T+L’s Lodge Assessment of Sax Paris, LXR Motels & Resorts

Over the previous few years main as much as the Paris Summer season Olympics, the French capital skilled a constructing increase as among the largest names within the luxurious world (Bulgari, Cheval Blanc) moved into the Rive Droite’s Golden Triangle and close to the Louvre.

Sliced in half by the Seine, Parisians determine themselves based mostly on which aspect of the river they dwell on. The Proper Financial institution, or Rive Droite, is dominated by the vast majority of the town’s historic palace motels, equivalent to Le Meurice and the Ritz Paris, in addition to quintessential Paris Vogue Week haunts like Hôtel Costes. In the meantime, the Left Financial institution, or Rive Gauche, lies on the extra discreet aspect with its hôtels particuliers, mansions, and grand townhouses constructed by French the Aristocracy when Louis XIV’s courtroom traded Paris for Versailles.

For its first lodge in France, LXR Motels & Resorts, Hilton’s curated assortment of destination-focused luxurious stays, seemed in a distinct route, remodeling a landmark 1899 neo-Gothic constructing previously house to the Ségur phone alternate into Sax Paris, LXR Motels & Resorts. “This is a vital opening for us because it’s our first in Europe,” says Feisal Jaffer, international head of LXR Motels & Resorts. “Whenever you’re constructing a model from scratch—there was just one lodge once I began, and now there are 16—to have a luxurious lodge in Paris is a superb achievement. It makes a press release.”

Whereas I’ve lived within the quickly creating Rive Droite neighborhood of Belleville for the previous six years, the Rive Gauche was my—and plenty of vacationers’ and college students’—introduction to Paris, in addition to my first house within the metropolis. After I moved right here in 2018, I shortly settled right into a chambre de bonne in Saint-Germain-des-Prés that was not practically as spacious as Emily’s in Emily in Paris, but it surely positively had the basic Parisian allure that infatuates so many People.

Arriving on the leafy Avenue de Saxe—much less tourist-trodden than close by Rue de Sèvres with its cavernous Hermès flagship boutique and Le Bon Marché division retailer—I seemed down at Google Maps, considering I had made a mistaken flip. The one trace of the lodge was a porter who greeted me earlier than my bag was swiftly exchanged for a glass of champagne at check-in. Like a lot of the Left Financial institution, luxurious right here is of the quiet selection, and it will be straightforward to walk proper previous Sax Paris with out realizing it’s even there—and that’s a part of the enchantment. When you step inside, nonetheless, it’s instantly clear you’re in Paris.

The meticulously restored constructing captures a definite time in French historical past whereas giving it a contemporary spin with sculptural chandeliers, equivalent to Venetian artist Christian Pellizzari’s piece from Murano, which hangs within the ground-floor restaurant. In L’Iconic Galerie, a lounge and occasion house for trend reveals and personal dinners, designed by the lodge’s design studio led by Karine Journo, digital paintings from Belgium-based Drop The Spoon is projected onto the 200 mirrors and partitions.

“There are only a few luxurious motels on the Left Financial institution—we noticed that as a possibility,” provides Jaffer. “Sax Paris sits on an unassuming avenue and looks like a hidden gem of a lodge, however you will have these moments of full shock, like The Galerie [L’Iconic Galerie] and courtyard swimming pool.”

Right here’s what it’s like to remain at Sax Paris, LXR Motels & Resorts.

The Rooms

Sax Paris’s 118 visitor rooms and suites are swathed in earth-toned summary rugs and wooden paneling, however the showstopper is the loos, coated in putting, floor-to-ceiling striped marble. From my spacious King Status Junior Suite (which may accommodate a rollaway mattress), expansive home windows overlook the Avenue de Saxe from the bed room and the standing tub. My favourite half, nonetheless, was the cognac-colored leather-based banquette and marble desk within the residing space, a design-savvy option to incorporate a eating house into the suite.

Different rooms overlook the courtyard and gardens, and a few even sport a terrace—a real luxurious in Paris, the place even lodge balconies are a rarity. Signature suites, such because the Winter Backyard Suite, additionally function a separate, lounge-like residing house full with a leather-based couch and a eating desk, overlooking the backyard, in addition to a full, standalone minibar the place you possibly can pour a glass of wine or a cocktail for an in-room apéritif.

Meals and Drink

In a metropolis with outlined eating instances, it may be a wrestle to discover a chew to eat someplace that’s not a vacationer entice between the hours of two p.m. and seven p.m. Govt chef David Maroleau, who minimize his enamel at haute kitchens from Paris’s Hôtel Plaza Athénée to The Ritz London, helms the all-day restaurant Le SAX. Right here, you possibly can dine on decadent canapés within the night like lobster gyozas and foie gras with toasted brioche, in addition to classics like linguine (which you’ll high with lobster, after all), sous-chef, and the home burger.

At French garden-style Le Jardin de SAX, designed by Studio Ravn founder and Maison Ladurée inventive director Claudia Ravnbo, I observed the checkered-tile patio crammed with trendy visitors all through the afternoon. On my first night, a Parisian buddy met me for apéro—the French ritual of pre-dinner drinks. And because the solar was setting, she was simply as impressed about this tucked-away terrace close to the Eiffel Tower as I used to be.

The landmark-heavy seventh arrondissement delivers relating to views, significantly from the two-story restaurant Kinugawa Rive Gauche, the place the rooftop terrace overlooks the Eiffel Tower and main monuments, together with the Arc de Triomphe and Notre-Dame Cathedral. Rooftop eating places are shortly popping up at motels round Paris, however few have a view immediately going through the Eiffel Tower like Kinugawa.

On a Friday night in late Might, simply over a month after the restaurant opened, the eating room was filled with {couples} and teams sharing bottles of wine and sipping cocktails at intimate, crescent-shaped cubicles. Dishes infuse French touches into refined Japanese fare for plates like caviar-topped toro tartare and wagyu sliders full of marinated pickles and drizzled with yuzu koshō aïoli sauce, buns superbly branded with the geometric Kinugawa brand. Girafe has lengthy been the go-to for its see-and-be-seen ambiance and completely framed views of the twinkling Eiffel Tower, however I’ve a sense Kinugawa Rive Gauche will shortly turn out to be a contender.

Actions and Experiences

Sax Paris is embracing its well-heeled locale on the Rive Gauche by providing tailormade experiences by its Pursuit of Journey program—the “golden thread that runs all through the properties,” as Jaffer places it—that visitors can solely have at or by the lodge.

“After we have a look at Paris as a vacation spot, it’s like a world in itself, an encyclopedia of artwork historical past and design, of main manufacturers like Hermès and their workshops,” he provides. “When you will have that a lot richness in a vacation spot, it’s not whether or not the town needs to be a part of [the hotel], however how?”

Choices might embrace an unique, behind-the-scenes tour of the Eiffel Tower in areas usually closed to the general public or a personal pontoon cruise on the Seine. You’ll be able to even prepare a day journey on the lodge’s non-public plane to ski in Gstaad or bask at a seashore membership in Saint-Tropez.

The property already companions with close by Le Bon Marché’s La Grande Épicerie de Paris for its minibar snacks, however it may additionally prepare a private purchasing expertise for visitors on the lauded division retailer, thought-about the Bergdorf Goodman or Harrods of Paris. You can too set off and discover at your personal tempo, biking alongside the river on one of many lodge’s designer bikes, or spend the afternoon sipping craft cocktails and soaking in Le Jardin’s heated outside pool and Jacuzzi—one of many few within the metropolis, particularly on this aspect of the Seine.

The Spa

The subterranean SAX Le Membership Health & Spa extends from the duo of remedy rooms (a single and a pair’s, each obtainable by appointment solely) to the sauna, hammam, and health heart outfitted with Technogym tools and a Kinesis machine. Open 24 hours to visitors and members—a dream if you happen to’re jetlagged—the brick-clad gymnasium is a contemporary house with attractive leather-based swing dumbbells and a Pilates reformer machine. I began my mornings right here doing a fast stretch routine earlier than breakfast. Throughout my keep, the spa program was nonetheless being fleshed out, but it surely at present gives massages and facials, each on the spa and in-room.

Household-friendly Choices

Households and teams touring collectively can benefit from connecting as much as three rooms and suites for a penthouse-like keep. Sax Paris pulls out all of the stops for teenagers, from welcome treats like a lion plush toy (the lodge’s mascot) to teepees on request for younger youngsters ages two to eight or an additional mattress for older youngsters. Whereas the lodge doesn’t function a children’ membership, Sax Paris can prepare a babysitting service for fogeys who desire a evening out in town.

Paris is a particularly dog-friendly metropolis, and Sax Paris is aware of the best way to prolong the royal remedy to pups. For my keep, the lodge arrange an opulent canine mattress, a crystal bowl of canine treats, a branded striped bandana, and a welcome notice for my pomeranian, Indiana Jones.

Accessibility and Sustainability

All of Sax Paris’s public areas just like the foyer and eating places are designed for wheelchair entry, and each the King Accessible SAX Room and King Accessible Status Room function mobility-accessible layouts, roll-in-showers, and spacious designs making it straightforward to maneuver round in a wheelchair. Vacationers with restricted mobility may also benefit from in-room eating choices and concierge help.

Retaining in keeping with Hilton’s Journey with Goal sustainability technique, Sax Paris makes use of Hilton’s LightStay system to trace and handle vitality, water, and waste efficiency. The adaptive reuse of the historic constructing additionally lowered the environmental affect of recent development whereas preserving the architectural heritage of the neo-Gothic construction.

Location

Regardless of having lived close by in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, I hadn’t strolled by this quieter a part of the seventh arrondissement earlier than staying at Sax Paris. After I awoke on Saturday morning, I acquired misplaced amongst the vegetable-piled stands within the sprawling Saxe-Breteuil marché a block away, behind the École Militaire.

Metro stations Duroc (traces 10 and 13) and Sèvres-Lecourbe (line 6) are 5 minutes away, however you’ll be inside strolling distance of Paris landmarks just like the Eiffel Tower and Musée d’Orsay, and a scenic 35-minute stroll from the Champs-Élysées. From Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG), it takes about an hour to the lodge through taxi or rideshare companies like Uber or Bolt. Paris Orly Airport (ORY) is a 25-minute drive.

E book Now

LXR Motels & Resorts is a part of the Hilton Honors loyalty program, permitting vacationers who’ve accrued standing and factors to benefit from advantages equivalent to discounted room charges, every day meals and beverage credit, room upgrades, and even complimentary nights. By means of Hilton Honors co-branded bank cards, American Specific, and companions like Lyft, you possibly can earn and switch factors to Hilton Honors.

Sax Paris can be a part of American Specific’s Superb Motels + Resorts program, which means card members can get pleasure from perks equivalent to a complimentary fourth evening, midday check-in (when obtainable), every day breakfast for 2, and extra.

Nightly charges at Sax Paris, LXR Motels & Resorts begin from $580. 

Each T+L lodge assessment is written by an editor or reporter who has stayed on the property, and every lodge chosen aligns with our core values.