A family-owned palace a step from the Arc de Triomphe, the only Paris hotel decorated entirely in Napoleonic art — and a wedding gift that stayed in the family for a century.
At a glance
The Hôtel Napoléon stands at 40 Avenue de Friedland, in the 8th arrondissement, moments from the Place de l’Étoile. An Empire-style hotel still owned by the family that made it, it is unusual among Paris palaces for its single, consistent theme: the age of Napoleon.
History
The building was constructed in 1923 by the architect Henri Porteau, on the site of a former private residence of Count Tolstoy, its sober lines drawn from the Empire style. It passed to the Rothschild family and, in 1928, was transformed into a hotel.
Soon after opening it was bought by the Russian businessman Alexandre Pavlovitch Kliaguine, who gave it as a wedding gift to the French student he had married; the couple lived in the hotel, and it remains in Kliaguine family ownership to this day. Decorated throughout with Napoleonic art and furnished in the Directoire style, it drew a long roll of guests — Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Salvador Dalí, Orson Welles, Miles Davis, Joséphine Baker and Ella Fitzgerald among them.
What you see
Porteau’s Empire façade is restrained and elegant, a quiet neighbour to the grand avenues around the Étoile.
Inside, the theme is unbroken: Napoleonic paintings, Directoire furniture and Empire motifs give the hotel a single decorative identity rare among its rivals.
Cultural significance
The Napoléon is a rare survival of the independently, family-owned Paris hotel, resisting the collections and chains that absorbed most of its peers. Its unified Napoleonic decoration and its literary and jazz-age guest list make it a small museum of a certain French idea of style.
Key facts
- Built: 1923, by the architect Henri Porteau, in the Empire style
- Hotel since: 1928; soon bought by Alexandre Kliaguine as a wedding gift
- Ownership: still held by the Kliaguine family
- Theme: the only Paris hotel decorated entirely in Napoleonic art (Directoire style)
- Location: 40 Avenue de Friedland, near the Arc de Triomphe
Practical information & getting there
The hotel is on Avenue de Friedland, off the Place de l’Étoile. Nearest Métro: Charles de Gaulle–Étoile (lines 1, 2, 6, RER A). Its bar and restaurant are open to non-residents.
Sources & resources
- Hôtel Napoléon — Wikipédia (fr) / Hotel Napoleon — Wikipedia (en)
- Paris Select Book — “Hôtel Napoléon: elegance and French art de vivre”
- Mon Paris Joli — “L’Hôtel Napoléon, le chic à la française dans un style empire”
- France Today — Hotel Napoleon Paris
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