Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Grand Hotel, today InterContinental Paris Le Grand, is a luxury hotel built between 1861 and 1862 in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, near the Opéra Garnier. Funded by the Pereire brothers, it was inaugurated in 1862 by Empress Eugénie and soon became an emblematic place of Parisian artistic and social life, welcoming writers, musicians and influential personalities.

Designed by architect Alfred Armand, the Grand Hotel embodies the urban transformations of the Second Empire, with rational architecture and modern equipment for the time, such as electric lighting. Its Peace Café, integrated from the beginning, became an essential meeting place for artists and intellectuals, while the hotel itself symbolized the prestige of the Opera district.

Ranked five stars in 2017 and listed as historical monuments since 1975, the Grand Hotel has undergone several renovations to preserve its Second Empire style. There remains a major testimony of Haussmannian urban planning and the golden age of Parisian palaces, mixing history, luxury and innovation.

The hotel was also a gathering place for historical events, such as the 1918 victory celebrations or the 1919 Pan-African Congress. Its Café de la Paix, renovated in 2003, retains its status as a mythical place, frequented by figures such as Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust or Marlene Dietrich.

Sold in 2014 to the Qatari Constellation group for 330 million euros, the Grand Hotel continues to combine tradition and modernity, with rooms decorated on the themes of opera and music, and spaces preserving the original classified decorations.

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