Touriste opens the doors to Hôtel de la Boétie

Tucked away on Rue la Boétie near the Champs-Élysées, the 40-room property has been brought to life by designer Beata Heuman who brings her imaginative take on Parisian style to her long-awaited first hotel venture. Hôtel de la Boétie follows the trend of each of the group’s hotels – all of which have been designed by popular and fashionable designers, every one representing a design moment in time.

“It has been a dream for a long time to work with Beata Heuman,” said Adrien Gloaguen, Founder. “I have followed her work for many years, and I am drawn to her elegant style which we wanted to impart to our new hotel to add a little panache to the Champs Élysées area.”

Image credit: Simon Brown

Heuman follows in the footsteps of artist-designer Luke Edward Hall who designed Touriste’s Hôtel Les Deux Gares and Chloé Nègre whose flamboyant Hôtel de Beauregard opened earlier this spring. Found in the eighth arrondissement, Hôtel de la Boétie is a rare boutique offering for the Champs-Élysées area, fashionably positioned amongst some of the best shopping in the city on Avenue Montaigne. Iconic destinations such as Le Petit Palais, Le Grand Palais, l’Arc de Triomphe, Musée Yves Saint Laurent and La Galerie Dior are all in easy reach.

Image credit: Simon Brown

Touriste is a small hotel group with the simple ambition to welcome travellers and tourists in the best possible setting, where they can enjoy the best possible experience, at the fairest price. The sense of exploration and excitement of being a ‘touriste’ in Paris is instilled into each hotel’s design; Hôtel de la Boétie is no exception.

Image credit: Simon Brown

“I have really enjoyed working on our first hotel,” commented Heuman, Founder, Beata Heuman. “A hotel is about having an experience for a day or two which means that we have been able to explore a concept and a mood to a greater extent. We can treat it a bit like a stage set, which is not the approach I would take when it comes to someone’s home. When it comes to residential the client is in the centre but with commercial work it is more about our vision rather than another individual. This has opened up new paths for us creatively which has been inspiring. I also loved working on the branding of the hotel which is something we haven’t done other than for ourselves before.”

Image credit: Simon Brown

From the outside, the 19th-century architecture of the hotel is unassuming. In keeping with the spirit of the building, the designer chose to keep the interiors simple, using a limited palette of rich block colours, natural woods, stainless steel and brass. Heuman also hoped to instil a sense of mystery; once inside, guests are transported into another world, where some surfaces and materials are reflective and glossy, so guests may catch a distorted reflection of themselves.

On the ground floor, the lobby leads to a theatrical lounge room in silver wallpaper which provides the perfect setting for working or a quiet drink in the evening – where the movements of passers-by on the street are reflected dreamily on the shimmery walls. Grassy green carpets run throughout the hotel to make things ‘pop’, meanwhile the guestrooms are divided into three schemes, starting with a moody, glossy blue, moving through shades of brown and ending on a light, airy blue across the top two floors.

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In the guestrooms, Heuman’s original headboards are a defining feature and an artwork in their own right. The scrolling shapes on these oversized headboards recall a medieval coat of arms and create the feeling of sleeping in a slightly warped world. Woven as rugs and then upholstered, they have a majestic, sculptural presence and take centre stage. Their design coincided with a recent trip to Florence where she took inspiration from the inlaid marble floor at Cappelle Medici – and are a nod to her love of placing historical motifs in a contemporary setting.

Heuman brings her discerning eye for offbeat art, antiques and objects to each room, including many items from her own ‘Shoppa’, a collection of original interiors products that combine form and function with personality. The bedrooms feature The Knot handles on the wardrobes as well as lighting. The Cub Chair and Lion Chair can be found in the lounge areas, as well as irreverent statement lighting such as the Dodo Egg Light and the soon-to-launch Crinkle Lights
and Paper Bag Lights.

image credit: Simon Brown

While the hotel’s clean, streamlined design feels distinctly current, it has been executed to stand the test of time. The hotel’s pieces are made predominantly of natural and solid materials that will age gracefully; the desks, bedsides and breakfast tables are all made from wood that will develop a beautiful patina over time. Natural brass has been used throughout and bedroom headboards have been hand woven in wool. Existing elements of the former hotel have been preserved where possible and reworked into the new design, such as the marble entrance, lift and staircase.

Main image credit: Simon Brown