Le Royal Monceau - Raffles Paris Gains Palace Distinction

The Royal Monceau - Raffles Paris has been granted the official Palace Distinction, one step higher than five stars- by Atout France, the French Agency for Tourism Development.

The avenue Hoche hotel joins an elite band of just six Paris hotels to hold this highly-coveted badge of distinction.

Le Royal Monceau - Raffles Paris re-opened in 2010 after a two year transformation by Philippe Starck.

“We are thrilled to be recognised as a palace hotel. I’d like to thank every single member of staff at the hotel, I know they have worked incredibly hard to get to this level - and they will continue to work hard to live up to it. I would also like to thank Raffles Hotels & Resorts and our owners Katara Hospitality for their continued support and strategic vision to make Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris a next-generation palace, and one of the very best hotels in the world,” said General Manager Omer Acar.

“The “Palace Distinction” is not just about having bigger rooms, more facilities, higher standard of service - all of which we have,” Omer added. “It’s about something more subtle. At Raffles, we believe in true emotional engagement with our guests. We call this ‘emotional luxury’ and I believe it is this quality that people look now for in a contemporary luxury hotel.”

After exhaustive research into a multitude of criteria, The Palace Commission jury highlighted the exceptional location of Le Royal Monceau - Raffles Paris, just a short stroll from the Champs Elysées and the Arc de Triomphe, its glamorous heritage and the impressive guest list which wrote its story. Amongst them General Eisenhower, novelist Joseph Kessel, Walt Disney, several Indian maharajas, King Farouk of Egypt, the Aga Khan and, more recently, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Robert de Niro, Lou Reed, Jennifer Lopez, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sofia Coppola and Dustin Hoffman.

The jury also praised the excellent cooking by Executive Chef Laurent Andréat ‘La Cuisine’ and ‘Il Carpaccio’ - both of which were awarded one Michelin star earlier this year.