From
The Sunday Times Travel Magazine
£255 - Le Bellechasse
‘This is art, dammit. Baroque and berserk’
Sleep? Don’t expect to – you’ll spend the night looking for clues when you
hole up in Le Bellechasse, a mere brushstroke away from the Musée d’Orsay.
Fantastical collages of louche nudes, men with butterfly wings, pack-of-card
knaves, masked ladies, and strange images jostle, nudge and wink for your
attention – all sewn together by master couturier Christian Lacroix.
As you’d expect, there’s nothing prêt-à-porter about it. All 34 rooms
(soundproofed, wi-fi’d and with the obligatory flatscreen TVs) are
statements – writ large – clothed in bold colours, some with open bathtubs
taking centre stage.
Materials collide in a delicious confection of velvet, taffeta, brocade and
snakeskin – an invitation to touch, stroke and caress. It’s a masterpiece of
wit, with a touch of grotesque-verging-on-the-macabre thrown in: a heady
concoction not for minimalists (or estate agents).
And light sleepers beware: room decor is challenging rather than soothing,
daring your brain to decode obscure meanings, images that mess with your
mind (well at least you won’t be bored). Your dreams could turn into
visions, your nightmares take new turns. This is art, dammit. Baroque and
berserk. Just stay off the cheese.
Hôtel Le Bellechasse (00 33 1 45 502231, www.lebellechasse.com)
has doubles from £255, B&B.
£64 - Hôtel du 7e Art
‘Camp and colourful – this is pure kitsch’
It’s showtime, folks! And the name says it all. The ‘seventh art’ is cinema,
and the hotel’s chunky logo recalls Hollywood’s heady heydays.
The 7e is no glamour puss, though. It’s pure kitsch – all colour and clamour,
and as camp as you like. The place pays tribute to a time when films were
about stars, and stars were larger than life.
