Paris' latest palace revealed

The Palace status is awarded by the official agency in charge of developing French tourism, ATOUT France, which created the classification in November 2010 to reward hotel excellence.

It is given to hotels deemed to be “above five-star” ranking and which additionally have the “vision to assist the promotion of the French way of life on an international stage”. There are now nine such hotels in Paris and eight in the rest of France.

To celebrate the acquisition of Palace status, the hotel is offering guests a bottle of champagne and 30 additional minutes for every 60-minute spa treatment purchased, lasting until September 30; for suite bookings, complimentary round-trip airport or train station transfers will also be included.

General manager of Peninsula Paris, Katja Henke, who joined the hotel in June from a sister property in Bangkok, said the hotel was “absolutely delighted to receive this prestigious distinction”.

“We hope to continue to work hard to ensure that the tradition of service excellence is maintained here,” she said.

Peninsula Paris opened two years ago following a four-year renovation alongside Peninsula’s joint-venture partner Katara Hospitality.

It has 200 rooms, including 34 suites, all equipped with the Peninsula Hotels’ latest interactive technology - five of the suites offer panoramic views of the city from private rooftop gardens.

The property’s restaurants include Le Lobby - characteristic of Peninsula hotels - a Cantonese restaurant, LiLi and L’Oiseau Blanc, which is named after the famous biplane, a replica of which sits in the rooftop restaurant.