Guide for the Few

Paris

A city of arrondissements, where the hotels that matter sit on the Right Bank between the Place de la Concorde, the Faubourg Saint-Honoré and the avenue Montaigne. The best tables go weeks ahead, August is quiet, and many museums and ateliers open outside public hours for anyone who asks the right person.

30 recommendations in six sections.

The terrace and the Eiffel Tower

Stay

The best hotel suites in Paris

The room, not the hotel: in each hotel that matters, the suite to ask for.

Dine

Private dining rooms in Paris

The table and the room: private rooms, chef's counters, and whom to ask.

  • The Scènes de Paris room at Guy Savoy

    The corner room of Restaurant Guy Savoy's six dining rooms in the Monnaie de Paris, with windows on the Institut de France and the Seine.

  • Alléno Paris

    Yannick Alléno's three-star dining room on the first floor of the Pavillon Ledoyen, in the gardens at the foot of the Champs-Élysées, open for dinner Monday to Friday.

  • Arpège

    Alain Passard's restaurant on the Rue de Varenne, cooking only from the plant world since July 2025, with vegetables from his own gardens.

  • Kei

    Kei Kobayashi's three-star French restaurant on the ground floor of a Second Empire building near the Louvre, rebuilt by the architect Tsuyoshi Tane.

  • Le Pré Catelan

    Frédéric Anton's three-star restaurant in a 1905 Belle Époque pavilion inside the Bois de Boulogne, open Wednesday to Saturday.

Arrive

Arriving in Paris by private jet or commercial flight

Getting in and out without a queue: by private jet, on a commercial flight, by car or by train.

  • Eurostar Premier from Gare du Nord

    The top class on the train from Paris to London, with British entry checks done before boarding, its own lanes through security and passport control, a lounge inside Gare du Nord and a station escort who can be booked at either end.

  • The Chabé chauffeur and airport meet-and-greet

    A Paris chauffeur company since 1921, whose agent meets the passenger at the aircraft door at Charles de Gaulle or Orly, takes them through border checks and hands them to a waiting driver.

  • The Dassault Falcon Service terminal at Paris–Le Bourget

    The private jet terminal at Le Bourget run by Dassault Aviation's own service company, taking aircraft up to a BBJ, with a lounge over the apron and the car a few metres from the steps.

  • The Jetex terminal at Paris–Le Bourget

    A private jet terminal at Le Bourget, open around the clock, with customs and immigration, aircraft parked in front of the building and a lounge on the apron.

  • The Signature terminal at Paris–Le Bourget

    A private jet terminal at Le Bourget, the airport Paris keeps for business aviation, with customs and immigration inside and central Paris about twenty minutes away.

Access

Private tours in Paris

What is not on the public calendar: before opening, after closing, by appointment.

  • The Monet gallery after hours at the Marmottan

    The 400 m² Galerie Claude Monet, with Impression, Sunrise and about a hundred Monet paintings from the painter's family, taken privately for a dinner of up to 120, a breakfast or a champagne tour.

  • The Musée d'Orsay before opening

    The Musée d'Orsay's collections or current exhibition with a lecturer for a private group, from 8.30 to 10.30 am Tuesday to Friday, before the doors open, after breakfast in the restaurant's small salon.

  • The Musée Rodin after hours

    The Hôtel Biron and its sculpture garden after closing for a private party: the permanent collection with one of the museum's lecturers, then dinner in the entrance hall facing The Kiss.

  • The private backstage tour of the Palais Garnier

    A guided tour of the Palais Garnier's backstage areas for your party alone, arranged by Arop, the Paris Opera's patrons' association, and reaching the ballet costume workshops the public never sees.

  • The Water Lilies after hours at the Orangerie

    Monet's two oval Water Lilies rooms at the Musée de l'Orangerie, opened for a private group from 6 pm any day or all day on Tuesday, when the museum is closed to the public.

Care

Private doctors and discreet services in Paris

Discreet services on short notice.

Around

Day trips from Paris

A day outside the city: the châteaux, Champagne, the gardens.

  • The Albatros course at Le Golf National

    The championship course of Le Golf National at Guyancourt, near Versailles, where Europe won the 2018 Ryder Cup and the 2024 Olympic golf was played, reopened in 2026 after two years of rebuilding.

  • The dome on a candlelit evening at Vaux-le-Vicomte

    The top of the dome of Vaux-le-Vicomte, over 25 metres up, taken for two on a Saturday candlelit evening, with champagne and the closing fireworks launched from there.

  • The Imperial Theatre at Fontainebleau

    Napoleon III's court theatre of 1857 at the Château de Fontainebleau, 400 seats with its original stage machinery and sets, opened only for a 45-minute guided tour.

  • The King's private apartments at Versailles

    A 1½-hour tour, led by a palace guide, of the private rooms of Louis XV and Louis XVI that lie behind the Grand Apartments of Versailles.

  • The Opéra Royal at Versailles

    The court theatre Ange-Jacques Gabriel built for Louis XV inside the Château de Versailles, opened in 1770 and used today for a season of opera, concerts and ballet.