W Opéra Paris

Paris

Paris’ wealth of monuments, museums and discoveries contribute to making it one of the most beautiful of European cities. The City of Light has always been an unequalled artistic and cultural beacon for the entire world. Every year, the French capital attracts no less than 29 million visitors. As the world capital of luxury as well, it is filled with activities, curiosities and attractions, each with a different atmosphere depending on the neighborhood.

More than any other area, the Opera quarter, dominated by the Palais Garnier, in the heart of Paris, bears the imprint of the Second Empire, an era when Parisian splendor attracted all of European aristocracy. This business quarter also possesses a succession of high fashion boutiques and department stores, café terraces and restaurants. And yet, it was once covered by swamp before the arrival of Louis XIV, at which time small private houses were built by aristocrats to house their mistresses.

In the 19th century, under the impulse of Baron Haussman, the streets were widened, and the quarter, already inhabited by actors and dandies, saw the birth of restaurants and cafes which became the haunts ofnumerous writers, intellectuals and painters.

It was during this period that Napoleon III commissioned Charles Garnier to build a new opera house. The result was an architectural jewel of exuberant Baroque splendor and eclecticism, representative of official Second Empire art, symbolizing luxury and Parisian pleasures.

A hint of New York

The Hotel W Paris, not far from the Opera Garnier, is located in an elegant 1870s Haussmann building. Its facade gives little indication of what awaits the visitor inside. The W is in effect, the most New York of Parisian hotels and thus embodies a new step in the renewal of the French capital’s hotel industry.

Created by the Rockwell Group, the architects of the W New York, the hotel was designed around the theme of light, thus playing with Paris’ reputation as the City of Light. The hotel’s central element is a rear lit LED wall which runs throughout the building and which changes colors during the course of the day. The Spark is the concept of the W. It symbolizes in the words of Rockwell, its creator, “the fusion between the energy that exists in New York and the elegance of the City of Light.”

The interior decor is radical and graphic, with a dominance of black and white. The carpet is black and the bar is a scintillating lacquered black. The lobby, like the Spark, changes throughout the day. The furniture is positioned differently in the morning and at night.

Modern design and high tech are everywhere,from the magazines and books dealing with décor and the chandeliers in the colors of the lounge bar. The elevators and staircases are enveloped in red. There’s graffiti on the walls and mirrors in direct contrast to the arched ceilings and the period fireplaces.

In the 91 rooms including 20 suites, we find the LED wall, the famous “Spark”, works of art by Parisian artists, as well as a luminous white “bridge”. Priority is given to the bedroom which is the main room. Most of the walls form a modular space, organized around an immense bed, a small armchair and cocktail table, all of which form a very convivial space.

The walls and the pillows contain photo reproductions of celebrities like Oscar Wilde, and on the bed, there’s an amusing reference to the American in Paris image with different reproductions, like the legendary Citroen Deux Chevaux, street lamps and a man wearing a beret. The shower, in black and white tones, is isolated from the equally black and white bathroom. The light in the bedroom changes from hour to hour depending on the outside light and the Spark.

The Sparkis present once again in the restaurant. It’s here in this very high tech décor, with constantly changing works of art displayed on the wall, that we discover the creative spirit of the famous Catalonian chef, Serge Arola, who serves an updated version of the famous Spanish tapas. Don’t miss his chicken wings confites, lacquered in roasted garlic and salsify or his Arola style bravas. Then it’s back to the bar for a creative cocktail invented by Joseph Boroski to prolong the evening by watching the spark well into the night.

Once a week, the W’s bar proposes a « Do it Yourself » evening” during which you can invent your own cocktails.