Live Global. Experience Local.
Molitor Paris by MGallery
MOOD: AFTER HOURS, ART, LUXE, RELAX, SCENE
BUDGET: $$, $$$
Paris isn’t a city for bathing beauties: people are more apt to show off their style rather than their bodies. It is illegal to swim in the Seine. Most pools are hidden away in jeweled tomb-like hotel basements. But that’s why the summer 2014 opening of Hotel Molitor Paris by MGallery still buzzes. The €80 million 33-month renovation of the Molitor – the famous pool taking up an entire triangular city block on the outskirts of the 16th arrondissement, former playground of Olympians, celebrities and Paris’s well-heeled, the birthplace of the bikini, and which later laid to ruins – has been brought back to life in its art deco-meets graffiti ode to its past. Pool, Art, Life is the Molitor’s new motto, and it does all of it well with happy flourishes of color and whimsy, starting with the spray painted Rolls Royce in the lobby.
Summer in Paris can get very hot, and the Molitor is the place to be seen. Get your iPhones ready: the mustard and white cruise-liner look is a photogenic backdrop to the good-old days of resort chic. The pool’s entry is only for guests staying in one of its 124 hotel rooms; members paying €3,300 annually (with €1,200 initiation); or anyone handing over a day pass fee (€180) that makes the €210+ nightly rates look agreeable.
Its location away from the city center means Hotel Molitor is perhaps best for those looking for a staycation (or attending Roland Garros nearby). Start with an evening swim, then go for late night cocktails at the rooftop bar watching the Eiffel Tower to recharge. Wake up to a morning swim. Pool attendants are always waiting, smiling and eager to serve. The nearby metro and its promises of the city cannot compete with Molitor, especially in the summer.
ROOMS
The emphasis is the pool. Rooms are built around it, with beds angled so the floor-to-ceiling view is of the pool. The decor plays up the resort feel, slightly nautical, but wholly chic and clean in whites and browns.
AMENITIES
Summer in Paris can get very hot, and the Molitor is the place to be seen. Get your iPhones ready: the mustard and white cruise-liner look is a photogenic backdrop to the good-old days of resort chic. The pool’s entry is only for guests staying in one of its 124 hotel rooms; members paying €3,300 annually (with €1,200 initiation); or anyone handing over a day pass fee (€180) that makes the €210+ nightly rates look agreeable.
Its location away from the city center means Hotel Molitor is perhaps best for those looking for a staycation (or attending Roland Garros nearby). Start with an evening swim, then go for late night cocktails at the rooftop bar watching the Eiffel Tower to recharge. Wake up to a morning swim. Pool attendants are always waiting, smiling and eager to serve. The nearby metro and its promises of the city cannot compete with Molitor, especially in the summer.
ROOMS
The emphasis is the pool. Rooms are built around it, with beds angled so the floor-to-ceiling view is of the pool. The decor plays up the resort feel, slightly nautical, but wholly chic and clean in whites and browns.
AMENITIES
- 2 heated swimming POOLS (indoor and outdoor)
- FITNESS CENTER
- SPA by Clarins with hair salon, hammam and sauna
- 2 RESTAURANTS, including one on the outdoor rooftop terrace
- 2 BARS