Luxury Hotels Atlas / Places / France / Paris / The Peninsula Paris
The Peninsula Paris
Paris, France · Peninsula · Apex Luxury
The site was originally a palace built in 1864 where Queen Isabella II of Spain abdicated; it became the Hotel Majestic in 1908, serving as a WWI hospital, WWII German HQ involved in Holocaust planning, post-war UNESCO HQ, and site of peace accords including Paris Peace Accords (1973). The property holds Two MICHELIN Keys.
- 200 rooms
- Opened 2014
- Neighborhood: 16th arrondissement
- Architect: Armand Sibien; Richard Martinet; Affine Design
- Interiors: Henry Leung; Chhada Siembieda Leung
About The Peninsula Paris
- The site's original 1864 palace was where Queen Isabella II of Spain lived in exile after abdicating the Spanish throne.
- It became the Hotel Majestic in 1908, later serving as a WWI hospital and, during WWII, as a German headquarters involved in Holocaust planning.
- The building hosted the Paris Peace Accords in 1973 and later served as UNESCO headquarters after the war.
- Sold to Qatari Diar in 2008, it was restored for 338 million euros and reopened as The Peninsula Paris in 2014.
History
In 1864 Russian nobleman Alexander Basilewski built a palace at 19 avenue du Roi de Rome (now Avenue Kléber), designed by Clément Parent, in Haussmann's new west of Paris. In 1868 the Duke of Sesto bought it for exiled Queen Isabella II of Spain and named it Palacio Castilla. Tradition and later histories place her abdication of 20 June 1870 in this house before a Spanish assembly in Paris. She died in 1904; hotelier Léonard Tauber then demolished the mansion.
Architect Armand Sibien's Hôtel Majestic rose from 1906 and opened in December 1908. In 1914 Henry Devenish Harben took it as a military hospital for five months. It reopened after the war. In 1922 Sydney and Violet Schiff held a dinner here whose guests included Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Diaghilev, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Proust, and James Joyce. George Gershwin wrote An American in Paris while staying in 1928. David Ogilvy worked in the kitchens in 1931-32 after leaving Oxford. The French state bought the building in 1936 for the Ministry of War. From 1940 to 1944 it served as German military headquarters in France; fighting in August 1944 preceded the German surrender at the Liberation.
UNESCO's first headquarters occupied the Majestic from 16 September 1946 until 1958, after which it became a Quai d'Orsay conference centre. The OECD was founded here in 1960. The Paris Peace Accords ending U.S. combat in Vietnam were signed on 27 January 1973 (today's Bar Kléber). The 1991 Paris agreements on Cambodia were signed on 23 October 1991. Katara Hospitality (Qatari Diar) bought the building in 2007-08. After a restoration reported at 338 million euros the house reopened on 1 August 2014 as The Peninsula Paris, the brand's first European hotel.
The setting
The Peninsula Paris occupies 19 Avenue Kléber in the 16th arrondissement, one of the twelve grand avenues radiating from the Place de l'Étoile — eight minutes on foot from the Arc de Triomphe. Avenue Kléber runs southeast from the Étoile toward the Trocadéro, threading through the western 16th's serene residential fabric of Haussmannian stone buildings and private embassies. The Palais de Chaillot and the Trocadéro esplanade — offering the finest frontal view of the Eiffel Tower in the city — lie a short promenade south, and the Champs-Élysées and Golden Triangle's couture houses are immediately accessible via the Étoile from this prestige stretch of the 16th. 7-minute walk to Arc de Triomphe.
Restaurants and bars
- L’Oiseau Blanc — Restaurant · Two MICHELIN Stars
- LiLi — Restaurant · Cantonese
- Le Lobby — Restaurant
Amenities
- indoor pool
- spa
- fitness
- Jacuzzis
- sauna
- steam room
- concierge
- valet parking
- Cigar lounge
- Fine dining
- Pet-friendly
Awards
- Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star (2026)
- MICHELIN Two Keys (2026)
- Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star (2017)
- Two MICHELIN Keys
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