After a hundred-year interval, the Olympic flame will once again illuminate the City of Light this summer as the Olympic Games return to Paris for the third time. In the lead up to hosting the biggest event on the planet, the French capital has seen huge investment in infrastructure including the extension of metro lines, new arts and cultural sites and experiences and a bumper crop of new hotels.
We give the lowdown on everything #eventprofs need to know…
New hotels
Recent openings on the hotel front include Bloom House, which opened in September 2023. This four-star hotel conveniently located near the Gare du Nord and Gare de l’Est offers 91 rooms alongside a spa and pool.
Château des Fleurs is a new luxury boutique hotel set in a 1900s townhouse, offering 37 rooms, and located just a stone’s throw from the Golden Triangle and the Arc de Triomphe, while Okko Rosa Park opened in the 19th arrondissement, at the heart of an innovative eco-neighbourhood that was recently inaugurated in June 2023. The four-star property offers 129 rooms and four meeting rooms.
Le Grand Mazarin opened its doors just across the street from the BHV department store in the Marais. The interiors are by Martin Brudnzinksi, who’s put his zany twist on neo-classical French style throughout. There’s a pool in the basement and the must-try Boubalé restaurant by JLM group.
Properties due to open this year include L’Hôtel des Grands voyageurs, positioned between Saint Germain and the district of Montparnasse and offering 138 rooms and suites as well as a restaurant and a bar.
L’hôtel H4 Paris Pleyel Saint-Denis, located in the centre of the new Olympics district includes a tower of 40 floors and 700 rooms, two restaurants, a swimming pool and a bar at the top, a conference room and a ballroom accommodating up to 1,500 guests.
Minor Hotel Group has chosen to make its debut in Paris in 2024 with the addition of three four-star hotels under the NH Hotels brand. These include the 207-room NH Paris Gare de l’Est and the 103-room NH Opéra Paris Faubourg. The third property with 90 rooms will open as NH Paris Champs Elysées and will then be launched in 2025 as NH Collection following a renovation.
New experiences and restaurants
Paris je t’aime – Office de Tourisme has teamed up with the Olympic Museum in Lausanne to create a new living space, SPOT24, highlighting the six most recent Olympic disciplines and their links with urban cultures. This exhibition will run 31 December 2024 and showcases skateboarding, sport climbing, BMX freestyle, surfing, 3X3 basketball and breaking. SPOT24 will also include a café and a tourist information point.
Known for its 15th-century vaulted cellars, Le M. Wine Museum opened in September 2023 and invites visitors to discover the secrets of wine culture through a museum trail, a restaurant, tasting classes, exhibitions and concerts.
The Aura immersive experience is a new monumental creation in which light, orchestral music and video mapping meet the majestic architecture of the Dôme des Invalides, while the Paradox Museum plunges visitors into a magical world where physical science and optical illusions punctuate their journey.
More than thirty years after the death of Serge Gainsbourg, the house where he lived opens its doors to the public. Gainsbourg House offers a chance to get up close, visit the museum dedicated to the artist, browse the bookshop and the Gainsbarre – café by day, piano bar by night.
Two former Top Chef contestants, Albane Auvray and Hugo Riboulet, have combined their talents to open Restaurant Groot, a street food establishment offering a creative take on the classic French tourte, presented in individual size portions. The renowned La Tour d’Argent, a Parisian gastronomic institution, has recently reopened after a year’s refurbishment, with its decor and kitchens brought up to date while preserving their precious heritage.
Olympics details
Paris and the Paris region are making use of 95% of existing infrastructure to reduce impact on the environment. Therefore, very few sites have been built or renovated for the organisation of the Summer 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Besides the construction of the Olympic Village, three new venues that will become a permanent part of the urban, cultural and sporting landscape of Greater Paris are also being built. Existing venues and sites being used to host the Olympics include the Roland-Garros stadium, the Parc de Princes, the Accor Arena, Stade de France, Place de la Concorde, Grand Palais and more.
In what will be a first in the history of the summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, the opening ceremonies will take place outside the traditional stadium setting – in the centre of the host city. This one-of-a-kind opening ceremony will take place on the Seine heralding the start of the Paris 2024 games, which promise to be spectacular, innovative, sustainable, and accessible to as many people as possible.
The key Parisian celebration sites unveiled are:
- The Champions Park at Trocadéro: set up opposite the Eiffel Tower, it will, among other things, welcome the medal winners to celebrate their victory with the public and will broadcast the major finals live.
- The Club France in the Parc de La Villette: the venue for supporters of the French Team.
- The Parc Georges-Valbon at La Courneuve: the 3rd largest park in the Île-de-France will feature a giant screen, a packed programme of events and an 80-metre-high ‘skyliner’ (gondola system) for a spectacular ascent.
- The ‘Off des Jeux’: the French capital is being transformed into a huge ‘playground’ with free, popular, and family-friendly festivities open to everyone, to be held in the city’s many districts. The square in front of Paris City Hall is a key site welcoming ‘Off des Jeux’ events as well as Paris Plages 2024.
micebook Ventures will take place in Paris 4 – 6 November 2024. Details can be found here.