Updates on the Ritz Paris Renovation and 2015 Reopening (VIDEO)

Paris

The Ritz Paris is on schedule to reopen its gilded gates at the end of 2015 and the city’s denizens are getting giddy. Closed since 2012 for a dramatic, top-to-bottom overhaul that's cost €200 million, the legendary hotel has continued its marketing blitz. (And the hotel’s fashionable clientele have resorted to other Parisian palaces during the long closure.)

Celebrity barman Colin Field, the magician behind the scenes at the hotel’s Bar Hemingway, has been making the rounds as a hotel ambassador. From London to Air France flights, Field has traveled around the world on his mission. In fact, the mixologist recently made a pop-up appearance on the Venice-Simplon-Orient-Express, delighting luxury train passengers with hand-crafted cocktails during their journey to Venice. Field will next be making an appearance at the Cipriani Hotel in Venice on April 15, 2015.

Colin Field, Ritz Paris

In the latest email update from the hotel, General Manager Christian Boyens and President Frank Klein confirm the end-of-year reopening date. “Many of the skilled artisans and restoration artists of France are busy working at the 
rejuvenated Ritz Paris,” they write, as the hotel “prepares for a new era.” The façade restoration is almost complete, along with the first rooms and suites. Landscapers have also been hard at work on the Grand Jardin, planting trees and flowers.

Venice Simplon Orient Express

HotelChatter points out that the reservation lines will be open in June 2015. And a recent article in The Australian leaks a few more fun details: Plumbing was a major focus of the restoration, and now each guest room will have dramatically improved bathrooms with heated floors, separate sinks, and a separate bath and shower.