With an existing lacklustre property in Paris opened in 2011, which failed to established itself in Paris’ top 5 luxury properties, far from the calibre of other Mandarin Oriental flagship properties around the world, Mandarin Oriental has now pompously announced its second Paris hotel by taking-over of The Lutetia in Paris with immediate effect. Mention should also be made that in 13 years, Mandarin Oriental Paris has not conducted any renovations, the property being dated and tired, with a mediocre Spa and dining offering. Given its location and structure, the property should have been de-flagged!
Despite its bumpy debut, The Lutetia in Paris has been splendidly repositioned by The Set Collection (Alrov Properties), rekindling the powerful independent positioning of the iconic luxury hotel in the bohemian Rive Droite, which has always been an institution in Paris. Alrov not only invested massively in the renovation, but also in the rebranding, with a superb luxurious product and excellent service standards. The Lutetia also features a stunning Spa! The quintessential DNA of The Lutetia is the crowd sitting on its brasserie but also the immediate proximity to one of the most iconic luxury stores in the world which happens to be Hermes.
In its excessive quest of expansion Mandarin Oriental, which included the futile re-branding of the Ritz Madrid to Mandarin Oriental Ritz Madrid, how will this benefit The Lutetia under Mandarin Oriental? Luxury hotel rates in the Left Bank (Saint Germain des Pres District) are at least 30 to 40% lower than downtown Paris and Mandarin Oriental The Lutetia will compete with several ”luxury” boutique properties in the neighbourhood who barely offer microwave heated frosted pastry for breakfast because they have no kitchen.
CPP has identified 6 such ”luxury” boutique properties within a radius of 5 kms from Lutetia, which charge EUR 700 for a 20 sqm budget room with no views. According to French law, any property can ‘claim’ to be five star with no classification or ranking criteria. One such hotel does not even have suites and showers are enclosed in a bathtub. The owner of such a property told CPP ‘We are different luxury! Americans pay!”
Nevertheless, Mandarin Oriental can without any doubt reshape and overhaul its European portfolio but, it will take maverick luxury hotelier Amanda Hyndman, who has a unique understanding of luxury hospitality (currently Chief People Officer of the group), to make some drastic and immediate changes which, until recently, used to be upon Christoph Mares – the long time COO of Mandarin Oriental who had retired last month. Mandarin Oriental in Europe is weak, with properties in Geneva and Munich that have no Spas.
But nobody can deny Mandarin Oriental’s immense service culture DNA which it has never compromised! And this has been at the heart of the strategic approach of Mandarin Oriental CEO Laurent Kleitman who was highly doubted and labelled as an industry outsider when he took over in 2023. Instead, Kleitman’s vast experience and understanding of true luxury has been of the essence for Mandarin Oriental – largely thanks to his tenures at Dior, Coty, Unilever and LVMH. Since he took over, Mandarin Oriental has been reinforcing its credibility and commitment to luxury and has been boosting the branding of the group.
Yet, we cannot overlook the tired and dated Mandarin Oriental Prague which has not been renovated since it opened in 2006 within a superbly restored monastery. And last but not least, the highly controversial corruption and politically rooted property in Budapest (Gellert Hotel) which has been announced for 2027 as the new flagship of Mandarin Oriental in Europe may not even happen at all.
The former Gellert Hotel property, which has undergone several dubious privatisations and has deep overt political ties, is further challenged by the thermal baths which are on its premises but which are still separately owned and operated by the Municipality of Budapest. (Mandarin Oriental will only operate the Gellert Hotel, without owning the asset)
Mandarin Oriental in Europe has been and continues to be a battle ground for a balancing of internal company politics and egos with two executives who started their careers with Mandarin Oriental as property General Managers to now increasingly assume higher and higher sounding regional titles and sharing multi-property authority in ever expanding clusters and regions – losing touch with reality ! – with the exception of Mandarin Oriental Barcelona and Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park London, which have remained miraculously ‘isolated’ or better to say immune to this growing ‘regionalisation’ and power sharing company politics – at least for now.
Without any doubt, both Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park London and Mandarin Oriental Barcelona are among the finest and best performing properties of the group in Europe having achieved and maintained undisputed leading positioning in each market. Particularly Mandarin Oriental Barcelona has maintained interruptedly its no. 1 spot in Barcelona’s luxury sector. Despite its good start, Mandarin Oriental Milan lags behind the newly renovated Park Hyatt Milano and Bvlgari Hotel Milan.
It will take much more than the superb newly opened Mandarin Oriental Savoy Zurich, which has almost instantly become the absolute luxury leader in Zurich and Mandarin Oriental Bosphorus Istanbul for Mandarin Oriental to maintain its lead in Europe at the highest luxury standards. Unfortunately, Mandarin Oriental Mayfair, which opened earlier this year, is highly unlikely to become a serious contender among London’s finest luxury hotels.
Qatar owned Rosewood The Chancery in London which opens next year will fastly and boldly make its way to the top tier luxury ranked hotels in London under the guidance of visionary Michael Bonsor, while Rosewood Munich and Rosewood Vienna are already front runners in less than a year since their opening. Rosewood Vienna has now overtaken even the legendary Hotel Sacher (which seemed untouchable) and Park Hyatt Vienna – one of the finest Park Hyatt properties in the world. It remains to be seen how Mandarin Oriental Vienna will carve out its position in the city, in spite of a location which some consider as not being a prime one.
However, for the time being, Le Crillon in Paris and Villa Magna in Madrid remain Rosewood’s weakest points in Europe. While Le Crillon is a stunning luxury Palace exquisitely restored and renovated, it is not controlled by Rosewood and is tied up into a complicated management agreement which is financially detrimental to Rosewood. Le Crillon has been lost in translation since its hugely controversial first GM ‘departure’. Nevertheless, Sonia Cheng seems to have learned a lot, very fast, especially in the past 2 years, leaving behind the self-proclaimed appellation of being one of the Billionaire siblings who reinvent luxury
The upcoming Rosewood Amsterdam (2025) has no virtually no direct competitor, Amsterdam’s lacking any property of such calibre, fact also explained by Amsterdam boasting some of the lowest luxury hotel rates among the major cities in Europe. Once again, Mandarin Oriental has taken over the Conservatorium Hotel (The Set Collection / Alrov Properties) which requires major renovations. Still, the market, presents exceptional opportunities for smaller luxury boutique hotels, with exceptional service standards.
It will take years for Amsterdam to reposition as a luxury destination and to attract the clientele of Paris or Milan. CPP will publish an extensive analysis of luxury retail and luxury hospitality by the end of January 2025, indicating the current best five star hotels. Service standards at many five star hotels in Amsterdam are also below similar hotels in other major European cities, not to mention that some properties have not been renovated for many years. All these factors are also dragging down hotel rates.
Both Rosewood and Mandarin Oriental will need to stop claiming that they are reinventing and / or redefining luxury. And most importantly, they need to remember that luxury lies in humility, humbleness and generosity. General Managers must be on the floor, not on Instagram flaunting their lifestyle thanks to their position – most of the times ‘visiting’ a sister property!
Luxury is not about the increasing tendency of restricting or banning quality travel media outlets or independent journalists who are not providing guaranteed laudatory coverage and overflow with senseless paid rankings which travellers do not place any credibility.
Luxury is also about embracing feedback and building bridges, not burning bridges. There is no ultra luxury or quiet luxury ! Luxury hospitality is about hosting! Luxury is not about ‘World’s Best Hotels’!
The analysis series II and III will be published before January 11th, 2025, as we reflect on why Oetker Collection is losing properties and what lies ahead for The Set Collection, while we report on the incessant rise of Dorchester Collection, Accor‘s wobbling luxury strategy and the undeniable advances of Belmond and Bvlgari Hotels & Resorts.
Oliver Petcu, a FAN of Luxury for 17 years+

Hotel Lutetia Paris (Mandarin Oriental)
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