The place to be and above all it must be seen

A jury offering all guarantees serious consisting among others of Henri Loyrette, the President of the Louvre, and Jennifer Flay, artistic director of the FIAC, it loads to identify young talent of the French scene: until then, nothing revolutionary. Attention, this is the name of the patron with the price of 20,000 euros to share between the artist and his gallery: Le Meurice, since it is his hope, through this initiative, modernize its image. Goal: appealing to a connected client and zappeuse that a luxury hotel embodies the spirit of the moment or a city. The place to be and, above all, it must be seen. Together in October for its second edition, the jury of the Meurice Prize for contemporary art 2009-2010 a therefore distinguished Renaud Auguste-Dormeuil and the In Situ Gallery for the project "Black Out".

This small event people and mondain is part of the war in laces which engage the great hotel. His kick was given to the turn of the century, with the acquisition and modernisation of the George V by the Four Seasons, the Saudi prince Al Walid property string. War beautiful districts provide the theatre of operations and that the crisis has exacerbated. Companies were indeed carved in their private budgets meetings and conferences, cutting revenues from the rental of the rooms and suites.

2010 promises new episodes, with the reopening of the Royal Monceau, and especially the opening of the Shangri - La, place of Jena. While waiting for a little later the arrival of two other Asian giants: the Peninsula, avenue Kléber, and Mandarin Oriental, rue Saint-Honoré. Losing London which saw flourish "boutiques hotels", the capital has created Overdrive by aligning its palaces. The contemporary, Park Hyatt and Fouquet's, as "historic" Crillon and Ritz - one and the other pending renovation.

Because money is the sinews of war in what became an ongoing beautification process. Each wave of work sees rise the level of benefits with call to decorators and designers, multi-étoilés chefs, mandatory spa recruitment, etc. But if "yield management" - prices vary according to occupancy - the art of selling a palace owes much to the control of the Internet tool, it is also in the management of its image. Hence the convening of the personalities of the arts, letters and other luminaries who attended the scene, as if their prestige spilled on existing customers. The Dorchester group made his specialty. Far from trying to compose a string, the "Collection" of institutions grows instead differences and the style of each, whether in London, New York, Beverly Hills and Milan.

Renovated by Starck

Paris, Le Meurice, Paris residence of El Salvador Dali, has long been overshadowed by the other institution of the Dorchester group: Plaza Athénée and its unconditional fashion and film. Named in 2006 as head of the institution, Franka Holtmann began to wake up the sleeping beauty. "To make the institution more animated, more glamorous, without harming the timeless image of a place intimately linked to the history of Paris," said this manageuse who is known for there having exercised responsibilities, almost all of the competitors. Founded in 1818 by Louis-Augustin Meurice, which was the customer of English aristocrats in resorts on the continent, the hotel left Saint-Honoré Street to move to the Tuileries to the 228, rue de Rivoli. It allowed wounded of the war 1914-1918 before be requisitioned in 1940 by the staff of Gross Paris (General Von Choltitz is signing a first act of accountability).

Legacy to wear for Philippe Starck, loaded in 2007 to update the ground floor, including the gourmet restaurant and its XVIIIeinspirée of the peace of Versailles salon decoration. "Redial without affecting the structure, because we did not have the means," fun Franka Holtmann. Marble and gilding were retained, although relieved, but it is at the chic "bistro" Le Dali that transformation is the most visible with the addition to the ceiling of a monumental painted canvas signed Ara Starck, daughter of the designer. At the controls in the two rooms, Yannick Alléno, who won his 3eétoile. Franka Holtmann, this coup de young was the intended effect: "The Parisians are income at the Meurice, particularly women," she said pointing out the crucial role for the atmosphere "of the brewing of the clientele to ideally meet businessmen, artists and political."