A renovated department store and shopping area 100 meters from the Relais du Louvre

A lot of changes have taken place very recently in our neighborhood:

• After two years of work, the Châtelet theater, located a 6-minute walk from our hotel, reopened in 2019, with a completely renovated auditorium.
• It’s a brand new museum that is becoming a reality this year, housing the collections of the Pinault Foundation in the former Stock Exchange, located a 7-minute walk from the Relais du Louvre (read our article).
• The reopening of the Théâtre de la Ville is announced for 2022.

But above all, the very recent reopening of our neighbor La Samaritaine after sixteen years of work is an event. The renovation is spectacular. We made the visit and filmed for you.

Founded in 1870 and built by architects Frantz Jourdain (Art Nouveau) and Henri Sauvage (Art Deco), this department store was not able to stand up against the breakthrough of superstores in the 1970s and gradually fell into disuse. Closed for safety reasons in 2005, it was taken over by the LVMH group, which designed an ambitious project.

The group of three buildings is divided into a 20,000m² department store, offices, public housing, and a 5-star, 72-room hotel under the Cheval Blanc brand. In the department store, we find fashion products, accessories, jewelry products, skincare and beauty products, gourmet selections, wines and spirits, a wide choice of high-end French and international brands but also luxury crafts and several restaurants.

The exceptional restoration of listed monuments

The restoration of the buildings consisted of a very in-depth restoration in order to reclaim the original architecture: The mosaics and frescoes of Jourdain, the restoration of the windows, the restoration of the atrium’s original glass and the creation of 3 interior courtyards to flood the interior of buildings with light, the restoration of the pinnacles, the hopper railings, the makeover or replacement of the staff… A colossal job to restore these buildings classified as historical monuments.