History
• 1909: Construction of the Hotel under the architects Charles Lefèbvre and Louis Duhayon. The facade has an electric style.
• 1913 April 20: Opening of the Plaza Athenee by Emile Armbruster .
• 1914-1918: The Hotel remains open during WW I.
• 1920s: The Hotel expands adding neighboring appartments and the cour jardin restaurant.
• 1944: After the Liberation of Paris the Plaza Restaurants becomes a cantine for US soldiers.
• 1946: Christian Dior and Marcel Boussac open the Dior fashion house opposite the Hotel on 30 avenue Montaigne.
• 1952: Shooting of the moovie « Monsieur Taxi » by André Humbelle.
• 1963: Georges Martin becomes the new director of the Hotel.
• 1968: Acquisition of the Hotel by the Forte Hotels Group headed by Charles Forte.
• 1997 March: Acquisition of the Plaza Athenée by Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei for 420 million euros. Two months later, may 1997 the Sutan buys the Hotel Meurice.
• 1998: Renovation of the Hotel.
• 2000: Alain Ducasse opens the new « Alain Ducasse » Restaurant.
• 2000: Shooting of the US TV comedie « Sex and the City » with Sarah Jessica Parker.
• 2011 May 5: Hotel Plaza Athenee receives the new official Label « Palace ***** » given by the French Ministy of Tourism to describe a new elite categorie of 5 Star Hotels in France. Unlike the Plaza Athenee not every French « Palace » is part of « Palace Hotels of the World.com », some do not have enough historic background to be listed.
• 2013 April 13: 100 years of the Hotel Plaza Athenée ceremony.
• 2013 October 1: The Hotel closes again for renovation. Due to more competition, the Paris market for Grand Hotels is becoming very competitif.
• 2014 August 1: Reopening of the Hotel Plaza Athenée the same day that opens in Paris the Hong Kong based Hotel Peninsula.
Article by « Grand Hotels of the World & VB.com », written from « Cremerie de Paris ».
