All about the Royal Monceau, the hotel where Lionel Messi will live

After his grand and extremely emotional exit from Catalan giants FC Barcelona, footballing icon Lionel Messi has already landed in the French capital and is on his way to sign for Paris Saint-Germain.

But he’ll be needing a place to leave his bags in Paris as the technicalities of the mega-deal between the club and player’s agent goes through. 

As he looks for a house in the ‘City of Light’, the Argentine star and his family will spend their first days in the Royal Monceau, a luxurious five-star hotel located very close to the Arc de Triomphe and one of the favourites of world stars.  

Reportedly, it was in that same hotel that his friend and future teammate Neymar Jr. stayed when he arrived at PSG in 2017. The hotel was also a favourite of late footballing legend Diego Madonna, and stars like Robert De Niro, Kim Kardashian have often frequented the luxury hotel.

Considered as an emblem of the ‘Art of Living’ Parisian, the hotel is located on the prestigious Avenue Hoche, just near the Champs-Elysées and the Arc de Triomphe.

The Royal Monceau first opened its doors in 1928, welcoming historical personalities such as Ernest Hemingway, Josephine Baker, Walt Disney, David Ben Gourion, and General Dwight D. Eisenhower, as well as a slew of Hollywood stars.

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Currently, the hotel, like PSG, is owned by Qatar and contains 85 rooms, 61 suites, and three presidential suites. It was completely rebuilt a few years ago by French designer Philippe Starck, who chose a stylish and casual style to appeal to a younger audience, focusing on “millionaires in sneakers” aged 35 to 50.

How much does it cost to book a room per night at the luxury hotel?

The cost of a room goes from $ 1,000 per night to more than $ 17,000 for the gigantic 190-square-meter suite.  

What facilities does the hotel have? 

The hotel features a 1,500-square-meter spa with a stunning 23-meter-long pool, three restaurants (one Peruvian-Japanese managed by chef Hideki Endo, one Italian, and one international), and numerous bars, one of which is located on a terrace overlooking the pool.

Chef Quentin Lechat, the winner of the Grand Prix de Pastry in 2019, is in charge of the pastry store.

The palace is adorned with 300 works of art, as well as a modern art gallery and an Art Concierge who advises her customers on the greatest exhibitions in the city. It also features an art bookshop and a private theatre hailed by Gilles Jacob, the head of the Cannes Film Festival, as the “greatest private theatre in Europe.”