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HOTEL HENRIETTE

13th July 2016

I’ve been doing some online research recently looking for interesting holiday homes, and I realised that this is one feature that I haven’t covered on the blog: holiday homes, cool hotels, Airbnbs – just amazing places to stay combined with cool and quirky finds. So I’ve added a new STAY category to the blog and thought I’d kick off this theme with a hotel that I would love to escape to: the Hotel Henriette in Paris.

Hotel Henriette, photos by Hervé Goluza

The Hotel Henriette caught my eye a few months ago and I bookmarked it thinking, “One day, one day…” Located on a quiet street close to the Mouffetard district in the 5th arrondissement, the Henriette has just 32 individually designed bedrooms. The owners of the 30-year-old hotel embarked on a redesign project last year and hired the interior designer Vanessa Scoffier – a former fashion editor – who had the brief to create an interior that would be high on style and personality.

Hotel Henriette, photo by Hervé Goluza Hotel Henriette, photo by Hervé Goluza

Although Scoffier was given a strict budget for the redesign, the end result is jam-packed with stylish touches – indeed, I’d suggest that the budgetary restrictions have resulted in a more interesting mix. Scoffier is described as a flea market devotee, and she spent fifteen months scouring the markets of Paris to accumulate pieces for this interior, including vintage Platner chairs, 1950s lighting and Knoll sideboards. These finds have been combined with contemporary elements to create spaces that have character and individuality and, where appropriate, just a touch of patina.

Hotel Henriette, photos by Hervé Goluza Hotel Henriette, photo by Hervé Goluza

I love the mix of finishes and textures here, and particularly in the courtyard space above. It reminds me of the little stone terraced areas you see outside basements flats around Edinburgh’s New Town, and so many are under-used – or simply left bare. This courtyard demonstrates how even the smallest of external areas can have impact.

Hotel Henriette, photo by Hervé Goluza Hotel Henriette, photo by Hervé Goluza

And when it came to designing the bedrooms, Scoffier has created a statement with wallpapers and paint, from the dramatic painterly and overscaled print in the bedroom above to the delicate palette in the one directly above. Another room features plywood clad walls painted in geometric shapes. Whichever room you stayed in here, the experience would be slightly different.

Hotel Henriette, photo by Hervé Goluza

Rooms start from 89€ for a single room and from 109€ for a double room. The Hotel Henriette is more than a stylish hotel – it’s a stylish hotel that doesn’t break the bank.

All photography by Hervé Goluza via Hotel Henriette.