Culinary Heights & The Subterranean Caves

Le Louis XV – Alain Ducasse à l'Hôtel de Paris

In 1987, Prince Rainier III entrusted a 33-year-old chef named Alain Ducasse with a clear mission: establish the first hotel restaurant in the world to be awarded three stars in the Michelin Guide within four years. Ducasse achieved the three stars in just thirty-three months, forever redefining modern Mediterranean fine dining.

The dining room is a masterwork of gilded Versailles-inspired architecture, framed by grand crystal chandeliers, classical frescoes depicting mythological allegories, and a centerpiece contemporary "Office" service station designed by Patrick Jouin and Sanjit Manku. Rather than relying heavily on heavy classical reductions, Ducasse and his executive chefs have championed Riviera terroir: seasonal vegetables from the Monaco hinterland, local herbs, rock fish caught along the Ligurian coastline, and aromatic olive oils cold-pressed in small Provençal mills.

Le Grill: Rooftop Rotisserie & Retractable Skies

Perched on the eighth floor of Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo, Le Grill has maintained a legendary reputation since its establishment in 1958. Its most renowned engineering feature is the circular ceiling that silently slides open in under sixty seconds on mild summer evenings, allowing patrons to dine directly beneath the Riviera stars.

Helmed by acclaimed chefs, Le Grill specializes in wood-fired rotisserie cooking, premium meats basted with rosemary branches, and the restaurant’s iconic dessert: individual hot soufflés flavored with Grand Marnier, chocolate, or Menton lemons, prepared to order with exact precision.

Le Bar Américain: Jazz & Aristocratic Cocktails

With its deep leather armchairs, gleaming rosewood paneling, and soft amber lighting, Le Bar Américain represents the pinnacle of old-school hotel bars. Since the 1930s, this salon has welcomed kings, screen legends, and jazz icons. Live musical trios perform classic American jazz standards, blues, and swing nightly, while mixologists craft bespoke cocktails such as the signature Lady Grace or aged Cognac flights.

Les Caves de l’Hôtel de Paris: The Subterranean Treasury

Carved ten meters underneath the gardens of Hôtel de Paris in 1874, the hotel’s wine cellars (Les Caves) are an awe-inspiring subterranean labyrinth spanning more than 1,500 square meters. Conceived by Marie Blanc, François Blanc’s widow, the cellars were bored through solid limestone to ensure natural humidity and constant temperatures of 13°C to 14°C year-round.

Housing approximately 350,000 bottles across 3,700 bin references, it constitutes the largest private hotel cellar collection on Earth. The holdings include legendary vintages of Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Margaux, Pétrus, Romanée-Conti, and vintage Champagnes dating back to the late 19th century.

The Secret Reserve of World War II

During the Second World War in 1940, the hotel’s chief cellar master took an extraordinary risk to protect the cellar's most priceless bottles from occupying troops. Using scrap bricks, old dust, and webs, the staff constructed a fake wall enclosing 20,000 of the rarest grand cru bottles, along with the royal silver plate and Monte-Carlo jewelry reserves. The wall went entirely undiscovered throughout the war. In 1945, the secret reserve was unsealed to host a celebratory dinner honoring Sir Winston Churchill, who dined on vintage Champagne from the reopened room.