Ritz Paris

The Ritz Paris occupies a series of townhouses on the Place Vendôme, recognizable by their eighteenth-century façades that stretch along the north side of the square. When Swiss hotelier César Ritz and French chef Auguste Escoffier opened the hotel here on June first, eighteen ninety-eight, they aimed to create a residence fit for a prince. Their collaboration introduced a level of modernity previously unseen in European luxury, as the hotel became the first in the city to provide electricity, telephones, and private en suite bathrooms in every room.