TRIANGLE D’OR HOTEL

Musical Boutique hotel

Rickie Lee Jones. Archie Shepp. Jacques Higelin. Manu Katché. MC Solaar. It could be the poster for a summer festival. Here, it is the reverse guest book of a decoration idea created by interior designer Philippe Maidenberg, who is behind numerous Parisian hotels, including Le Six, rue Stanislas, le 123, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré and the Joyce. Boldly, Philippe went to ask these artists, singers and jazzmen to get involved in the decoration of this 3-star hotel judiciously situated at voice range of the Olympia concert hall. Everything from the furniture to the ambiance, reminds the stage atmosphere, the backstage, the gigs, the dressing rooms or the studios. Up to the point where Maidenberg drew a stage tool as requested by saxophonist Archie Shepp, manufactured by the Pleyel workshops. No wrong note in the decor: the melodious graphics have been designed by his brother Michel Maidenberg, Creative Director of the Faux Q magazine.

JOYCE HOTEL

Amusing charm

With seventeen hotels in Paris, The Astotel Group is one of the most enterprising of the space, targeting the convenient market of the 3-star hotels, for which the group expands the category in three levels to better distinguish its concepts. The Joyce, inaugurated in 2009, is in the “prestige” category, on paper at least, while its decor and services make it an amusing address full of malicious decoration ideas signed by Philippe Maidenberg, who already accounts for several hotels for this very chain. Common themes: Paris, with an Eiffel tower upside-down, and the trompe-l’œil with its headboards drawn on the walls. Fasten your seat belt for breakfast time, in your car seat that includes the headrest. Just opposite, the Monterosa (30, rue La Bruyère. IXth. Tél.: 01 48 74 87 90), 36 bedroom hotel by Astotel also designed by the architect.

LANGLOIS HOTEL

Charm

Charming Langlois, ex-Hôtel des Croisés. How many times have we walked passed it swearing to walk in one day. It was not until the new VU gallery opened, in the former private mansion of the painter Paul Delaroche, just opposite, that we decided. And right there we experienced the delicious shock of time travel: a decorative mix of all Belle époques — the hotel opened in 1896 —, the inside appeals to the visitor with its passé charm, its ambiance of another era, kept with a smile. The “Nouvelle Athènes” revived.

The lady at the entrance gladly shows us around: the elevator, the corridors, the pastel 1930’s and 1950’s in the large bathrooms, the lamps… Which button did we push to find ourselves in 1955? Just add Françoise Arnoul in her nightie and you are reenacting a part of  La chatte sort ses griffes. Plan to sleep there and bring with you a book by Léo Malet. Boulevard… bones, for instance. The plot of these “New Mysteries of Paris” is taking place in the 9th arrondissement. Very suitable.

123 Sebastopol Hotel

November 2013

Located near the Grand Rex, this new hotel pays tribute to cinema and its artists. Each floor is named after one of the famous comedians and directors who participated in the design of the bedrooms, under the direction of designer Philippe Maidenberg: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Claude Lelouch, Agnès Jaoui, Danièle Thompson, Elsa Zylberstein, to name a few… And under the glass ceiling, enjoy the restaurant modeled after a film set. Action!

123, bd de Sébastopol, Paris 2^nd, +33 (0)1 40 39 61 23

Stylish stays

Élisabeth Cranck-Dumas, August-September 2010

IN A DECIDEDLY different but equally creative style, the Joyce is the newest fashionable place to stay in northern central Paris. The nerve center of the hotel is its spacious, airy breakfast room that juxtaposes fifties-inspired chairs with cushy automobile seats under a glass roof reminiscent of Gustave Eiffel. The quiet, mostly white rooms are filled with witty details, like photographic “bookcases” and decorative figurines from the Wooden Dolls series by Alexander Girard. The overall effect is simple, original and undeniably captivating.

123 Sebastopol Hotel – Like in the movies!

Just opposite the Gaite Lyrique, this new 4 star hotel in the Boulevard Sebastopol declares its love for cinema. The reception desk reminds an American box office, the entrance wall with its hand casts – a wink at the Hollywood stars – set the tone wanted by hotel architect and interior designer Philippe Maidenberg. Over 6 floors, the sixty three rooms have been refurbished with the complicity of leading actors. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Claude Lelouch, Danièle Thompson, the Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri duo, Elsa Zylberstein and Ennio Morricone have all played the game and given a bit of their intimacy. A punching ball next to an espalier stands as a headboard and a bedspread reminds of a boxer’s robe in the Belmondo bedrooms. In the Lelouch bedrooms, the scenery is made of black and white film roll, and a reel as a bedside table. Chairs from Danièle Thompson’s latest film, Des gens qui s’embrassent, can be found in one of her rooms. Special mention for the 424, dedicated to La Boom! In a hotel where cinema is in every floor, there is of course a screening room, as an extra to all services expected in a 4 star hotel: lobby, bar, fitness room.

123 Sébastopol. 123, boulevard Sébastopol, V. Tél. 01 40 39 61 23. www.astotel.com