THE FACTS ABOUT HOTEL MEURICE

France Paris

Known as the 'Hotel of Kings' due to its disproportionately regal guest list, the Hotel Meurice reopened last July after a two-year, £45-million makeover. The new look - largely Louis XVI - is opulent without being garish, formal without being intimidating. On the ground floor are the Jardin d'Hiver, a palm-filled tearoom beneath a vast Art Nouveau glass roof, and the elaborate Michelin-starred restaurant. The more club-like Fontainebleau Bar is all dark wood and leather armchairs, offset by a dramatic trompe l'oeil 'sky' ceiling. On the mezzanine, the 'vinotherapie' Caudalie Spa is arranged around a garden courtyard, while the surprisingly spacious bedrooms vary in style according to which floor you are on. For sheer grandeur, the two new presidential suites (one of which has nine rooms) take some beating, but the pièce de résistance is up on the top floor, where the Belle Etoile suite has a 360-degree view of Paris. WHEN TO GO Late spring to early summer, when the Tuileries is in full bloom WHICH ROOM TO BOOK Ask for one of the prestige double rooms on the sixth floor, where the bathrooms overlook the Tuileries. Doubles from FF34,300; prestige doubles from FF4,600; suites from FF7,800 CONTACT Hotel Meurice, 228 rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris (00 33 1 44 58 10 10; fax: 44 58 10 12; email:reservations@meuricehotel.com; www.meuricehotel.com)