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A dramatic holiday rental: Box in the opulent Parisian theatre that forms the setting for The Phantom of the Opera is transformed into incredible Airbnb
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It’s a showstopper of a holiday rental.
A box in Paris’s famous Palais Garnier opera house has been transformed into a unique Airbnb rental, offering musical theatre fans a ‘The Phantom of the Opera’-themed stay.
The rental, a plush bedroom with sweeping views of the opera house’s auditorium, is a nod to the 1909 novel by Gaston Leroux and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, which debuted in 1986.
In both the musical and the novel, the opulent Palais Garnier Opera House is thought to be haunted by a mysterious masked figure known as the Phantom of the Opera.
The Palais Garnier stay includes a music recital, dinner in an ornate rehearsal room backstage and a behind-the-scenes tour of the elaborate 19th-century building, including its underground water tank, the inspiration for the phantom’s lair in the book and musical.
A box in Paris’s famous Palais Garnier opera house has been transformed into a unique Airbnb rental, offering musical theatre fans a ‘The Phantom of the Opera’-themed stay
The rental is a nod to the 1909 novel by Gaston Leroux and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, which debuted in 1986
Specially decked out with antique furniture, the box the Airbnb is housed within is one of the theatre’s most prestigious.
‘It’s a bit of a fantasy. I think it will be a bit unreal,’ said Veronique Dubrulle Leroux, the great-granddaughter of The Phantom of the Opera author Leroux, who will host the visitors.
She continued: ‘My great-grandfather’s classic story has inspired so many people through the years.
‘This is the perfect time to honour him and welcome “phans” to the famous setting of his much-loved novel for a once-in-a-lifetime stay.’
A scene from a production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera
The rental comprises a plush bedroom with sweeping views of the opera house’s auditorium
The box has been specially decked out with antique furniture. The stay will be hosted by Veronique Dubrulle Leroux, the great-granddaughter of The Phantom of the Opera author Leroux
As part of the project, Airbnb will also fund the renovation of the theatre’s 19th-century boxes and help the Opera de Paris to update its online streaming platform.
The launch of the new rental comes as tourism bounces back in Europe after several years of pandemic disruptions, with visitors from the U.S arriving in France in droves since last summer.
European capitals are also gearing up for the return of Chinese tourists, following the lifting of travel restrictions.
In both the musical and the novel, the opulent Palais Garnier Opera House is thought to be haunted by a mysterious masked figure known as the Phantom of the Opera
The box the Airbnb is housed within is one of the theatre’s most prestigious
The Palais Garnier stay will be listed on March 1 for 37 euros, plus taxes and fees
Before the pandemic, Airbnb had created other unusual overnight stays in the French capital, one of its key markets.
These included a shark tank in the city’s aquarium, the skull-lined catacombs, the Moulin Rouge cabaret and the glass pyramid in the Louvre.
The idea is to encourage people ‘to travel and dream at the same time – and raise a lot of emotions around travel’, Emmanuel Marill, Airbnb director of Europe, the Middle East and Africa revealed.
The Palais Garnier stay will be listed at 5pm on March 1 for £33 (37 euros), plus taxes and fees. The one-off stay, which takes place on July 16, will be offered on a first-come-first-serve basis to an applicant registered on the company’s online rental platform.
For those who miss out on the Airbnb stay, the opera house is also open to the public for tours year-round, with a self-guided tour priced at £12 (14 euros). Better still, music lovers can catch a performance in the esteemed venue – Giuseppe Verdi’s 1853 opera Il Trovatore is running until February 17, with a full programme of events to follow throughout the year.
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