Champs-Élysées · Stay in Paris
Hôtel Balzac
The hotel on the corner of rue Balzac and rue Lord-Byron in September 2020, before its 2024 renovation.
The Atlas take
About Hôtel Balzac
A 58-room five-star hotel just off the Champs-Élysées, renovated by Festen Architecture and reopened in 2024, with a small spa and the chef Pierre Gagnaire's restaurant in the same building.
Best for
- Travellers who want a smaller five-star hotel steps from the Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe.
- Food lovers who want Pierre Gagnaire's restaurant under the same roof.
Know before you book
Check-out is by noon, and the booking engine gives check-in from 3 pm. The hotel has rooms adapted for guests with reduced mobility, a public accessibility register at reception, and equipment for guests with hearing or sight impairments. The hotel's pages disagree on which rooms connect, so confirm when booking a family stay.
- The hotel
- 58 rooms and suitesRedesigned by Festen Architecture in 2024.
- Next door
- Pierre GagnaireThe chef's restaurant has been in the building since 1996.
- Spa
- Plunge pool and saunaOpen from 7 am to 10 pm.
The Hôtel Balzac is at 6 rue Balzac in the 8th arrondissement, on the corner of rue Lord-Byron, just off the Champs-Élysées. The nearest Métro stations are George V (line 1) and Charles de Gaulle–Étoile (lines 1, 2 and 6, and RER A).
The 58 rooms and suites were redesigned by Charlotte de Tonnac and Hugo Sauzay of Festen Architecture, with furniture made for the hotel in the style of the 1930s and 1940s. They range from Boudoir rooms of 20 m² to the 106 m² Paris Sky Suite on the top floor, which has two bedrooms and a terrace facing the Eiffel Tower. Some Deluxe rooms and suites on the upper floors also look towards the tower.
The lounge under a glass roof serves breakfast, lunch and drinks and is open to the public. The chef Pierre Gagnaire's restaurant, reached through a door from the lobby, is a separate business. The Ikoi spa has a plunge pool, a sauna, a fitness room and three treatment rooms.
Choose the right fit
Rooms at a glance
Compare the hotel’s room categories, then confirm your preferred configuration and dates directly with the hotel.
01 / ROOM CATEGORY
Boudoir Room
20 m² · 2 guests · queen or twin beds · shower
Room details
On floors 1 to 4, looking onto rue Balzac or rue Lord-Byron.
02 / ROOM CATEGORY
Superior Room
21–25 m² · 2 guests · queen or twin beds
Room details
Bathtub or shower. One Superior room has a tree-lined terrace.
03 / ROOM CATEGORY
Deluxe Room
26–30 m² · 2 guests · king or twin beds
Room details
Some look over the rooftops with a partial view of the Eiffel Tower. Accessible rooms are in this category.
04 / ROOM CATEGORY
Junior Suite and Suite
32–42 m² · up to 3 guests · sofa bed
Room details
Suites take two adults and two children. One Suite has a flowered terrace over the courtyard.
05 / ROOM CATEGORY
Eiffel Tower View Suite
46–52 m² · 3 guests · Eiffel Tower view
Room details
On the 5th floor above rue Lord-Byron; two have a small balcony.
06 / ROOM CATEGORY
Terrace Suite
50 m² · 3 guests · 25 m² rooftop terrace
Room details
On the 6th floor, with a bathtub and a separate shower.
07 / ROOM CATEGORY
Paris Sky Suite
106 m² · 4 guests · two bedrooms and two bathrooms
Room details
On the top floor, with a 10 m² terrace facing the Eiffel Tower.
The practical details
Amenities & guest services
- Lounge and bar, open to the public
- Ikoi spa with plunge pool and sauna
- Fitness room
- 24-hour room service
- Clefs d'Or concierge
- Private garage with valet parking
- Rooms adapted for reduced mobility
- Small pets for a fee
Lounge hours
Breakfast from 7 am to 11 am, lunch from noon to 2:30 pm, and the bar from noon to midnight.
Spa
The plunge pool, sauna and fitness room are open from 7 am to 10 pm. Treatments are given in three cabins, for one or two people.
Parking
A private garage with valet parking costs €50 a day.
Pets
Small pets are welcome for €50 a night each, on a lead in shared areas, but not in the dining areas.
The Paris Atlas · Beyond the booking
History & cultural connections
The history of 6 rue Balzac
Rue Balzac was opened in 1825 as avenue Fortunée, one of three streets laid out on the former Beaujon estate. The company that developed them named it after Fortunée Hamelin, the wife of one of its partners. Avenue Fortunée was renamed rue Balzac in 1850, the year the novelist Honoré de Balzac died there. Rue Lord-Byron, at the hotel's corner, was also opened in 1825.[1][2]
The novelist Honoré de Balzac's house stood at the other end of rue Balzac, near rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, not at the hotel. He owned it from 1846 until his death on the night of 18 August 1850. Victor Hugo, who visited him that evening, described it as what remained of the mansion of the financier Nicolas Beaujon. The house was demolished in 1882, and the Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild now stands on the site, about 330 metres from the hotel. The hotel says it occupies the site of Balzac's last home, but the evidence places the house elsewhere.[3][4][2]
The present building probably dates from 1909, when a permit was issued for a five-storey building at number 6 designed by the architect G. Déchard. From at least 1911 until the 1950s it was a hotel called the Celtic, and it had become the Hôtel Balzac by 2003.[5][6][7][8]
The chef Pierre Gagnaire has run his restaurant in the building since 1996. In 2021, after the previous operator, JJW Luxury Hotels, was placed in liquidation, a court approved the sale of the hotel to the BH Hotels group. The group reopened it in 2024 with 58 rooms and suites after a renovation by Festen Architecture.[9][10][11]
At 1 bis rue Balzac, the Cinéma Le Balzac opened in 1935, and its décor of the 1930s is protected by the City of Paris.[12]
Sources for this history
- 1.Ville de Paris open data — street names and origins (rue Balzac; rue Lord-Byron)
- 2.Eugène Monnier, La Maison de Balzac (1884), Internet Archive
- 3.Victor Hugo, Choses vues, "Mort de Balzac" (Wikisource)
- 4.French Ministry of Culture, Mérimée database — Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild (PA00088834)
- 5.Bulletin municipal officiel de la Ville de Paris, 19 February 1909, p. 3 — building permit, 6 rue Balzac (Gallica)
- 6.Revue mensuelle du Touring-club de France, 1 April 1911, p. 44 — "Celtic Hôtel, 6, rue Balzac" (Gallica)
- 7.L'Automobile sur la Côte d'azur, 1 March 1931 — advertisement, "Hotel Celtic, 6, rue Balzac" (Gallica)
- 8.Internet Archive — Hôtel Balzac website, June 2003
- 9.Hôtel Balzac — access and location (Pierre Gagnaire, since 1996)
- 10.BODACC company notices — JJW Luxury Hotels (sale plan, 25 June 2021) and BH Balzac (opening, 9 July 2021)
- 11.Hôtel Balzac — official homepage (58 rooms; Festen Architecture)
- 12.Ville de Paris open data — protected buildings of the local urban plan, 1 bis rue Balzac (Cinéma Le Balzac, 1935)
See where you’ll be
Paris, just outside the door
Places to discover nearby
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14 Rue de Tilsitt
F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald's Right Bank apartment in the year of Gatsby — a furnished fifth-floor flat by the Arc de Triomphe, and the address where Ernest Hemingway first came to lunch.
Explore this place
street · Champs-Élysées (8th)
Rue Pierre-Charron
The street where Edith Wharton's refugee organisations ran a grocery depot during the First World War. No building number survives in the record, so this is a street-level entry rather than an address.
Explore this place
apartment · Monceau (8th)
45 rue de Courcelles
Where the Proust family moved in 1900, and where Marcel lived until 1906 — the most socially active stretch of his life, receiving writers, artists and journalists and giving dinners. A commemorative plaque was installed by the City of Paris in 2022.
Explore this placeBefore you go
Useful questions, clear answers
Where is the Hôtel Balzac?
The hotel is at 6 rue Balzac, 75008 Paris, on the corner of rue Lord-Byron, just off the Champs-Élysées. George V and Charles de Gaulle–Étoile are the nearest Métro stations.
Did Honoré de Balzac live here?
No. Balzac lived and died at the other end of rue Balzac, in a house near rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré that was demolished in 1882. The street was named after him in 1850.
Which rooms have a view of the Eiffel Tower?
The Eiffel Tower View Suites and the Paris Sky Suite face the tower, and some Deluxe rooms and Junior Suites have partial views.
Does the hotel have a restaurant?
The lounge serves breakfast and lunch. Pierre Gagnaire's restaurant, a separate business, is reached through a door from the lobby.
What are the check-in and check-out times?
Check-out is by noon, and the booking engine gives check-in from 3 pm.
Are pets allowed?
Small pets are welcome for €50 a night each, but not in the dining areas.
The details behind this page
Sources & image credits
Hotel information reviewed .
Hotel information & sources
Image credits
Illustrations and reconstructions are labelled throughout this page.
- The hotel on the corner of rue Balzac and rue Lord-Byron in September 2020, before its 2024 renovation.Polymagou, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsSource & reference
Your next Paris chapter
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Plan your stay at Hôtel Balzac.