The early 20th-century building on the corner of Paris’s Avenue Kléber and Avenue des Portugais has undergone myriad transform?ations since it first opened as the Hotel Majestic in 1908. At one time, it served as offices for France’s defence ministry; then as the headquarters of Germany’s high command in Paris during the second world war. In 1973, it was the venue for the signing of the Paris Peace Accords, which marked the end of the Vietnam war.

Walk past its grandiose entrance today, and its brand-new bolt-on glass portico and two hulking Chinese lions on either side of the main steps are signs that the former Majestic has just undergone another change.

Last month, the building reopened as the Peninsula Paris, the Hong Kong-based hotel group’s first venue in Europe. With a total investment of nearly €800m (€460m to purchase the building and €338m for its refurbishment), the Peninsula Paris is one of the biggest and flashiest hotel projects ever undertaken in the French capital. L’Oiseau Blanc, its aviator-styled rooftop bar and restaurant, offers sumptuous views of the city.