Paris' Lutetia hotel reopens after luxury makeover Steeped in history, from its occupation by Nazi intelligence agents to its years as a hangout for celebrity intellectuals in the 1950s, the Lutetia hotel in Paris, favoured by the likes of Picasso and Hemingway, reopens this week after four years of costly renovations that it hopes will win it the "palace" label reserved for the most opulent of French lodgings. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES.