The new Hotel St Marc, located a mere stone’s throw from the Paris Opéra Comique and recently reopened by owners Nadia Murano and Denis Nourry after a two-year refurbishment project, is the kind of place you’d be happy to move into permanently, let alone stay for a few days. More than that, it is a reflection on the history and value of design itself. The interior design project by Dimorestudio is built around a dialogue between past and present. This is partly down to the fact that the building was constructed in 1791 and has served many purposes over the courses of its two centuries, yet there is another, clearer reason behind this theme: the décor is an unabashed reinterpretation of one of the most important periods in international design: Art Deco in the early 1900s. The whole place is a melting pot yet never feels forced – iconic works by the great masters stand side by side with reclaimed pieces and others made specifically for the hotel by artists and artisans, incorporating several key areas of contemporary design. Hotel St Marc’s message is clear right from your first glimpse of the hotel sign, compact and stylised and not entirely immune from the influence of Wiener Werkstätte. Inside, reception leads into the spacious lounge areas, the breakfast room and the bar. The rooms are sophisticated havens where comfort, geometric lines, precision and simplicity shine through, conveying a sense of “luxury and calm”. The perfectly configured spaces help add an air of sensuality to the colours and materials used: the finest wood, shiny metal for the furniture, moulding and lamps, soft velvets, marbles paired with floral rugs, carpet and curtains with Art Deco graphic motifs like intersecting lines and multicolour leaves. The colours used range from more neutral, pinkish tones for the walls of the communal areas to more intense shades in the 25 rooms (and one 56 sq m suite), such as mustard yellow, burgundy red, forest green and sky blue. Six different decorations also feature. The rooms are divided into four categories with sizes varying between 20 and 40 sq m and “designed to be private apartments, in which guests experience a taste of exclusive luxury and pleasure thanks to the instantly apparent union of sophisticated aesthetics and comfort”.
Photo credit: Philippe Servent
