We’d been waiting for this crowning moment since the opening. In September 2021, the Cheval Blanc Paris, 8 quai du Louvre in the 1st arrondissement, quietly opened its doors, as if the address didn’t need to shout its arrival. Behind the Art Deco and Art Nouveau façade of the Samaritaine, fully restored after sixteen years of work and 750 million euros invested by LVMH, a hotel of a new kind was quietly staking its claim on the banks of the Seine. Five years later, in 2026, Atout France officially awards it the Palace label, and it would be hard to argue against.
While grand historic palaces chase volume and monumentality, Cheval Blanc Paris bets on the opposite. Only 72 rooms and suites, all facing the Seine or the rooftops of Paris, each a minimum of 70 m². A deliberately intimate scale, crafted by architect Peter Marino, who shapes spaces that fuse marble, velvet, and contemporary artworks by Tracey Emin or Tony Cragg. Since its opening, the hotel has established itself as a benchmark of contemporary luxury in Paris, straddling museum and private residence, with the Louvre on one side and the Île de la Cité on the other.
If Cheval Blanc Paris has quickly become a talking point well beyond hotel circles, it’s largely thanks to its dining rooms. The Plénitude restaurant began as a standout case in the history of the Michelin Guide: led by chef Arnaud Donckele, already a three‑star chef with La Vague d'Or in Saint-Tropez, it earned 3 Michelin stars in February 2022, just five months after opening. The cuisine centers on sauce—elevated to an art in its own right—these aromatic "Absolues" that elevate every plate, with pastry chef Maxime Frédéric taking charge of the sweet courses. Plénitude opens only for dinner and routinely carries reservations for several months ahead.
On the ground floor, in the space formerly occupied by Limbar, the Hakuba restaurant opened in March 2024 and quickly proved that Cheval Blanc can explore other registers as well. Hakuba, literally meaning "white horse" in Japanese, grew out of a collaboration between the Japanese chef Takuya Watanabe, Arnaud Donckele and Maxime Frédéric. The result is a kaisekI-sushi cuisine where Japanese traditions meet products from the French and Atlantic coasts, served as an omakase menu in a setting designed by Peter Marino, with dark woods and a Tsukubai fountain. By March 2026, Hakuba earned its second Michelin star, a fresh sign of the house's continued rise. A Yume menu is offered in the evening, with a Shunkan menu at lunch.
For a more relaxed experience, Le Tout-Paris sits on the 7th floor, with a 650 m² panoramic terrace offering views of the Seine, Notre-Dame, Montmartre and the Eiffel Tower—ideal for a casual lunch or a contemporary brasserie-style dinner.
It's hard to talk about Cheval Blanc Paris without calling up the Dior Spa Cheval Blanc, a collaboration born of two LVMH maisons and now one of the capital's most coveted wellness refuges. The space is made up of six private treatment suites, including the Bonheur Suite with two massage tables for dual therapies, and the New Look Suite dedicated to the four-handed Rêve Couture ritual. Treatments draw on Dior Prestige products and leverage technologies like cryotherapy and luminotherapy. Since December 2025, the spa also offers the Haute Motherhood program—a bespoke wellness journey designed to support women through pregnancy and motherhood.
Five years after its opening, the Cheval Blanc Paris has shown that a luxury palace can be built differently, without trying to imitate its predecessors. Between the three-Michelin-star Plénitude, the two-Michelin-star Hakuba and a reference Dior Spa, the label Palace 2026 only confirms what many had understood from the very first night spent along the Quai du Louvre: this address operates in a class of its own.
Please note that it's been over 4 years since our last visit, so the place and experience may have changed.
Location
Cheval Blanc Paris
8 Quai du Louvre
75001 Paris 1
Access
M°1 - Louvre-Rivoli
Official website
www.chevalblanc.com
