Updated on 26 July 2026
Walk along the Champs-Élysées today, and one sight is guaranteed to stop you in your tracks: a monumental, silver Louis Vuitton trunk gleaming in the sunlight. Towering over Avenue des Champs-Élysées at numbers 103–111, this larger-than-life installation wraps a historic Haussmannian building currently undergoing major renovation.
For two years, rumours circulated about a Louis Vuitton hotel opening here in 2026 — but in 2025, LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault confirmed that those plans had been dropped. There will be no hotel. Instead, the roughly 6,000-square-metre building is set to become a Louis Vuitton retail and lifestyle destination, with shopping, dining, a café, and exhibition space.
A Luxury Landmark Wrapped in Style
The shimmering façade is designed to resemble one of the brand’s iconic monogram trunks — oversized handles, leather straps, and all. This temporary architectural cover masks an ongoing renovation of a historic Haussmannian building. Officially permitted and taxed under Paris city regulations, the structure has sparked both admiration and criticism — with some citizen groups seeing it as excessive commercialization of a historic site.
Still, the trunk does what it intends: it catches eyes, sparks conversation, and blends Louis Vuitton’s legacy of craftsmanship, travel, and luxury into a bold visual statement.
A Site with a Story
The building has a long and layered history. Originally constructed in the 1890s as the Élysée Palace Hotel, it once hosted royalty and dignitaries. It’s also believed to be the place where legendary spy Mata Hari was arrested in 1917. In later decades, it served as a Galeries Lafayette department store, then as the HSBC bank, before being acquired by LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy).
Now set to become a major Louis Vuitton retail and lifestyle destination — with shopping, dining, a café, and exhibition space — the address sits at the commercial and symbolic heart of the Champs-Élysées, just steps from the Louis Vuitton flagship store, the Arc de Triomphe, and other iconic landmarks.
What’s Actually Coming: A Luxury Lifestyle Destination
Despite years of leaked renderings and widespread speculation, Louis Vuitton will not be opening a hotel here. Bernard Arnault put the rumours to rest when he stated plainly: “Vuitton will not make a hotel. Vuitton concentrates rather than diversifies.”
What the address will become is something different — and arguably more accessible. The building is set to house a major Louis Vuitton retail and lifestyle space: shopping, dining, a café, and exhibition areas, all within a 6,000-square-metre footprint on one of the world’s most famous avenues. Construction is ongoing behind the giant trunk-shaped facade that has been wrapped around the building since 2023.
LVMH continues to operate hotels under other brands — Cheval Blanc, Belmond, and Bulgari Hotels among them — but the Louis Vuitton name itself will not be attached to a hospitality project here.
A Building Worth Watching
Whatever takes shape behind the trunk facade, this address is shaping up to be one of the most talked-about openings on the Champs-Élysées in years. A 6,000-square-metre Louis Vuitton retail and lifestyle space — with shopping, dining, a café, and exhibition areas — in a building that once hosted royalty and saw Mata Hari arrested, is not a small thing.
For now, the trunk itself draws the crowds. When the doors finally open, it will be one of the grandest fashion houses on an avenue that already has no shortage of them.
If you’re heading there before it opens, it’s worth a closer look:
- Best light: Early morning or golden hour, when the surface glows.
- Look closely: The “trunk” features realistic details like clasps and stitching, scaled to architectural size.
- Photography tip: Stand slightly to the side to play with light and reflections from passing traffic.
You’ll find it near Le Drugstore and within easy reach of metro stations and major shopping avenues. Paris For You app helps travelers discover 100+ curated locations across Paris, all available offline.
Also read:
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