Tim Foolery

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Le Meridien or The Le Meridien

This is a stupid question, but it’s bugged me each time I’ve written about Starwood’s Le Meridien brand.  First off, Le Meridien joined the Starwood Family in 2005.  It started in 1972 as a home away from home for the passengers (assuming crew too) of Air France.  The term meridien (or meridian in English) means a circle of constant longitude passing through a given place on the Earth’s surface.

So here’s my question, when discussing the hotel, is calling it “the Le Meridien” duplicative?  The The Meridien?  I just think it sounds odd, when writing in English, not to use the English language article “The” + the French name “Le Meridien”.  Take a look at these two sentences and see which one sounds better:

  1. I stayed at the Le Meridien last night.
  2. I stayed at Le Meridien last night.

To me #1 sounds much better. What do you think? Have you ever thought about this?  Do I have to much time on my hands?

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