Hotel La Trémoille

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Hotel La Trémoille
Hôtel La Trémoille is the most luxurious historical monument you’ll ever visit.  Located just off the Champs-Elysée in the ‘golden triangle’ of the chic eighth arrondissement, this 93-room, four-star deluxe hotel/restaurant/bar/beauty salon is what happens when historical elegance meets modern grace.  No wonder bigwigs like Johnny Depp, Sean Connery, Duke Ellington, and Richard Gere are among La Trémoille’s roster of clients.  The building façade should give you a clue.  The hotel has been perfectly restored to its original Haussmannian style (and officially named a historical monument); the wrought-iron balconies of the past mixed with delicate contemporary brass detailing reflect the hotel’s theme of timeless sophistication.  Pull yourself away from the surrounding stores on Avenue Montaigne and let the black-clad doorman lead you into the lobby, where suit-sporting businessmen read newspapers in wide leather chairs while eager tourists pour over guidebooks with the multi-lingual concierge.  Breathe in, take a moment to absorb the marble columns, magnificent staircase, and the glass-on-glass relief piece at the check-in desk and you’ll find yourself staring directly at the textbook definition of a luxury hotel.   Space, style, and detail are the key points of La Trémoille.  From the lighting to staff uniforms to the silverware, every feature, every tiny, seemingly insignificant aspect of the hotel has been carefully planned to accommodate any kind of traveler.  Each element has been so deliberately selected that it ceases to be just a room, just a decoration, just a staff member.  Instead it becomes a tiny reminder of how important your stay is at La Trémoille.  Here, guests don’t just check in.  Please!  These days, that’s soooo two-star.  Instead, visiting patrons are keyed into a computer database that’s linked to the room they’ll call home for the duration of their stay.  Upon entry to the room, guests turning on the TV will find a personalized welcome message.  Unlike your typical cookie-cutter lodge, the concierge doesn’t just provide reservations.  Instead, he can do everything from booking plane or train reservations to providing electrical adapters to finding a babysitter if you’re looking for a night out.  If you’re truly knackered after your trip, send your luggage up with the bell boy and spend a moment perusing the English-language reading material in the lobby (updated copies of ParisWhere Magazine, USAToday, and Business Week are always on-hand) before making your way up to the room.  Once you’re well rested, pass the fresh orchids and gold-framed portraits that adorn the lobby and head for the central staircase.  Although the hotel comes, of course, with elevators, you won’t want to miss feeling like royalty as you ascend the blue carpet, framed by gold banisters, of the stairs.  Rooms at Hôtel La Trémoille come in one of five varieties: standard, superior, deluxe, junior suite, and deluxe suite.  What all rooms have in common is that they’re enormous, they’re lavish, and they come stocked with any amenity you could ever need.  Following 31 different design themes, each room is creative, tasteful, and completely different than the one next door.  I entered my standard room, one of 23 available in the Hôtel, in complete darkness.  Unable to find the light switch, I took a moment to remember that nothing at La Trémoille is average.  Eventually finding the light button (which makes overhead lamps softly fade in to create the mood of your choice), I was immediately convinced that this room could not be the bottom of La Trémoille’s barrel. It looked more like a luxury studio than a single bedroom, and I was bowled over by the sheer size of the room.  A king-sized bed, loveseat, AND a desk?  This was bigger than my apartment!  All rooms come with an entertainment center equipped with flat-screen TV (with cable, English-language stations BBC and CNN, four music-only channels, and eight channels of pay per view Video on Demand in case you’re in the mood for a movie after a long day at Dolce and Gabbana), a DVD/CD player, safe, and a minibar stocked with everything from half-bottles of wine to instant cameras.  Not one but two closets with satin clothes hangers await your new designer purchases, while the in-room trouser press (or hotel laundry service) can spiff up your old ones.  For the cyber-savvy, the high-speed internet can be accessed through the hotel’s Wifi connection, the laptop port in each room, or, for those without portable computers, through the TV using a wireless keyboard provided by the front desk.  Since rooms all have at least two phones (including one in the bathroom), you’ll never feel stranded or out of touch with home.  On a more tactile note, you can’t help but notice how very touchable the room is.  Fur bedspreads, down pillows, Nobilis silks, all in earthy browns and creams, make the room as soft as it is stylish. Before stepping into the bathroom for the first time, take a moment to pop in your favorite CD.  The minute you step in, you’ll notice the intercom system pumping tunes directly to you.  With black marble counters, hand-woven baskets, and six kinds of bath and shower gel (all provided by UK beauty giant Molton Brown) make the bathroom as comfortable as the room.  All rooms have windows, and some even come with balconies and spectacular views of typical Paris rooftops and the Eiffel Tower.   Before you go out, don’t forget to leave your dress shoes in your personal silent butler.  “The Hatch” is a small closet with keyed hall access by hotel staff.  Designed to provide you with complete privacy, the hatch allows you to receive in-room meals, get your shoes shined, or receive laundry without being disturbed by hotel personnel.  The 14 Deluxe rooms are larger and include a separate foyer between the bathroom and bedroom.  Unlike standard rooms, the deluxe bathrooms contain a…
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