Paris high-end hotels face gloomy future on travel restrictions

Taking a hit: A woman walks pass the Plaza Athenee palace hotel in Paris. As a result of Covid-19, most of the ultra-luxury hotels in Paris went into months-long hibernation, from which they will only begin to emerge at the end of this month. — AFP

PARIS: As the capital of the world’s No. 1 tourist destination, Paris has no shortage of hotels for all tastes and wallets, from the dumpy dive to the pillared palace, where a single night can set you back as much as 30,000 euros (US$35,000).

But coronavirus and the ensuing lockdown have been hard on the City of Lights. The fanciest hotels previously pulled in at least 80% of their guests from outside Europe, a route now closed because of international travel restrictions.