Paris I Love You

Espirit de France properties are rich in history and situated near artistic and cultural landmarks.

When it opened in mid-2018, Hôtel du Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées introduced a new concept to the French capital. The intimate 36-room property, with interiors inspired by the Art Deco flair of the 1920s, felt more like an elegant Parisian residence than it did a hotel.

Hôtel du Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées is part of Esprit de France, a collection of 10 unique Parisian hotels and 37 additional chateaux, hotels and residences across France. The year 2018 was particularly significant for the company, as it unveiled two Parisian properties (Hôtel du Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées and Maison Armance), plus Hôtel Louvre Lens, situated three hours’ drive north of Paris. With each of its properties, Esprit de France strives to provide an authentic cultural experience for its guests, and it does so by selecting properties that are architecturally significant, rich in history and situated near artistic and cultural landmarks.

For Hôtel du Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées, Esprit de France asked Milan’s Dimore Studio to design the new hotel concept and then hired Vincent Bastie and Arnaud Bezhadi from French firm Artefak to execute the designs. Dimore Studio sought to draw out the building’s character by emphasizing the Art Deco elements that were introduced on the stone façade back in the 1920s. The addition of green marble at the base of the building plus yellow marble siding worked to provide a striking contrast to the exterior’s cream-colored stone.

The hotel’s lobby exudes the same Roaring Twenties spirit as the façade, with green velvet seats, tables with gold accents and dark marble flooring. Three steps up from the lobby, you have the hotel’s cozy Bar Daphné. Named after famed Rebecca author Daphné du Maurier, who used to partake in forbidden trysts within this very hotel, the alcove bar features mirrored walls and dark green hues. Breakfast is served in the hotel restaurant, which lies directly behind the bar area. Rather than having a buffet, the place offers an elegantly spare menu with three different formulas, including freshly brewed coffee and freshly baked breads and pastries.

A patio leads to a library with its own fireplace, while on the basement level, guests can enjoy a new thermal area, complete with a pool, lounging area and Parisian hammam.

The 36 rooms and suites – each one different from the next as envisioned by Dimore Studio – are plush cocoons of utter tranquility. The color palette ranges from powder pink to emerald green, with generous use of mahogany wood. Room furnishings and light fixtures are contemporary but inspired by the luxury of bygone Transatlantic liners, while reinvented erotic illustrations from the 1920s line some of the bed frames, in a nod to that most mischievous of decades.

From the Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées, where the hotel is located, much of Paris is at your fingertips. You can walk to the Champs-Elysées, Arc de Triomphe, Jardin des Tuileries, Grand Palais, Petit Palais and Place de la Concorde. Dreamy Parc Monceau is a 15-minute walk, as are the Palais Galliera and Palais de Tokyo. At Hôtel du Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées, you’ll fall in love again, with Paris and its timeless beauty.

Visit paris-hotel-rondpoint-champselysees.com

Words Marwan Naaman