The rostral column in the front signifies the navy headquarters; rostral columns erected in honor of a naval triumph and ornamented with the rostra or prows of ships.

The former town house is now an actual hotel, with 103 guest rooms and 44 suites. It occupies one of two identical stone buildings (the other, the Hôtel de la Marine), divided by the rue Royale, that were constructed in 1758 under the auspices of architect Louis François Trouard as a result of a commission from King Louis XV. Initially, both structures were built to serve as government offices and the eastern one continues to this day as Headquarters of the Royale, the French Navy. The facade is by Ange-Jacques Gabriel. In 1788, François-Félix-Dorothee Berton des Balbes, the Count of Crillon, acquired the hotel, only to have it confiscated shortly thereafter by the government of the French Revolution. It was eventually returned to the Count of Crillon's family who ran it until 1907 at which time it underwent a two-year-long refurbishing.