Hotel Bellechasse is a boutique bolthole of exceptionally cool bohemian-luxe styling courtesy of Christian Lacroix. Located down a side street in St Germain, it’s a skip and a jump from the Musee d’Orsay and the Seine and is great for an edgier-than-your-average romantic weekend away.
Following proper boutique hotel principals, there’s no restaurant, but the breakfast room is decked out like the scene of a Roman feast (all murals of lemon groves and ancient columns), plus there’s a bar and small lounge in the lobby for drinks. If the weather’s right, you can take coffees and cocktails into the hotel’s elegant courtyard garden.
If the public areas are decadent, the real stars of the show are Lacroix’s individually-designed rooms. Discovery and Original category rooms are open-plan, with sleeping areas sharing space with bathroom basins and roll-top baths (you can draw curtains to preserve your modesty), while larger Privilege rooms have separate bathrooms and bedrooms.
All the rooms, though, are a sumptuous mix of colour and texture which adds to the overarching madcap feel: expect Georgian-print upholstery played off against striped wallpaper, pale wood-panelled feature walls and black mock-croc tiling. Giant moths decorate the ceilings above beds and everything from monocled gentlemen sprouting dragonfly wings to line drawings of Indian palaces and ladies’ dressing rooms loom across walls.
What’s hot?
- High-fashion credentials
- Stunning design
- Complimentary cocktails on arrival
What’s not?
- Rooms are small, but comfortably-sized
Need to Know: Hotel Bellechasse
Number of rooms: 34
Check-in/check-out times: 4pm and 12noon
Room service: Yes
Swimming pool: No
Spa: No
Dogs welcome: No
Eating and drinking: Breakfasts are served in bed or in a sumptuously-decorated dining room. There’s also a lobby bar for pre-/post-night out drink.
Near to? Located in sophisticated St. Germain, the hotel is a short stroll from Boulevard Haussmann, site of famous department stores Printemps and Galeries Lafayette.
Getting there: Gare du Nord is a 15-minute drive away; Paris CDG Airport is a 35-minute drive away.
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