Hôtel Lutétia
The Hôtel Lutetia stands in Paris’s Saint-Germain-des-Prés district, where luxury hospitality meets layered architectural history. Its façade presents a clear Art Nouveau design.
Louis-Charles Boileau and Henri Tauzin designed the hotel for the nearby Bon Marché department store. Bon Marché helped establish the hotel in Paris.
The name Lutetia recalls an early pre-Roman town, while the building preserves links to Parisian cultural life. James Joyce wrote part of Ulysses there.
Pablo Picasso and Charles de Gaulle also appear among its notable guests. Its wartime history includes refuge efforts, German military requisition, and service after Paris’s liberation.
The hotel later served as a repatriation centre for prisoners of war and people returning from concentration camps. Sonia Rykiel later guided a redesign that revived its Art Deco character.
A major renovation followed, and the hotel continues to combine accommodation, dining, and architectural character. Its public identity rests on architecture, literature, wartime memory, and hospitality.
Its Left Bank setting connects the building with Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
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