A little out of the ordinary – Glass stays at L’Hotel on Paris’s Rive Gauche
The charming and petite L’Hotel on Paris’s Rive Gauche (Left Bank) is one of the last vestiges of a bohemian and artistic society for which Paris was renowned in the 1800s. Right in the heart of the city’s art district and just ten minutes’ walk from Notre Dame Cathedral, the hotel has hosted a slew of notable pop culture figures in its time, from actor Marlon Brando to the exotic dancer and French icon Mistinguett. It was also the last home of Oscar Wilde, who apparently made his famous remark, “I am dying beyond my means” here.
And subsequently it was also the final home of renowned writer Jorge Luis Borges, who apparently translated Wilde’s novel The Happy Prince into Spanish at the age of nine and wanted ‘to die where the writer of his childhood had died’. Later, the hotel would also become the hub of the Paris swinging sixties society scene and has long been a favourite of celebrities for its discreet location and quiet facade which blends subtly into the street.
The tiny hotel is centred around a stunning but equally tiny round atrium and around this axis the hotel rooms sit snugly one on top of another. The effect of this central column of space and light is absolutely mesmerising, and whether you are standing on the ground floor and looking up, or simply exiting your room onto the mediaeval-style balconies on each floor, your heart will give a little flutter. In fact, it’s difficult not to imagine that you are in a scene from Romeo and Juliet, such is the romance of the design and sumptuous dark décor.
The rooms range from mignon (small) and bijoux (jewel or trinket) right up to grand, chic and apartment – the last three names are quite self-explanatory. The larger rooms also feature that rarest of rarities in Paris, an outdoor space. I contented myself with a mignon chambre but what the room lacked in size, it certainly made up for in character. Every wall was covered in an ornate crimson and gold wallpaper, the windows were framed by plush satin drapes and the furniture was of a dark, highly polished mahogany. In the bathroom, the gothic feeling continued with mirrors in wooden frames shaped like cathedrals and a similar wooden cladding running along the walls. In such a poetic setting, it is easy to imagine Oscar Wilde in repose, scribbling in the last of his notebooks while sipping Madeira wine, and he wouldn’t look out of place wondering around here today.
The petite hotel also boasts a Michelin-starred restaurant run by head chef Julien Montbabut, who serves classically French cuisine with a contemporary twist. The restaurant is a plush but relaxed affair with tables surrounded by plush armchairs and sofas rather than rigid-backed dining chairs. The décor features granite columns, art deco mirrors, Byzantine plasterwork and yet more satin drapes; a profusion of all things romantic and opulent.
The hotel is, in short, a fantasy world, inhabited by charming, discreet porters who appear mysteriously as soon as you need them and then vanish into thin air when they are no longer required. Every inch of the building is so fantastically decorated that your transportation into another world is complete. Even the air is filled with an exotic, sweet and spicy aroma from bespoke candles which the hotel itself has created. For those seeking the magic of Paris, this is surely the place to find it.
by Nicola Kavanagh
Rooms at L’Hotel start from €295 per room per night (excluding breakfast)