The InterContinental Paris le Grand is a historic

luxury hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, France, which opened in 1862.

History

Le Grand Hôtel was built by the wealthy brothers Isaac & Émile Pereire and designed by Alfred Armand, who had previously designed the nearby

Grand Hôtel du Louvre Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and comm ...

for them. Construction began in April 1861; the hotel was inaugurated on 5 May 1862 by

Empress Eugenie An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...

, wife of

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A neph ...

, before officially opening on 30 June 1862. The hotel's construction was part of the complete reconstruction of Paris supervised by

Baron Haussmann Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

at the time and it was built in the prescribed style, with a mansard roof. Filling an entire triangular city block, the hotel boasted 800 rooms on four floors for guests, with another whole floor for their servants. The hotel has hosted royalty throughout its long history, including Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexandra,

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

of England and

Queen Rania Rania Al-Abdullah ( ar, رانيا العبد الله, ; born Rania Al-Yassin, 31 August 1970) is Queen of Jordan as the wife of King Abdullah II. Rania was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents. She received her bachelor's degree in busines ...

of Jordan.

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

hosted parties at the Le Grand Hotel and

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

used the hotel for the setting of the death of his tragic character Nana. In 1869,

James Gordon Bennett, Jr. James Gordon Bennett Jr. (May 10, 1841May 14, 1918) was publisher of the ''New York Herald'', founded by his father, James Gordon Bennett Sr. (1795–1872), who emigrated from Scotland. He was generally known as Gordon Bennett to distinguish him ...

, who would soon become publisher of the '' Paris Herald'', forerunner of the ''

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be said ...

'', met with

Henry Morton Stanley Sir Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands; 28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904) was a Welsh-American explorer, journalist, soldier, colonial administrator, author and politician who was famous for his exploration of Central Africa and his sear ...

in the hotel's Imperial Suite to convince him to make his famous journey to Africa in search of

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...

. Creditors of the Péreire brothers seized the hotel in 1878, and in 1887, André Million formed ''Société du Grand Hôtel'' to manage Le Grand Hotel, along with the nearby Hotel Meurice and later the Hotel Prince de Galles. The Italian CIGA Hotels chain acquired the three hotels in 1972. CIGA sold the hotels in 1978 for $25 million to Limnico, a Liberia-based subsidiary of Roger Tamraz's First Arabian Corporation. Limnico resold the properties for $55 million just a year later, in October 1979, to

Maxwell Joseph Sir Maxwell Joseph FRPSL (formerly ''Max'' Joseph) (31 May 1910, London – 22 September 1982, Kensington) was the founder of Grand Metropolitan plc, a large British hotel group. Career Educated at Pitman's Business School,

's UK-based Grand Metropolitan Hotels. Grand Metropolitan acquired the

Inter-Continental Hotels Intercontinental is an adjective to describe something which relates to more than one continent. Intercontinental may also refer to: * Intercontinental ballistic missile, a long-range guided ballistic missile * InterContinental Hotels Group (I ...

chain in 1981, and placed Le Grand Hotel under their management. The hotel was renovated between 1985 and 1990 by noted French designer

Pierre-Yves Rochon Pierre-Yves Rochon (born 1946) is a French interior designer. He has designed luxury hotels and restaurants around the world. Early life Pierre-Yves Rochon was born in 1946. He grew up in Brittany. Career Rochon first worked for designer Michel ...

.http://parislegrand.intercontinental.com/assets/uploads/2017/11/Press-Kit-InterContinental-Paris-Le-Grand.pdf In 1986, the hotel was renamed Le Grand Hotel Inter-Continental Paris. The hotel closed in December 2001 for another major renovation. Inter-Continental Hotels was reorganised as

InterContinental Hotels Group InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), marketed as IHG Hotels & Resorts, is a British multinational hospitality company headquartered in Denham, Buckinghamshire, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the ...

while the hotel was closed, before it reopened on 5 April 2003, with its name modified slightly, as InterContinental Paris Le Grand Hotel. InterContinental sold the hotel to

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

-based Constellation Hotels in 2014 for €330 million, although InterContinental continues to manage the property.

Café de la Paix

The renowned Café de la Paix has been located on the ground floor of the hotel since it opened.

In popular culture

Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a ( né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, tw ...

set much of his 1988 film ''Frantic'', starring

Harrison Ford Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient o ...

, at the hotel. Most interiors were filmed on soundstages, but numerous exterior scenes were filmed outside the hotel.

Notes

External links

* {{Hotels in Paris Hotel buildings completed in 1862 1862 establishments in France Hotels in Paris Luxury hotels Hotels established in 1862 InterContinental hotels Buildings and structures in the 9th arrondissement of Paris