Clarins Spa at exclusive Parisian lido and health club Molitor now open
The luxury Parisian lido and hotel Molitor finally opened on 19 May after being closed for 25 years, with membership to the exclusive health facility limited to 1,000 – of which 100 have already been snapped up.
The site is steeped in history and is renowned for hosting the first unveiling of the modern bikini, designed by Louis Réard, during a 1946 fashion show.
The €80m (US$109m, £64.8m) renovation took two and a half years after a call for tenders issued by the city of Paris was won by phone network company Bouygues group, Accor and real estate firm Colony Capital in 2012.
The 124-bedroom five-star hotel is being operated under Accor Hotel’s MGallery brand and its spa is run by Clarins.
The spa features 13 treatment rooms, two of which are 50sq m (538sq ft) private suites. It will also include a hammam, sauna, sensory showers, a relaxation room, tea salon, hairdressers and barber shop. Spa equipment has been provided by Gharieni.
Molitor’s two historically-classified swimming pools have been restored, maintaining the facilities mustard-coloured walls as well as mosaics dating back to 1929 and original railings.
The all-year 46m (151ft) outdoor pool and the 33m (108ft) pool which is sheltered by a glass roof will both be heated to 28 degrees Celsius. Access to the pool is only for members of the hotel and health club. One day of swimming will cost €150 (US$200, £120).
In the late fifties, the outdoor pool was used as an ice rink. Since its closure, graffiti artists continued to use the walls as canvases for their work and in 2001 a rave within the facility's walls attracted 5,000 visitors.
The new Molitor also includes a restaurant – designed by the chef Yannick Alléno – booths around the outdoor ‘winter’ pool for mini art workshops or exhibition venues, in line with the complex’s concept ‘Pool, art, life’.