paris hotels

Le Meurice: Can a Luxury Paris Hotel Be Surreal?

Of all the art movements to use as inspiration in hotel décor, I'm not sure surrealism would be my first choice. (If I woke up in the morning to the sight of a melting alarm clock, I think I'd summon an ambulance.) So although I'd long known that the artist Salvador Dalí had been a design inspiration during Philippe Starck's renovation of Le Meurice, Paris' most venerable palace hotel, the whole proposition sounded somewhat dubious.

After all, surrealism is about thought unhampered by reason. And I like a luxury hotel that is, at the least, reasonable in its décor if not in price.

What's more, "reasonable" would not be the first adjective associated with Dalí, as a guest of Le Meurice. In his month-long annual stays, he requested a herd of sheep and then proceeded to shoot them with his pistol -- blank bullets, otherwise what a mess. He also requested a horse for reasons unrecorded in hotel history. And freshly caught flies, from the handily placed Tuileries Garden across the street.

Tags: Dali, Luxury Hotels, Paris, Paris Hotels, Paris Travel, Phillipe Starck

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Major Monet Exhibit Set To Open In Paris

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Art

As plenty of art auctions and museum shows have proven, The work of Impressionist Claude Monet remains wildly popular. The Galeries nationales du Grand Palais in Paris is hosting the largest Monet retrospective in Paris for thirty years from September 22, 2010 – January 14, 2011. The exhibit will feature around 200 pieces including both famous works and little known paintings. If you are looking for a place to stay while at the shows, Concorde Hotels & Resorts is hosting a special program at its six Parisian properties. The six properties are the Hotel Lutetia, Hotel du Louvre, Hotel Concorde La Fayette, Concorde Opéra Paris, Hotel Concorde Montparnasse and Hotel de Crillon which offers the stunning view shown at right. The Monet Exhibition Package starts at $245 per night and includes two priority tickets for the exhibition at Grand Palais, accommodations for two, early check-in and late check-out and buffet breakfast for two daily.

Tags: claude monet, concorde hotels, hotel deals, monet, paris hotels