Hôtel Fouquet’s Barrière

By Mary Scoviak, Design Editor -- Hotels, 6/1/2007

In Paris, 99, avenue des Champs Elysées is one of those mythical addresses. It has been home to the legendary Le Fouquet’s restaurant since ambitious Parisian café owner Louis Fouquet introduced his grand cuisine in the French capital in 1898. A century’s worth of star-status patrons from the beau monde to the jet set earned this glamorous dining establishment Paris’ coveted landmark status in 1990. But it was the combination of location, reputation and the upside of surrounding real estate that gave it a chance at a new life for its second hundred years. Dominique Desseigne, chairman of the board of the family owned Lucien Barrière Group, spent the last eight years and a half-billion dollars acquiring, restoring, converting and combining the five Belle Epoque buildings wrapped around the restaurant into Paris’ chicest new 5-star, Hôtel Fouquet’s Barrière.

Only the seventh palace hotel in the City of Light—and the first to open since the George V (now the Four Seasons George V) made its debut in 1928, the 107-room, seven-month-old Hôtel Fouquet’s Barrière combines the best of fin de siécle elegance with “jaw-dropping” modern touches. French architect Edouard François “gives rhythm” to the façades, unifying them into a Haussman style despite their historic diversity, and creating a new entrance for the hotel on the avenue George V. For the interiors, Parisian über-designer Jacques Garcia shakes up guest expectations with spaces that combine Zen minimalism with Louis XV, and Egyptian touches with accents inspired by a Normandy château. Marble and gilt work alongside velvet and leather in a way that says “ultra-luxury” without saying “ostentation.”

Challenging Conversion

However much history has to be respected, Eric Boonstoppel, general manager, cautions against slavish preservation. “The goal was to avoid the ‘museum hotel’ look,” he says. “We wanted to have all of the advantages of a place loaded with history without the inconveniences.”

François, whose work can be seen from New York’s Guggenheim Museum to Paris’ Centre Pompidou museum, supported historical style with futuristic innovation. An original method of construction using concrete resin made it possible to insert modern, double-glazed windows. The fact that this conversion is rooted in the early 21st century, not the late 19th, allowed for cutting-edge technology that many historic hotels still have on their wish lists—from digital technology to WIFI, voice over Internet protocol, waterproof remote controls, video conferencing, cutting-edge acoustics and atmospheric lighting, Boonstoppel points out.

Room size was pushed out 30% to 40% beyond the competition’s average to broaden both reach and capture. “Most historical palace hotels were planned at a time when clients needed a suite for themselves and small rooms for their domestic staff. The size of our rooms is a point of differentiation,” Boonstoppel says. With their sleek furniture, sheer linen and fine silk bedding, flat-screen televisions concealed in walls and mirrors and bathtubs with Jacuzzis, these guestrooms resonate with guests looking for modern comforts in an historic context. Luxury like this comes with a price: just over US$1,000 (€750) a night. Apparently, with first-year occupancy on target at 65%, the difference is worth it.

Creative Solutions

As with any conversion, these historic spaces require creativity to maximize performance. The smallish size of the hotel and its spaces preclude access to large group events. Boonstoppel and his sales team focus on exclusivity instead. The terrace, the boardroom and two private VIP lounges do double duty for small, high-end functions and meetings. The result has been a good mix of corporate and leisure business.

Choice is a vital component in space and concept planning. A “secret” door leads to the iconic Le Fouquet’s, which remains the cornerstone of the hotel. The design team optimized spaces “protected” from the hotel to create Le Diane, with its light cuisine and refined, pale colors, and La Galerie Joy, which leads to a winter garden and open-air terrace that serves afternoon tea as well as late night cocktails. “Even with our bars, we opted to have one historical bar on the crowded, busy Champs Elysées side and a trendy, cozy lounge on the inner courtyard. It is all about building a specific, unique experience— about moving into the future without leaving the past behind,” Boonstoppel says.