The 11 hotels where to spend Christmas Eve: enchantment, gastronomy and exceptional nights

Some hotels don't just decorate their trees: they change the look of the December days. Here are eleven Parisian addresses where people come for something other than the usual Christmas - a different way of celebrating, for two or as a family.

Christine Robalo Published today at 9:58 AM

We think we know Christmas by heart, until we experience it away from home. in a hotel, the festivities take on a different color: less logistics, more time, fewer imposed rituals, more seized moments. Families get together without chasing dishes, couples rediscover the taste of a quiet New Year's Eve, and children appropriate the premises as a temporary playground. Here are eleven addresses where festivities are reinvented, simpler, gentler and sometimes even more beautiful than expected.

Intercontinental Paris - Le Grand

This season, the hotel is staging a décor designed with the House of Repetto to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the neighboring Opéra Garnier. In the Napoleon III salons, the set design plays the ballet card in a contemporary version: exhibition tutus, emblematic pointe shoes, iridescent tulles and powdery touches installed as so many nods to the house's repertoire. A superb piece of spatial design, in dialogue with the period golds and reminiscent of the immediate proximity of the stage. Passing guests come across these installations in the main corridors, while guests staying in suites discover a fir tree set up in their rooms, accompanied by a series of festive attentions - including the "Adage à la Rose" log created with Repetto and a bottle of champagne. The overall effect is to maintain the spirit of the place: a heritage hotel that assumes its natural link with the Opéra and revisits Christmas through a masterful aesthetic with a choreographic wink.

from 747 euros per night
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Inter Continental Paris Le Grand ©jérôme Galland Eric Cuvillier

jérôme Galland - Eric Cuvillier

Mandarin Oriental Paris

Right from the entrance, seasonal decorations set a calm rhythm: fir trees adorned with lights, refined floral arrangements, citrus and spice scents that accompany the comings and goings of visiting families. The festive offerings extend this sense of cocoon: breakfast served in front of the Camélia's indoor garden, sweets imagined by pastry chef Julien Dugourd delivered to your room, signature afternoon tea, etc. in collaboration with Éditions de Parfums Frédéric Malle, and a shopping interlude at La Samaritaine for those who want to take the experience as far as the shop windows. We meet couples who have come to "do Christmas somewhere else", parents delighted to see their children move from the lobby to the lounges as if in an enlarged house, and a few travelers who simply savor the city from a suite bathed in light.

from 1,676 euros per night
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Hôtel du Collectionneur

at the Hôtel du Collectionneur, under the glass roof of the Art Deco facades, a transparent bubble imagined with Moët & Chandon and Petrossian, occupies the garden like a temporary winter lounge. inside, everything has been designed to create a gentle scenography: faux-fur armchairs, cream-colored sofas, discreetly patterned rugs, golden candelabras and tall, spindly tables give the décor the look of a glamorous salon under a cloche. Around the structure, a forest of frosted fir trees lines up with rigor, studded with warm garlands and guarded by emerald-green nutcracker soldiers, a playful nod to a more theatrical end-of-year imagination. The overall effect is one of assertive contrast: the minerality of the building, the strict lines of the corridors and, as a counterpoint, the luminous bubble that transforms the garden into a fairy-tale scene, perfectly visible from the upper floors.

from 436 euros per night
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Domaine Reine Margot - MGallery

Here, illuminated fir trees, elaborate wreaths and warm hues recall end-of-year villages. Spread across the garden, four trees dedicated to the associations supported by the hotel are gradually covered with greeting cards and messages left by visitors: souvenirs noted as they pass by, giving the décor an unexpected human dimension of solidarity.

from 257 euros per night
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Fauchon L'Hôtel Paris

Right from the threshold, two monumental fir trees co-designed with Galeries Lafayette set the tone: frosted branches, pearly flowers and golden garlands create a precise decor. The welcome is ritualized - cocoa infusion, warm macaroons and a surprise gift via QR code. In the rooms, a golden wreath hanging from the door, a few sweets and a Gourmet Bar in festive mode prolong the atmosphere, while the Palais des Thés is illuminated by three additional Christmas trees and 96 candles that discreetly redesign the space. At the Grand Café Fauchon, a pink and gold "wish tree" invites each guest to hang up a wish, one of which will be granted each week. A Fauchon Christmas carved to create a moment apart.

from 894 euros per night
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Fauchon L'hôtel Paris © Salomé Rateau Dr

salomé Rateau / DR

Hotel Paradiso

At the Hotel Paradiso, mk2's first Cinéma-Hôtel, Christmas is like a refuge for cinephiles who fully embrace their desire to spend the festive season under the comforter rather than at the table. The mk2 group has taken the idea to its logical conclusion: in this room transformed into a private dark room, a three-meter screen, a laser projector and a selection of films designed as a real marathon, from Love Actually to Santa Claus is a Scumbag. No commentating neighbors, no forced trailers, just a king-size bed, still-warm popcorn, a bottle of champagne and room service ready to refuel viewers right up to the last scene. The check-out time is extended to 2 p.m., so that the 24-hour viewing period can be completed without looking at the clock. For those who want to recover from a tense thriller, an Olivier Lecoq massage can be added to the session. for family Christmases, a loge high above the cinema awaits up to eight people.

from 129 euros per night
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Four Seasons Hotel George V

a stone's throw from the Champs-Élysées, December takes the George V into another dimension: one in which Jeff Leatham orchestrates winter like a stage director, playing with light and materials to transform lounges into glittering showcases. Beneath the dark woodwork and columns, dozens of snow-covered fir trees stand like theatrical silhouettes, bouquets of white roses dialogue with candle flames, and the bar takes on the air of a golden refuge for those who like to watch Paris celebrate from a deep armchair. The spirit of the holiday season is lived here in haute couture: starred menus served as rituals, personalized winks for families, impromptu strolls through the hotel's enchanting decor. Children make the hotel their own adventure playground, while adults savor the sweetness of a suspended Christmas, brought to life by a house that masters the art of detail.

from 3,630 euros per night
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La Fantaisie

It's hard to pass by La Fantaisie without sensing that something is afoot. as December approaches, the hotel seems to be slowly changing its skin: the lobby, staircases, corridors... each of these spaces takes on the appearance of a décor designed to surprise. Fir trees are installed as luminous punctuations, garlands play with the hotel's soft tones and a giant Advent calendar, prominently displayed, becomes the metronome of the season. Throughout December, the decor is brought to life by a series of events: magician Robin Geyer passes between the tables on Wednesdays, while psychic PAO welcomes guests on the terrace on Fridays, between candles and lanterns. The restaurant follows suit with a menu designed for the season, and every Wednesday, the outside fills with the scent of hot chocolate offered to passers-by, a simple gesture that gives Rue Cadet the air of a Christmas district. In the rooms, a few discreet touches extend this magical thread.

from 417 euros per night
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Cheval Blanc Paris

From the very first days of December, the Samaritaine address takes on the allure of a carefully choreographed winter hideaway. The decorations play on materials: light gilding, frosted floral compositions, controlled lighting... spread from the lobby to the lounges. At the center of the hotel is an oversized fir tree, impeccably constructed as a centerpiece around which everything seems to find its natural place.families, for their part, will find a daily program designed like a living calendar: workshops to make decorations, wreaths or candles, creative sessions around snowflakes, angels or dreamcatchers... The hotel thus creates a whole month of little scenes where children become the artisans of their own Christmas. A little further on, the Carrousel - an enchanted universe imagined by navigator Maud Fontenoy - is transformed into an enchanted forest, dressed in lights, magical installations and projections that change according to the time of day. And when December 24th arrives, a red silhouette crosses the corridors to meet the youngest guests, while musicians create a delicate atmosphere in the lounges.

from 1,150 euros per night
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yann Deret / DR

Bvlgari Hotel Paris

At the Bvlgari Hotel Paris, the Christmas scene is all about Italian precision. On Avenue George-V, a row of neatly trimmed fir trees, saturated with golden micro-lamps, form a luminous front that frames the entrance and transforms the façade into a veritable signal in the Parisian night. inside the courtyard, a white casetta lined with thick garlands of copper balls, deep-green thorns and flashes of gold becomes the heart of the installation: an ephemeral counter featuring Niko Romito's lacquered panettone boxes. The space, bathed in incandescent orange, extends the house's visual signature and contrasts with the winter chill. In the lobby, the decor remains meticulous: symmetrical compositions, twin fir trees, plays of shadow and reflection that recall the rigor of the architecture. A decor chiseled with the rigor of a master jeweler.

from 2,423 euros per night
www.bulgarihotels.com

Sofitel Paris Baltimore Eiffel Tower

On Avenue Kléber, the Christmas season takes on a discreetly sophisticated feel: soft lighting, golden touches, and that mix of intimacy and classicism that makes the Sofitel Paris Baltimore Tour Eiffel so charming. The address unfolds a program built like a mastered calendar: a Christmas Snack served all afternoon, with gianduja cookies, gingerbread and chocolate citrus, while the counter revisits winter cocktails and small plates for both visiting guests and local regulars. More unusual, the Candle Experience transforms one of the suites into a cocoon of light - hundreds of LED candles, a Devialet soundtrack - for those who want to celebrate away from family gatherings.