The Peninsula Paris
The old Hôtel Majestic on Avenue Kléber — where Gershwin wrote “An American in Paris”, and where the Vietnam War was signed to a close in 1973.
At a glance
The Peninsula Paris occupies a monumental Beaux-Arts building on Avenue Kléber, near the Arc de Triomphe in the 16th arrondissement. Opened in 1908 as the Hôtel Majestic, it spent much of the twentieth century as a stage for history before a long restoration returned it to a hotel in 2014.
History
The building opened in December 1908 as the Hôtel Majestic. During the First World War it served as a field hospital, and in 1919 it hosted the Preliminary Peace Conference. In 1922 it was the setting of a legendary dinner attended by Marcel Proust, Igor Stravinsky and Pablo Picasso, and in 1928 George Gershwin composed An American in Paris while staying there.
In 1936 the French government bought the Majestic for the Ministry of Defence. Under the Occupation it became the headquarters of the German military command in France, from 1940 to 1944. As a state conference centre it later hosted the negotiations, led by Henry Kissinger, that produced the 1973 Paris Peace Accords ending the Vietnam War. After a complex restoration it reopened as The Peninsula Paris in August 2014.
What you see
The Haussmann-era stone façade and grand interiors were painstakingly restored, with the Beaux-Arts detailing brought back and modern hotel functions hidden behind it.
Its position off the Place de l’Étoile keeps it within the ceremonial geometry of the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Élysées.
Cultural significance
Few buildings have carried so many roles — hospital, salon, ministry, occupation headquarters, peace-conference venue. The Peninsula’s walls hold a century of European and world history, from Proust’s Paris to the end of a war in Southeast Asia.
Key facts
- Opened: December 1908, as the Hôtel Majestic
- Culture: Gershwin composed An American in Paris here in 1928
- WWII: German military headquarters in France, 1940–1944
- Diplomacy: the 1973 Paris Peace Accords (Vietnam) were signed here
- Reopened: as The Peninsula Paris, August 2014
Practical information & getting there
The hotel is on Avenue Kléber, near the Arc de Triomphe. Nearest Métro: Kléber (line 6) or Charles de Gaulle–Étoile (lines 1, 2, 6, RER A). The rooftop restaurant and bars are open to non-residents by reservation.
Sources & resources
- Historic Hotels Then & Now — The Peninsula Paris (1908)
- Sortiraparis — “The Peninsula Paris, the palace that resurrected the Hôtel Majestic”
- France.fr — “The Peninsula Paris: a legend reborn”
- Mahler Foundation — Hotel Majestic Paris
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