The Hôtel de Crillon in Paris is one of the oldest luxury hotels in the world. It is located at the foot of the Champs-Élysées at No. 10 on the north end of Place de la Concorde.

The Hôtel de Crillon's public salons are filled with 17th and 18th century tapestries, chandeliers, gilt-and-brocade furniture, fine pieces of sculpture, and Louis XVI chests and chairs. Its Leonard Bernstein suite, on the top floor with a wrap-around terrace that provides a view of Paris, also contains one of the maestro's pianos.

History

The five-star hotel, with 103 guest rooms and 44 suites, occupies one of two identical stone buildings, divided by the rue Royale, that were constructed in 1758 under the auspices of architect Louis François Trouard as a result of a commission from King Louis XV. Initially, both structures were built to serve as government offices and the eastern one continues to this day as Headquarters of the Royale, the French Navy. However, the western building was made into a luxury hotel and was soon frequented by Queen Marie Antoinette and her elite friends. She took piano lessons there.

In 1788, François-Félix-Dorothee Berton des Balbes, the Count of Crillon, acquired the hotel, only to have it confiscated shortly thereafter by the government of the French Revolution. It was eventually returned to the Count of Crillon's family who ran it until 1907 at which time it underwent a two-year-long refurbishing by the Société du Louvre under the supervision of architect Gabriel-Hippolyte Destailleur. Today, through the Concorde Hotels Group, the Crillon is still part of the Société du Louvre whose shares are listed on the Paris Stock Exchange and is controlled by the Taittinger family holding company. The hotel is run by Anne-Claire Taittinger, Chairperson of the Management Board.

American General John J. Pershing stayed at the hotel, as did Assistant Secretary of the United States Navy, Franklin Delano Roosevelt during his inspection tour in 1918. A year later, during the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, President Woodrow Wilson and the entire American delegation stayed at the Crillon. A salon was set up with telephone switchboards run by the famous bilingual American "Hello Girls." A little more than twenty years later, the hotel would be occupied by the German high command during the World War II occupation of France. Other American Presidents who called the Crillon a temporary home were Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover and Richard Nixon. The hotel famously features in the opening scenes of Nobel laureate Saul Bellow's critically acclaimed novel, Ravelstein.

Debutante Ball

Each year, the Hôtel de Crillon holds the annual Bal des Débutantes (Debutante Ball) for the benefit of a charity. Paloma Urquijo Zobel and Maria Zobel de Ayala y Anderson have appeared at the ball.