The Westin Paris – Vendôme

(Redirected from Hôtel Continental)

The Westin Paris – Vendôme is a historic hotel in Paris, France at 3 rue de Castiglione on the corner of the rue de Rivoli, facing the Tuileries Garden.

The Westin Paris - Vendôme
The hotel in 2005, before it was renamed The Westin
The Westin Paris – Vendôme is located in Paris
The Westin Paris – Vendôme
Location within Paris
General information
Location3, Rue de Castiglione, Paris, France
Coordinates48°52′15″N 2°19′51″E / 48.87083°N 2.33083°E / 48.87083; 2.33083
OpeningApril 1878
OwnerDubai Holding
ManagementWestin Hotels
Technical details
Floor count5
Other information
Number of rooms440
Number of restaurants2

History

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The hotel opened on June 6, 1878, as the Hôtel Continental,[1] It was designed by Charles Garnier's son-in-law Henri Blondel[2] and was intended to be the most luxurious hotel in Paris at the time. It occupied a full block, the former premises of the Ministry of Finance, (burned in 1871) which had been designed by François-Hippolyte Destailleur in 1817, following the Bourbon Restoration.[3] During the first World War the hotel was used as a military hospital by the French.[4] The Hôtel Continental remained the largest hotel in Paris for decades; the Russian Grand Dukes habitually stayed there;[5] at the Liberation of Paris, bedsheets were hung from its windows as cheerful flags of surrender.[6] The hotel was renamed the Inter-Continental Paris in 1969, and then became The Westin Paris in 2005, adding the suffix Vendôme to its name in 2010.

The hotel was sold by Singapore-based sovereign wealth fund GIC to London-based Henderson Park Capital in 2017[7] for €550 million.[8] The new owners announced that the hotel would be renovated at a cost of $350 million by designer Tristan Auer and would become part of Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts in 2022.[9] The renovation and reflagging did not happen. In 2018, Dubai Holding, the personal investment portfolio of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, bought a minority stake in the hotel.[10] Henderson Park put the hotel up for sale in February 2022, for €800 million.[11] However, in March 2023, Dubai Holding bought out Henderson Park's controlling stake in the hotel for €650 million. It was announced that the hotel would remain under Westin management at least through the 2024 Paris Olympics.[12]

 
Hôtel Continental, on the left, in 1900
 
A ballroom in The Westin
 
Share of the L'Hôtel Continental S. A., issued 31. October 1925

Notes

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  1. ^ Karl Baedeker, Paris and Its Environs, 1878.
  2. ^ "Henri Blondel (1832-97), son-in-law of Charles Garnier" (Elaine Denby, Grand Hotels: Reality and Illusion (1998:85).
  3. ^ see note) Archived 2006-11-26 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ^ "Belonging and Betrayal", Gervase Vernon, Amazon, 2013
  5. ^ Notes by Lord Hardinge.
  6. ^ Vintage photo Archived 2008-02-13 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Henderson Park buys second Paris hotel property". 28 December 2017.
  8. ^ "Henderson Park acquires iconic Westin Paris-Vendome | Experience".
  9. ^ "How Jose Silva is Cooking up a Plan to Make Jumeirah a Culinary Destination for Luxury Travelers". Forbes.
  10. ^ "Dubai Holding buys out the Westin Paris - Vendôme - Hotelier Middle East". Hotelier Middle East. March 2023.
  11. ^ "Henderson Park Test the Market for High End Hotels by Putting the Westin Paris up for Sale at €800m". 7 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Dubai Holding buys out the Westin Paris - Vendôme - Hotelier Middle East". Hotelier Middle East. March 2023.
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