PARIS - The Peninsula

For some years, The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited had been interested in getting a Peninsula Hotel in Europe. In 2001, the French government made known that it would be divesting of some prime state-owned properties in Paris. Miller worked with the HSH Development team to assess the potential to develop a Peninsula in a building in the 16th arrondisement, near the Arc d’Triomphe. While it was operating as a government office at the time, it was built in 1908 as a luxury hotel. It would have good fundamentals for conversion to a Peninsula.

But the inherent quality of the building attracted a number of bidders, the bids rose, and HSH stepped away from the original purchase from the French government. But the development team then brokered a deal with Qatari Diar who had won the bid, and a JV ownership with Peninsula management was agreed.

The JV elected HSH to lead the design and constructionprocess. Miller led the HSH team with the detailed study of the distinguished building, and testing that reiteratively against a Design Brief. A design team was assembled with top consultants from New York, Paris and Hong Kong. Great efforts were made to extract the best room and suite mix out of the 200-key target inventory.

Many studies were carried out to find the best arrangements for all the public space requirements: a heritage paneled room, converted to The Bar; a space off the side street, where auto arrival and drop-off would work best, was converted to Reception; the original Lobby was painstakingly restored in gilded glory to The Peninsula Lobby, and the adjacent outdoor space developed into the elegant Kléber Terrace. Additional unique spaces were extracted out of what was original,y The Majestic Hotel. This included a 2-story GF space to become a Chinese Restaurant, a hallmark of Peninsula, and the most dramatic corner of the mansard space into a rooftop restaurant!with stunning views of the Eiffel Tower.

Miller left Peninsula in 2011, with most of the designs fundamentally complete, and the construction underway. The hotel opened with much fanfare in 2014, as one of the most elegant grand hotels of Europe.

Type Hotel
Build Renovation
Owner The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited - 20% / Katara Hospitality - 80%
Operator The Peninsula Group
Architect Richard Martinet - Paris
Interior Designer Henry Leung - Hong Kong
Project cost Euro 338 mil
Size 32,000 SqM
Opened 2014

Forbes 2017 - Five-Star

European Hotel Design Awards 2015 - Best Renovation & Restoration

T&L 2015 - “It List”

Conde Nast Traveler 2015 - Top 100 Hotels in World, best Hotels in Europe

Site Analysis, Programming, Design Brief, Team Assembly, Design Reviews, Model Room

Assembly of team of international designers

Program req’ts of Spa, Parking, BOH requiring new basement construction

Incorporating Pen trademark Lobby with modern glazed terrace

Maximizing rooftop space with duplex suites and spectacular F&B outlet