Photo © David Grimbert / Leonardo.
Paris could wait until after dinner. We had come to Hôtel Raphael from a demanding equestrian endurance holiday in Burgundy, with rather more enthusiasm for an armchair than another expedition. For the last part of our trip, we had chosen the Paris of classical interiors and Eiffel Tower views. The Raphael delivered. On our first evening, we ordered dinner to the room.
It was a good hotel in which to give up being energetic. Staying in felt entirely compatible with being in Paris; we had chosen a place whose interiors were part of the reason to come.
An old Paris address
The Raphael opened in 1925, just south of the Arc de Triomphe, and belongs to the Baverez family’s collection of Paris hotels. Its appeal has always depended on what it has kept. The antique furniture and painted decoration give a room something to look at after the first impression has passed. This was precisely the kind of classical Paris we wanted.
The elaborate setting also had a practical virtue: our room gave us a proper place to sit. After Burgundy, that mattered considerably more than whether the hotel was fashionable. There was room to spend an evening indoors without treating the bed as the only destination.
A handwritten welcome from the executive manager set the same tone. I like the formality of a letter in a hotel room: the small courtesy of someone putting pen to paper when a printed card would have done.
Cinema has found plenty to work with here. Wes Anderson used the Raphael for Hotel Chevalier, the 2007 short that precedes The Darjeeling Limited. In M Le magazine du Monde, Clément Ghys places the hotel within that cinematic idea of Paris: a private refuge, with the city just beyond the window. The connection suits it. These are interiors that can carry a story without needing to be explained.
Choose the view as carefully as the room
For us, the Eiffel Tower was part of the brief. It is worth being equally specific when choosing a room. A Paris address and a photograph of the skyline do not guarantee that skyline from every bedroom.
The hotel’s suite collection distinguished between street views, Eiffel Tower views and views of the Arc de Triomphe. The Eiffel Tower Terrace Suite and Baverez Suite paired the tower with private outdoor space; the Parisian Suite offered a terrace and views of both monuments. Those distinctions are more useful than choosing by the word “suite” alone. Ask which outlook belongs to the actual room offered, and whether the terrace is private.
The rooftop garden gave the hotel a second scale: rooms enclosed by decoration below, Paris opening out above. The terrace was seasonal and weather-dependent, and could be reserved for private events. A room with its own view is the more dependable choice if that is what brings you here.
Dinner without going out
Our first dinner was room service because we were tired. There was no more elaborate explanation, and no need for one. An endurance riding holiday had already supplied the effort; our Paris hotel was allowed to supply the ease. We could have gone in search of a restaurant. We were very happy to let dinner come to us.
That is one of the pleasures of choosing a room you actually want to inhabit. We had paid attention to the interiors when choosing the hotel; now we had the leisure to enjoy them.
The hotel’s restaurant reputation deserves to be considered separately from its looks. In her 2021 rooftop review for Le Monde, Marie Aline admired the setting but criticised the lobster Caesar salad, reserving her enthusiasm for Pierre Hermé’s dessert. It is a useful reminder to choose the Raphael for its particular character and judge each dining experience on its own merits.
Beyond avenue Kléber
The address puts the Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Élysées close at hand, while Kléber métro station, on line 6, is outside the hotel. South of the hotel, on place d’Iéna, the Musée Guimet’s Asian collections offer a substantial reason to leave the room; continuing along avenue du Président Wilson brings you to the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris and Raoul Dufy’s immense La Fée Électricité. Its permanent collections are free.
The address is 17 avenue Kléber, in the 16th arrondissement. There is plenty here to fill the time between the obvious monuments.
After days in the saddle, I was quite content to let Paris come with room service.