The Ritz Paris, a century of legends
Opened on the Place Vendôme in 1898 by a Swiss hotelier and a chef of genius, the Ritz welcomed Proust, Chanel and Hemingway. The story of a hotel that became a household word.
In English, something luxurious is called ritzy. In French, a lavish meal is “à la Ritz”. Few hotels have given their name to a language. The one on the Place Vendôme has, and it is no accident: for more than a century it has been one of the most recognised symbols of French luxury.
A hotelier and a chef
César Ritz was born in Switzerland, into a modest family in the Valais. He started as an apprentice, then climbed every rung of the hotel trade, eventually running some of the greatest establishments in Europe, including the Savoy in London. Working alongside him was a chef who would revolutionise cooking: Auguste Escoffier.
In 1898, the two men opened their own hotel in a mansion on the Place Vendôme in Paris. Ritz applied his ideas there, revolutionary at the time: a bathroom in many of the rooms, electric lighting, discreet and impeccable service, and décor that made guests feel they were being received in a private residence rather than a hotel.
The regulars
Marcel Proust often dined there, late at night, observing the society that would people In Search of Lost Time. Between the wars, the Ritz became the meeting place of the European aristocracy, American writers and the great couturiers.
Gabrielle Chanel moved in at the end of the 1930s and lived there for more than thirty years, in a suite overlooking the Place Vendôme, a stone’s throw from her house on the rue Cambon. She died there in 1971. A suite now bears her name.
Ernest Hemingway, a loyal guest, claimed to have entered the Ritz in August 1944, at the Liberation of Paris, to “liberate” the bar. It is no doubt partly a legend he cultivated himself. The bar nonetheless bears his name today, and it is one of the most famous in the world.
A rebirth
In 2012, the Ritz closed its doors for works on an unprecedented scale. They lasted nearly four years. The hotel reopened in 2016, entirely renovated but faithful to its spirit: panelling, gilding, Louis XV salons, an inner garden. Regulars found the Hemingway Bar again, the gallery running through the hotel from the Place Vendôme to the rue Cambon, and the cookery school named after Escoffier.
Going without staying
You do not need to book a room to discover the Ritz. You can take tea in the salon, have a cocktail at the Hemingway Bar or the Ritz Bar, or take a class at the Ritz Escoffier school. Smart dress is expected, and booking is advised, particularly for the Hemingway Bar, which is small and much sought after.
A grand hotel is not a place where you sleep. It is a place you remember.
