Sofitel Paris La Défense, 34 Cours Michelet, 92060 La Défense/Paris, France. La Défense, a modern area with high-rise buildings, is located in the west of Paris and is the foremost business district of the Paris aire urbaine. This area with a size of 160 hectar are located in the three cities of Nanterre, Courbevoie and Puteaux. La Défense is named after the iconic statue "La Défense de Paris", which was erected in 1883 to commemorate the soldiers who had defended Paris during the Franco-Prussian War. In September 1958, The Public Establishment for Installation of La Défense (EPAD) buildings (of which the Esso Tower was the very first) were built and began to slowly replace the city's factories, shanties, and even a few farms. The Centre of New Industries and Technologies (CNIT) was built and first used in 1958. It is one of the first buildings built in Le Défrense and functions as convention centre, though it also houses the main offices such as that of FNAC, a media and electronics retailer found throughout Paris, as well as a Hilton hotel. These "first generation" skyscrapers were all very similar in appearance, limited to a height of 100 metres (330 feet). In 1966, the Nobel Tower was the first office building built in the area. In 1970 the RER line A railway was opened from La Défense to Étoile. With its 72 glass-and-steel slick buildings including 14 high-rises above 150 metres (490 ft), its 180,000 daily workers and 3.5 million squaremetres (37.7 million square feet) of office space, La Défense is Europe's largest purpose-built business district. The most famous building of La Défense is the Grande Arche, an almost perfect cube with a width of 108 metres, a height of 110 metres and a depth of 112 metres and covered with glass and Carrara marble from Italy. La Grande Arche, designed by the Danish architect Johann Otto von Spreckelsen, was inaugurated in July 1989 and it completed the line of monuments that forms the Axe historique running through Paris from the Louvre Museum, the Tuilerie Garden, Place de la Concorde, Avenue des Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe. The Grande Arche is turned at an angle of 6.33 degree on the axis. The most important reason for this turn was technical. A Metro station, a RER station as well as a motorway are located directly underneath the Arche and the angle was the only way to accommodate the monument's giant foundations. From an architectural point of view, the turn emphasises the depth of the monument, and is similar to the turn of the Louvre at the other end of the Axe historique. The Sofitel Paris La Défense, a contemporary five-star hotel with a quiet and discreet atmosphere that is ideal for work and relaxation, and it is located in the international business district of La Défense, close to the Grande Arche de la Défense, the CNIT and the large shopping centre "Les Quatres Temps" and only ten minutes with the express train from the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris. The hotel is surrounded by a range of public transport options and its ideal location close to many important business sites and attractions, makes the Sofitel Paris La Défense, perfect for both corporate and leisure travellers. The Sofitel Paris La Défense was built in 1987 and completely refurbished in 2006. The public areas are decorated in an elegant contemporary style with finest materials. Each of the 151 guestrooms inclusive of 16 suites is synonymous with calm and space. All accommodations are designed in an elegant and contemporary style and they offer latest comfort and amenities. The restaurants and bars at the Sofitel Paris La Défense provides the perfect setting for relaxing and socializing and offer refined Italian and French cuisine with the latest in fusion dishes from around the world. The hotel offers a fitness centre with modern equipment. The five meeting and banquet rooms at the hotel offer latest conference technology and natural daylight and they are perfect for business and social events up to 78 people.
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