Simply Abu Dhabi XXXIV

I n 2012 The Ritz Paris announced a two-year renovation. The Ritz Paris would close its gilded doors for a facelift. After an additional two years of work and most catastrophic setbacks, the hotel finally reopened, even better and brighter than ever. The exquisite façade with elongated covered windowpanes as a mere teaser of what lies beyond the golden doors. Showing off uniquely generous proportions, inimitable atmosphere and historic artworks the Ritz Paris surely is the refinement of the French art de vivre meets the elegance of Belle Époque décor, where the hotel’s rooms and suites bear the names of the highly affluent former guests. Rich history The lavish, opulent Ritz—near the Louvre museum and Tuileries gardens—has maintained its stature as one of Paris’s leading hotels. It is safe to say there is probably not one hotel with such a rich history; Coco Chanel lived on the second floor of the hotel on the famous Place de la Vendome in the Parisian capital, calling the Ritz her home for over 30 years. Coco Chanel once declared: “The Ritz is my home.” Although she had a luxurious apartment above her shop across the street, still there at 31 rue Cambon, she moved to the Ritz in 1937 making suite No. 302 her own. She was intimately linked to the Ritz Paris and she decorated her suite herself. In her world, luxury is all grace and refinement, a reflection of her love for Asian lacquer, gilded mirrors and the pairing of black with white. The Ritz Paris became her home and until this day a 188sqm suite (No. 202, a level lower than her favourite suite) bears her name— the lower level provides a better view of Place Vendôme and its famous column. It’s a stunning scene, one that inspired the octagonal cap on Chanel’s first perfume, Chanel No. 5.