The Oldest ‘Grand’ Hotel of Paris
( words)
Baron Hausmann commissioned the Pereire brothers, powerful bankers who heavily financed the reconstruction of Paris, to build a luxurious new hotel. Designed by the architect Alfred Armand, the Grand Hotel du Louvre was opened in 1855, just in time for the International Exhibition staged in Paris that year. It was the first luxury hotel in France and the first 'Grand Hotel' of Paris.