No need to introduce Le Fouquet’s Paris, its name on its own suggests the Parisian institution and echoes to the World of the cinematic art. Since the 70’s, the Fouquet’s has been hosting the galas following the Molière and the Cesar evenings and thus became part of the legend forever.
Le Fouquet’s Barrière hotel stands within the Triangle d’Or area of Paris, at the corner of two iconic avenues : the Champs Elysées and the George V avenues.
Basically, the Barrière Le Fouquet’s Paris hotel is the flagship hotel of the Groupe Lucien Barrière that owns several others luxury hotels in Cannes (Majestic), Deauville (Normandy), Marrakesh and few others prestigious places.
Fouquet’s Barrière facade by night
Entrance of the Fouquet’s hotel
Arrival at the hotel
We arrived at Le Fouquet’s Paris on a Sunday afternoon. A valet immediately took care of our car. It was good as it isn’t really easy to park in this area, next to the Champs Elysées. The valet was really friendly. The first contact with the hotel staff is always a good indicator for the rest of the stay and this one was nice.
While you step through the hotel doors, you realize how privileged you are based on all the celebrities that stayed at Le Fouquet’s. The lobby walls are covered with portraits of famous actresses and actors. The Majestic Cannes history is tied to the Festival de Cannes event and for Le Fouquet’s Paris, it is the Cesar awards that recognize key performers in French cinema every year in February. This event is reflected in the lobby decoration with all those portraits.
Lobby
Stairs to the bar Le Lucien
The lobby desk decoration is unique. It is like a diamond river. And we have found this creativity in the decoration in a lot of details throughout the hotel.
The check-in was smooth. Our Executive room, on the second floor, has a view on the Champs Elysées.
The desk manager escorted us to our room and offered us a Cup of Champagne Rosé as a welcome.
Desk of the Fouquet’s hotel
Flowers decoration
The Executive Champs Elysées Room
The Executive room is the highest room category at Le Fouquet’s hotel below the suites. The room size is 40 sqm (430 sqft). When you enter into the room, you have the toilets (with a bidet) on the right, then a large wood dressing. The corridor opens up on the room with the bathroom on the right.
Executive room entrance
When you enter into the room, you directly feel a welcoming atmosphere. The colors used are warm and luminous with a mix of clear and gold tones for the walls and wood dark tones for the furniture. The floor is covered with a thick carpet. You can easily see the meticulous care brought to the decor. Each choice of textures and decoration details reflect elegance of Jacques Garcia style. High ceilings are reinforcing the luxury aspect of the place.
The room is full of technology. The good thing is that it is easy to use. First, the lights can be controlled area by area with 3 different light intensities. This allows creating multiple kinds of atmospheres along the day and in the evening. The dressing light switches on and off automatically thanks to a presence detector. You can turn off all the room lights from the bed and the entrance.
Beside the lights, you have two TV sets, one in the room and one in the bathroom. Both are hidden in the walls. Thus they aren’t impacting the decoration at all as they are just a part of the wall. A lot of channels are available.
Bedroom
Another view of the bedroom
One key point I’d like to highlight here. The soundproofing of the room is perfect. It couldn’t be better. It is really important for me as I am a light sleeper and I had a really good sleep thanks to the perfect soundproofing and the comfortable 2 meters wide bed. The air conditioning is silent and you can even turn it off completely without having to press a sequence of 5 buttons in the right order. Then, even if the Champs Elysées is a crowded avenue with a lot of traffic, we couldn’t hear it thanks to the double-glazed windows (indeed, you have two double-glazed windows with a space between them).
Bed
The bathroom is well equipped with a large bathtub, a separate shower and two sinks. The shower and bathtub taps are easy to use. Again, the system has been well thought out. The bathroom decoration is made of black marble with mahogany woodwork and mosaics. Barrière beauty products are available in good quantity. Then, to reflect the Palace comfort, branded slippers and bathrobes are available. We loved the slippers, really comfortable and nice, different from the regular ones.
The bathroom is separated from the room since two tinted mirror sliding doors. Opening them, is like opening a precious jewel box, smoothly, without any sound.
Sliding doors opening on the bathroom
Bathroom
Champagne
The service is the one you can expect from a high end 5 star hotel. The room is serviced twice a day (with a chocolate left for the sweets dreams in the evening). Then, something really unusual in Paris, a butler service is available for every room. The butler came to our room to greet us and introduce himself. He took care of our restaurant booking for the evening very efficiently.
There is a minibar in the room with a good range of complimentary soft drinks. You will find it, ingeniously hidden in the mahogany dressing.
Dressing
Room decoration
Our room in the evening
Located on the 2nd floor, our room offers a direct view on the Champs Elysées. So from there, we could see the Champs Elysées and the Arc de Triomphe, just magic! Indeed, it is probably the closest view to the Arc de Triomphe you could have from a hotel room in the Champs Elysées. Needless to say that we spent a long time on the balcony in the evening checking out the magic of Paris lights.
Champs Elysées by night
Champs Elysées by day
Catering
Even if Le Fouquet’s hotel has only 81 rooms and suites, it offers the bar and restaurant diversity of a full resort with 5 restaurants and 3 bars. Obviously, there is the iconic Fouquet’s brasserie. We had the pleasure to discover the Fouquet’s brasserie in Cannes during our stay at the Majestic Barrière. So this time, we opted for La Petite Maison de Nicole (which is also available at the Majestic in Cannes).
La Petite Maison de Nicole is an invitation to a complete change of scenery. You directly feel like being in Provence while seating in this gastronomic restaurant located next to the World most beautiful avenue. The restaurant offers a refined and authentic cuisine from the South of France. We have tried the stuffed vegetables and those are really amazing, definitely the same taste as the ones you can find in Nice region. Then, we selected the large fillet of Limousin beef from Desnoyer’s and the rib of veal. Those meats were delicious, really tender. Then I had delicious parmesan French fries with the fillet, the same as the ones you find in the US, so good! La Petite Maison de Nicole is between the Fouquet’s brasserie and the Marta bar. You can access it directly from the Fouquet’s hotel.
La petite maison de Nicole
La Petite Maison de Nicole
We had high expectations about the breakfast after the breakfast we had at the Majestic in Cannes. And we haven’t been disappointed! The breakfast can be enjoyed in the refined atmosphere of Le Diane starred restaurant. It is presented as a breakfast buffet with some options prepared on demand. Everything is there and even more! From the burrata to the smoked salmon, the fresh fruit juices to the cakes, the fresh fruits to the Viennese pastries, this is only very fresh and top quality products that we have tasted there. This breakfast is one of the best we ever had in a luxury hotel. The setting, the products and the service are top notch. During the summer days, guests can enjoy it on the terrace facing the garden.
Diane restaurant
-
- Breakfast buffet
-
- Fresh fruits
-
- Cakes
-
- Breads
Our table for the breakfast
Activities
The hotel has several terraces where you could relax with a view on the inner courtyard. Then there is the Diane Barrière by Shiseido spa inside the hotel. This spa is one of the most beautiful spas in Paris, made of red and wood tones. It is a really peaceful area. For me, it seemed like a journey in Japan.
Hotel courtyard with the garden and the terrace
The Diane Barrière by Shiseido spa includes a large pool. The water is heated at 31°C. This is first time that I see a hotel pool with the water heated at 31°C and I can say that this is a good idea! It is quite easy to enter into the water and then you can stay into it for a long time without feeling cold. The spa area is really clean, well maintained. The spa staff is really friendly. Next to the main pool, there is a water course with multiple water jets where you can relax and enjoy the unique atmosphere of this spa.
There is also a fitness room fully equipped with modern fitness machines.
Shiseido Spa pool
Fouquet’s swimming pool
Around the hotel, there are a lot of activities to enjoy. The obvious one is the shopping based on the location with the numerous stores available on the Champs Elysées. Then you aren’t far from the Avenue Montaigne, the rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré and the Eiffel Tower. The Hotel Barrière Le Fouquet’s Paris offers a perfect location for shopping and visiting the capital.
Conclusion
Staying at Le Fouquet’s Barrière is a really unique experience that we have enjoyed during every minute while we have been there. It combines the exclusivity of a luxury boutique hotel with the French know how of the Groupe Barrière and a perfect location in the Champs Elysées.
The Fouquet’s Barrière hotel has all the services you could expect from an hotel of this grade with a nice spa, multiple bars and restaurants, a very professional staff and large rooms (especially if you compare to the standards in Paris).
We had a great time at the Fouquet’s Barrière, feeling like exclusive guests in an exclusive place. Above luxury, refinement and top level services, everyone will do their best to make your stay unforgettable.
Historic stairs
