really unique and you won’t find this atmosphere anywhere else. We can see here the Buddha Bar signature, a complete sensory experience made of relaxing music, nice light Oriental perfume floating in the air, and red and gold tones for the Asian decoration blending with an historic place. The property is closely linked to history. This ancient mansion house was built by Augustin Blondel de Gagny who owned one of the most impressive collections of precious objects and master paintings. Augustin Blondel de Gagny was close to King Louis XV.
After passing under the red lamps path, we walk over the Nepal stone tile covered with the welcoming dragon of the lobby, happiness symbol of the hotel. The journey begins here…
This luxury 5 star boutique hotel offers a really customized service. With only 56 rooms and suites, it allows creating a really special experience for guests. This starts at the check-in. The lobby is welcoming for the hotel guests. Someone will quickly pick up your luggage while you are going through the check-in process. The luggage are then delivered directly into your room few minutes after that.
The elevator doors open on bright corridors on every floor. Walls are dressed with black and yellow tones. The welcoming dragon leads guests to their own rooms.
The Superior Room
Our Superior Room is located on the first floor, just above the bar. Luckily, the soundproofing was good enough that we couldn’t hear the music from the bar lounge during the night. The room entrance first provides the Japanese toilets on the right, then a cupboard with a safe deposit box and enough space for your clothes, to end in the bedroom.
While entering the room, you are welcomed in a relaxing Buddha Bar music mood, makes you feel like in a second home.
Overall, we were really amazed with the room decoration. As for the rest of the Buddha Bar Hotel, the room decoration is really unique and you won’t see it anywhere else! All the materials used here are special and refined. Lacquered wood furniture creates a 1930’s Shanghai Art Deco style.
Wooden parquet covers the floor with a nice red carpet below the bed. Walls are covered with dark brown and golden wallpapers enhanced by red Asian touches. The high care of details has also been brought to the lights. You can easily set different atmospheres based on luminous intensity.
The bed is 2 meters one. The mattress is not too hard and not too soft, perfect! You can select a pillow from the pillow menu that includes a lot of different kind of pillows based on the size and the softness you like. There are already 2 kinds of pillows on our bed that were good enough for us.
We had a restful night in this bed wrapped in woven Egyptian cotton.
The bathroom is a key piece of the overall room decoration. Walls are covered with red glass paste from a prestigious Italian brand, again unique! We really loved the bathroom decoration. There is a large walk-in rain shower. The bathroom products are from the Ortigia Italian brand.
The bathroom is separated from the rest of the room thanks to a sliding glass door and precious thick curtains. This decoration detail contributes to the cozy and luxurious atmosphere.
A lot of technology is available inside the room for your comfort. For instance, curtains can be opened and closed from the bed. Then there is a flat TV screen. The mini bar design is uncommon and nice, it is hidden in the desk. There is also a Bose sound system with subtle loudspeaker grilles arranged on the rooms and bathroom ceilings. A free WiFi access is available for up to 2 devices. It works fine, pretty fast.
The evening turn down service will prepare the bed with a fresh orchid.
Catering
We had a drink at the Bar, le Qu4tre. At the image of the whole hotel, the decoration is special, felted and cozy. It is such a pleasure to have a cocktail with fine pastries in the afternoon in such a chic atmosphere. Like in the Haute Couture, the menu evolves each season around the four elements themes. The staff is pretty friendly.
On the evening, we had a dinner at Le Vraymonde restaurant. We were quite happy to come back here. We had a nice brunch at Le Vraymonde last year. We tried the famous Buddha Bar chicken salad which melts Asian flavors, a pure delight. Then also the beef meat with truffle mashed potatoes, also quite good. The Korean sauce is perfect.
For the desserts, we savored a chocolate Baba with Japanese whiskey and a Vanilla and Tonka bean Napoleon. The Baba is sprinkled with a prestigious 12 years old Japanese Yoshi whiskey which gives a very tasty taste. The Napoleon is delicious too. It is topped and surrounded with an ultra-fine nougatine.
We had a nice dinner at le Vraymonde, the atmosphere is peaceful, not too crowded. This is a nice place for a romantic dinner. You will enjoy a fine cuisine blending with Asian touches. Delightful!
The breakfast is delivered at Le Vraymonde in the morning. It is presented as a rich options buffet. A high care of details has been brought to the foods selection.
You will enjoy here classics to unusual offers : a large range of cereals such as black sesame, white sesame, goji berry, crushed almonds, organic chocolate cornflakes, organic honey cornflakes, gluten-free muesli or organic sugar-free flakes together with different kind of milks like soy milk, whole milk, semi-skimmed milk and skimmed milk. You will find fresh seasonal and exotic fruits, fine French cheeses, cold cut such as bologna, white ham, country ham and rosette, smoked salmon with dill cream, hard-boiled eggs, papaya salad coming with olive, nut or sesame oil, fresh fruit juices including the signature one, classic Viennese pastries, hot pancakes and several breads like a rare pumpkin seeds and nuts one. Dairy products come from hand-made house Bordier. The fresh fruit salad is pickled with a signature juice made of grapefruit, guava and soft ginger : delicious!
In addition of the buffet, several options prepared on demand can be ordered. Of course, you can enjoy the breakfast in the comfort of your room with the room service if you prefer.
Activities
The hotel has a fitness center and a wellness area (spa suite) with a hammam but we haven’t been there. We took the opportunity to be in the area to visit the nearby stores. It is really nice to stay in a hotel next to all the luxurious shops of the rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré. From Chanel to Hermès, Lanvin to Gucci, all the high end stores are less than 5 minutes from the hotel which is also close to the Place Vendôme and La Madeleine area. Le Louvre museum is 10 minutes driving distance from the hotel.
Conclusion
We had a pleasant 1 night stay at the Buddha Bar Paris hotel. It is really refined, takes you to Asia in a minute. Here you will live a unique experience between the Asian Art of life blending with the unique Parisian elegance. The Buddha Bar hotel looks like no other in Paris : like a fairy tale in the city of lights!
Our departure was pretty smooth. The sun had even risen up to celebrate this nice journey.