FRENCH POLISH
French Polish - Luxury Travel Magazine
 | |||||
French Polish | |||||
| By Prue Rushton and Photos by Gaelle Le Boulicaut, Issue 26 - Autumn 2006 | |||||
| (Paris, France) | |||||
| PARIS IS QUIETLY SHIFTING ITS HOTEL THEMES FROM LOUIS XV TO HIGH-TECH, HIGH-GLAMOUR AND HUSH-HUSH. THE MURANO URBAN RESORT IS LEADING THE WAY. | |||||
| The French don’t have a word for ‘mean’, as in “what do you mean?” Instead they ask, “what do you want to say?” I am reminded of this now as my taxi pulls up at Paris’ Murano Urban Resort. Set along the broad, busy boulevard du Temple at the République end of the fashionable Marais district, Murano rises from the ignominy of its 19th-century pale cement facade. There is no porte cochere (grand entrance) to distinguish it from any other business building in the long row; no mention of the word hotel. A single line of silver letters discreetly spells out its moniker. Murano prefers to keep itself secret for the chosen few. Sliding glass doors open to an all-white corridor lined with floaty curtains, sculpted globules of mirrored glass and metallic silver chairs. I am instantly transported into a twilight zone of Barbarella meets 2001: A Space Odyssey. To the right is ground control, manned by two men in a see-through cubicle tapping at laptops, a white Mies van der Rohe guest banquette in front. At the end of the corridor, a four-metre-long white Chesterfield has been placed in front of a cut-out rectangular fireplace that matches its length with glowing embers that hover in space. Either side of the Chesterfield, cult German Phoenix Klangschalen stereo speakers stand Dalek-style murmuring something cool and jazzy. Metallic-edged side tables and pods of white seats resembling Saarinen’s modernist tulip chairs complete the smouldering sexiness of a retro-futuristic scene that would have sated Vadim and Kubrik. I am asked for my fingerprints. For a moment I consider the implications, then surrender to high-tech glamour. The 43 rooms and nine suites of the Murano are keyless: the first hotel ever to opt for digit recognition. My guide leads me inside a lift. Its walls are lined with lipstick-pink fur. As the doors open I realise I’m now in Lenny Kravitz’s New York apartment. The corridors are rock-star dark, lit only by spikes of ultra-blue light. The walls are a trompe l’oeil of padding. I press my finger against a pad and a door that I last saw on a 1950s fridge opens to a spectacular white cube. A Warhol-esque picture of Marilyn’s face at the peak of something pleasurable hangs suggestively above the bed. Sheer curtains drip in front, delineating her from the great mounds of white pillows that dominate the grand proportions of the crisp white bed. At its base is a flower-printed silk chest of drawers. Covered in glass, it could double as a brilliant bedside dining table for room service, which caters for anything from luxe caviar to a ham baguette. My toes sink into soft white carpet as I pad around in search of the mini-bar. For a moment I don’t spot it: a little moulded metallic box that could easily pass for a chic stool. I fiddle with the panels beside the bed and lights whirr into action, transforming the room with soft shades of rose, amber, violet, turquoise, green and blue. Unable to choose a colour to match my mood, I settle on a slow random shuffle. Don’t ask me about gizmos, I am technologically challenged, but this room is wall-to-wall wi-fi, with plasma screen and Bang & Olufsen sound. Murano purports to be designed for the business traveller, with its central location and anything-anytime service, including a private pool if you choose one of two deluxe suites. But what with the lights, the ‘sensual eye mask for lovers’ and the slate-and-chrome bathroom built for two, anything entirely left-brain has probably flown out the window. The last I spent any time in the Marais, it was on the brink of registering on the fashion crowd’s radar, and a French director who lived here in a crumbling apartment spent hours passionately bleating that all women are les anges. The French are good at that. I am remembering this now, lost in the depths of the enormous Zen-style bath and a delicious dollop of Anne Sémonin product – a singular slice of heaven. Back on ground level in the restaurant I note that word of Murano has been most strongly whispered to the fashion and film set. The crowd is uniformly lean, leggy and clad in black. Beneath the spectacularly long stalactites of ice glass that jut from the ceiling, they eat equally edgy Mediterranean food that dabbles in Asia, often served on slate tiles. In the bar, wearing black makes even more sense. It blends beautifully with the unexpected explosion of brilliantly clashing brights – orange, pinks, blues and burgundy – ranked along walls in cushioned squares and hanging from the ceiling in clusters of coloured saucers. A DJ marshalls the music to match the mood from his command post high above, but it’s the 20-metre-long black bar serving 150 brands of vodka to a backdrop of screens dripping sea-like designs that pulls the crowd. They sip from test tubes arranged in holders containing selections of flavours such as pimento and ginger, and Cognac, sugar and lime. I slip back out into the white room, where the long Chesterfield is an oasis of calm beneath its glass ceiling. In bed, I spy the same galaxy of stars across chimney rooftops. All gizmos have been shut down, save for the swoop of a searchlight across the sky from the Eiffel Tower. I’m in Paris. | |||||
| Details: | |||||
| Murano Urban Resort, 13 boulevard du Temple, 3e, +33 (0)1 42 71 20 00, www.muranoresort.com. From $570 for a room per night to $4040 for a suite. | |||||
| MARAIS MOMENTS SHOPPING - Calesta, 23 rue Debelleyme, +33 (0)1 42 72 15 59. Style and wooden toys for the little darlings back home. | |||||
| - Erotokritos, 99 rue Vieille du Temple, 3e, +33 (0)1 42 78 14 04. Effortless Paris style for him and her. | |||||
| - Julien’s, 50 rue Charlot, 3e, +33 (0)1 42 72 00 94. English-speaking wine specialist – plan best wines for dinner and the suitcase home. | |||||
| - Issey Miyake, 3 Place des Voges, +33 (0)1 48 87 01 86. The pleatmaster himself shows off the latest. | |||||
| - Le Boudoir et sa Philosophie, 18 rue Charlot, 3e, +33 (0)1 48 04 89 79. A living 18th-century French boudoir. Buy exquisite antiques and reproductions or get your pet’s portrait painted. | |||||
| - Amours Délices et Orgues, 5 rue du Perche, 3e, +33 (0)1 44 54 98 62. Luxury silk and lace lingerie through to massage oils and aphrodisiac sweets. | |||||
| - Martin Grant, 10 rue Charlot,3e, +33 (0)1 42 71 39 49. Audrey Hepburnesque creations from the ex-Melbourne boy who found fame in Paris. | |||||
| - L’Artisan Parfumeur, 32 rue du Bourg-Tibourg, 4e, +33 (0)1 48 04 55 66. Personalised hand-mixed scents from the cult parfumeur. | |||||
| FOOD - Food and Gallerie 2-13, 58 rue Charlot, 3e. Side-by-side bookshop browsing: one for all things foodie; the other for art and architecture. | |||||
| - Mariage Frères, 30 rue du Bourg-Tibourg, 4e, +33 (0)1 42 72 28 11. Buy from a choice of 400 teas, but be there for brunch on Sundays. Book ahead. | |||||
| - Café Baci, 36 rue de Turenne, 3e, +33 (0)1 42 71 36 70. Owned by French actor Jean-Pierre Bacri, the restaurant serves up Italian food that’s low on pretentions, high on style. | |||||
| - Jo Goldenberg, 7 rue des Rosiers, 3e, +33 (0)1 48 87 20 16. Part historic Jewish Paris, part New York deli. Soak up the Marais atmosphere with fresh mint tea and poppyseed cake at a pavement table. | |||||
| SEE - Musée Picasso, 5 rue de Thorigny. Genius from career beginning to end. | |||||
| - Musée Carnavalet, 23 rue de Sévigné. Showcases the history of Paris, but go for its secret garden. | |||||
| - Notre-Dame-des-Blancs-Manteaux Rue des Blancs Manteaux. Take the opportunity to step back in time, this historic church was built in 1685. | |||||
| PARIS WHERE IT SIZZLES Pershing Hall | |||||
| 49 rue Pierre Charron, 8e, +33 (0)1 58 36 58 00. www.pershinghall.com | |||||
| Sultry surrounds with wi-fi, spa and night-time party people. | |||||
| Hotel Sezz | |||||
| 6 avenue Frémiet, 16e, +33 (0)1 56 75 26 26, www.hotelsezz.com | |||||
| Dark devil’s lair funk mixes with the city’s first Veuve Clicquot bar, a hammam and a personal butler. | |||||
| Hotel Le A | |||||
| 4 rue d’Artois, 8e. +33 (0)1 42 56 99 99, www.hotel-le-a-paris.com | |||||
| Discreet and small, Hôtel Le A is big on cool, white-on-white style. | |||||
| Villa d’Estrees | |||||
| 17 rue Gite le Coeur, 6e. +33 (0)1 55 42 71 11, www.paris-hotel-latin-quarter.com | |||||
| So hush-hush it’s ex-directory, this hotel serves urban chic in 10 individually decorated rooms. | |||||
| Costes K Palace | |||||
| 81 avenue Kléber, 6e. +33 (0)1 44 05 75 75. | |||||
| The secret little sister of Hôtel Costes delivers new-generation style within its glass walls. | |||||
|
