Mandarin Oriental, Paris brings Asian hospitality to France

Mandarin Oriental, Paris is a bastion of luxury hospitality in the City of Light but what really sets it apart is its service, which echoes that of its Asian flagship in Hong Kong. Zaneta Cheng takes it all in 

We arrive at Mandarin Oriental, Paris at the tail end of two weeks in France to spend our last few days in Paris before a final flight home to Hong Kong. Most of the properties we’ve stayed at have been distinctly “French” but as our luggage glides through the marble lobby of the Parisian outpost of Hong Kong’s grande dame hotel, it feels like a homecoming. 

It’s not because the interiors or any of the furnishings resemble the mothership. Butterflies feature heavily in the décor across the lobby as part of interior designer Sybille de Margerie’s vision to bring their delicate beauty into the hotel’s public spaces. Camellias are another motif that form the design language of the Parisian outpost. On the surface, the hotel is a modern expression of European design. 

It’s the engine that oils the machine that sings here. What is reminiscent of home is the efficiency of service. None of the less desirable stereotypes of French service apply at the Mandarin Oriental, Paris. We’re asked to put our things down and take a seat on the plush sofas opposite the check-in desks, where tea and biscuits are served as salve for the long journey in from Charles de Gaulle airport. In the wake of the Olympics and at the cusp of the start of the Paralympics, the city is still heaving with athletes, tourists and all the accompanying furore surrounding the events. It doesn’t faze the hotel staff at all. We’re quickly escorted to our room down the narrow halls of the 1930s art deco building that architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte redesigned for the hotel. The halls are winding and the property is vast, with 138 rooms and suites, some of which are only accessible by certain lifts in certain corners of the property. Alongside the rooms, Wilmotte has fit three restaurants – Sur Mesure par Thierry Marx, Camélia, L’Honoré – and a bar called Bar 8 as well as a spa. 

There are no numbered plaques on the room doors. The only indication of each room is on the carpet, where the number is encircled by the hotel’s butterfly motif. Upon entering, there’s a small sense that we’re sliding a little bit closer to home. Despite the historic nature of the building in which Mandarin Oriental, Paris is housed, the rooms bear no indication of this. 

Instead, the hallway opens to a sunny room facing the hotel’s courtyard restaurant. There’s greenery on balconies and in the courtyard, which gives the feeling that we’re overlooking our own Parisian garden. A walnut walk-in closet leads to the corridor and the bathroom, ready to neatly house our items. There are ports and plugs in all the right places, and a spotless open bathroom with a bathtub and walk-in shower that satisfies the standards of Asian hospitality. 

A bellhop arrives just as we pop the bottle of Louis Roederer on the coffee table and sets up the luggage racks. He lays the suitcases vertically, with wheel side facing away, ready and perfect for unzipping and laying flat with zero fuss because “otherwise the wheels will dirty the clothing and you wouldn’t be able to open the suitcase without turning it around again”, he says when we remark that nobody knows to lay luggage out this way. It’s all in the small things. 

After finishing our champagne and a quick hop in the shower, we head down to Camélia, refreshed and smelling of Diptyque body lotion, for dinner. The restaurant, located in the hotel courtyard, is decked out with foliage, umbrellas and tables in the round – perfect for cosy outdoor meals in all seasons. Serving modern French fare, the kitchen marries fresh seasonal produce with an Asian twist. Think carbonara udon noodles or steamed cod with French beans, cockles and curry. Our sea bass ceviche is garnished with buckwheat seeds and the langoustine comes with light quenelles – satiating but not decimating. 

An unexpected gem in the repertoire of the restaurant is the wine list. One would expect a hotel of such calibre to already have an extensive collection but the enthusiasm of Camélia’s sommelier spoke to both the cruder and more refined wine drinker between us. Amidst polishing off a red and a white, conversation flowed about Burgundy and vintages. Lesser-known facts about the maker, her plots and her style were bandied about, solidifying this meal at the hotel’s all-day dining restaurant as a culinary highlight. 

What solidifies the hotel as a hospitality highlight, meanwhile, is the way the concierge masterfully holds on to a different restaurant reservation on the final night of our stay. On our initial arrival and at rather short notice, we had asked the concierge to see if the restaurant could hold a particular bottle of wine. Initially unsure of the availability of the bottle, the concierge shared regular updates throughout our stay until ultimately notifying us that it had been secured. 

Finally, on the day of the reservation, we are advised to walk the 25 minutes to the restaurant on the Left Bank due to the Paralympics opening ceremony and anticipated traffic. As we walk past one, two, three and then 10 roads that are blocked, what was half an hour becomes a one-and-a-half-hour journey that will almost certainly result in an automatic forfeit of our reservation. But after a call to the concierge, both our deposit and table are rescued and we can enjoy our much-anticipated wine despite being over an hour late. 

The next morning, after breakfast at Camélia, our taxi is ready and waiting for us, in anticipation of both road closures and traffic. Our luggage is whisked into the car with us and as we wave goodbye, we’re reminded once again why Mandarin Oriental, Paris feels like home – or at least our idealised version of it. It’s not the name, the well-appointed rooms, the enticing cuisine or even the endless flow of fine wine but the feeling that we are being truly and genuinely cared for. 

Also see: Kowloon Shangri-La: Shang Palace launches new menu of Cantonese classics