Travel: Hotel Le Meurice, Paris

Perhaps the most beautiful character in Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen’s new film, which opens this weekend, is not Carla Bruni, the First Lady of France, but Le Meurice, the French capital’s original palace hotel. Cinemagoers may find it as hard to see past the sumptuous interiors and breathtaking views as guests often find it to leave. For when the director was looking for a five-star hotel in which his lead character, Gil, an American writer played by Owen Wilson, would stay, it was almost impossible to consider an alternative to the 176-year-old establishment adored by everyone from Queen Victoria to Salvador Dali.

For more than 30 years, the Spanish surrealist took a suite of rooms each December and would attempt to faze the staff with his outrageous requests. One year he asked for a sheep to be brought to his room, which he then “shot” with a pistol loaded with blanks. The next year staff were asked for flies from the Tuileries Garden, which the hotel faces, and paid five francs per insect. On departure his tip was a quick, and exceedingly valuable, doodle.

Today the spirit of Dali lives on in this magical place, dedicated to the art of living well. When Philippe Starck was invited to assist in a redesign, he created the Leda chairs whose moulded legs end in high heels.

Last year my wife and I spent a night at Le Meurice and, like Gil in Allen’s film, we were beguiled and bewitched by the beauty of Paris. Unlike Gil, we didn’t slip back in time to find ourselves in conversation with Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso, but we did spot Julianne Moore in the lobby and accosted Chanel head honcho Karl Lagerfeld (we’ll get to that in a moment).

Since 1835, Le Meurice has graced the Rue de Rivoli, opposite the Tuileries Garden and close to the city’s most elegant boutiques and addresses. For generations it has been popular with the British on account of its staff, who are fluent in English. William Makepeace Thackeray once wrote that any visitor to Paris who wanted comfort and clean rooms should, upon arrival “with your best British accent cry heartily: ‘Meurice!’ and immediately, someone will come forward to drive you straight to the Rue de Rivoli.” While the Louvre is just a five-minute walk along the road and the Eiffel Tower can be seen in all its winter illumination from the windows of each opulent guestroom, visitors would be advised to get their money’s worth and enjoy the hotel’s own exquisite attractions.

Sadly, the Belle Etoile royal suite was occupied, so we missed out on a tour of its panorama-viewed 300 square-metre roof terrace, the setting for a wine-tasting scene in the new film. But once we had marvelled at the marquetry and white marble of our bedroom, we headed downstairs to inspect Restaurant Le Meurice, considered one of the most beautiful rooms in the world. Although closed, I was allowed in to spend a few minutes among the starched napery, crystal chandeliers, marble fireplaces and ice sculptures in this temple of gastronomy where Yannick Alleno, who is just 40, has earned three Michelin stars.

Personally, I’m a hamburger kind of guy, which is just as well as, according to the New York Times, the burgers at the hotel’s other eaterie, Restaurant Le Dali, are not to be missed. It was the perfect vantage point from which to watch chic Parisians come and go. Afterwards we retired to the hotel’s Bar Fontainebleau, and sank into blood-red leather chairs. If you wish, the concierge will provide you with a Le Meurice bicycle in pistachio green with cherry red satchels or, if you prefer, the hotel’s scooter. We preferred to walk, which is how we spotted Karl Lagerfeld leaving the book shop next door. I asked if Lori could have her picture taken with him, and he was politeness itself, his composure wavering only slightly as I struggled to get the camera to work. To Lori, “Could he please be so kind, to hurry. Ze people are gathering.”

In Midnight in Paris, Owen Wilson steps back in time, but guests at Le Meurice will be happy to visit the present incarnation of a hotel which represents France at its finest and most refined.

THE FACTS

Hotel Le Meurice, 228 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris, France, tel: 00 33 1 44 58 10 10, www.lemeurice.com The hotel is currently running a special offer, that includes an American breakfast at the three Michelin-starred Restaurant Le Meurice, from e600 (£515) per night, based on two people sharing a double room. Cities Direct offers short breaks to Paris, by rail or air from Scotland, from £169pp, www.citiesdirect.co.uk/scotsman