Hotel Interiors in the "Walks Through Paris" Lecture

The other day I went to a lecture called "Walks Through Paris", which the interior designer Olga Nevskaya has now put on several times; the art historian Evgenia Kiseleva shared her knowledge. The main subject was the interiors of the famous Paris hotels, Parisian style and French classic.

Evgenia's lectures stand out for the way she delivers them. You do not notice the time passing. The historical material comes with a fine sense of humour and includes details few people know. It felt like being fully immersed in the atmosphere of Paris, especially in the moments when you could hear the pure French of one of the guests. The choice of venue mattered too, the RiverPark lobby in the historic part of Tyumen. There is something pleasant about taking in new knowledge, backing it with a glass of Bordeaux and glancing now and then at a magnificent view of the city at night. Olga, a true hedonist, has a fine feel for how much every ingredient of a good evening matters.

The main subject was the famous Paris hotels, but we also touched on the particulars of Parisian style, which I write about in more detail in the articles on American classic in interiors and on contemporary style.

"…The Plaza Athénée… Back then, in 1913, avenue Montaigne was not yet the stronghold of French glamour and did not flaunt the dazzling windows of fashion houses, but under the chestnut trees the fashionable set passed its evenings, and out of the bistros with their heavy velvet drapes came the light laughter of starlets who had arrived from the French provinces to conquer the city of light…" Listening to Evgenia's pleasant, trained voice, you feel present in that atmosphere.

The Plaza Athénée

[caption id="attachment_1547" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] The elegant façade of the Plaza Athénée[/caption]

Standing on avenue Montaigne in the historic centre of Paris, a short walk from the Champs-Élysées and the Eiffel Tower, the Plaza Athénée is one of the symbols of traditional Parisian style.

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The Plaza Athénée was recently fully restored and today offers two styles of room: French classic, dressed with antique lamps, carved furniture and paintings, and a light, graceful art deco in tune with modernist thinking and in harmony with the Eiffel Tower.

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Alain Ducasse's three-Michelin-star restaurant deserves a mention of its own. The award-winning cooking, built on Ducasse's singular culinary concept, and the stunning contemporary interior designed by Jouin Manku bring together art and the beauty of materials in their true nature.

[caption id="attachment_1550" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] A ringing mix of the future and the past that no one can be indifferent to[/caption]

Huge, elegant silver bells, echoing the service clocks of the last century, reflect the deconstructed crystal drops of the chandeliers. The oak tables are exquisitely dressed. Enjoy your stay in this remarkable place.

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This is a bar of purity, where cocktails are made and champagne is enjoyed. A bar of design, where every aspect surprises and delights. A bar of pure style, born to the standards of the palace hotels but standing above the rest in its modern refinement. This is Le Bar.

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The Four Seasons George V

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The hotel stands in the very centre of the city on avenue George V, two steps from the Champs-Élysées, the Louvre and the other landmarks of Paris. Built in 1928, it sinks its guests into an extraordinary world where time has slowed its headlong run, a world that seems to exist independently of reality, glorying in the splendour of its interiors, its impeccable service and its scrupulous cultivation of tradition.

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The Four Seasons George V belongs more to the Paris of the past, a city that has long gone: spacious halls with classical statuary, marble columns and fireplaces, masterful 17th-century tapestries, crystal chandeliers, antique furniture and antique clocks. You feel you have walked into a museum where the objects of past centuries are on show.

The Ritz Paris

[caption id="attachment_1514" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Royal blue, which is exactly what this shade of blue is called[/caption]

In the very heart of Paris, on the beautiful place Vendôme, stands the Ritz Paris, a hotel wrapped in legend and one of the landmarks of the French capital.

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The founder of the hotel, the Swiss entrepreneur César Ritz, who opened the Ritz Paris on 1 June 1898, dreamed all his life of the "perfect hotel", where the great of this world would feel at home and where "the smallest detail a prince might wish for on his own estate would be at hand". And he succeeded. So the Ritz Paris came into being, a hotel of the highest class, the only one in the world with which the great and the famous fell in love and to which they remained faithful for ever.

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It is hard to list all the illustrious guests of the Ritz Paris. Marcel Proust, Ernest Hemingway, George Sand and Jean-Paul Sartre drew inspiration here; for Coco Chanel the hotel was her main home for several years; crowned heads, the Prince of Wales, members of the Russian imperial family, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, the kings of Spain, Sweden and Portugal, came here for dinner or for a few days; and film stars bathed here in the glow of their fame, from Rudolph Valentino and Marlene Dietrich to Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo. Some of the Ritz Paris suites, whose history and sumptuous interiors would fill a chapter of their own, are named after the hotel's famous guests.

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The Ritz Paris, like Paris itself, is "a moveable feast". It is a particular style called art de vivre, "the art of living", a style the hotel has kept carefully for more than 110 years, because, as Coco Chanel said: "Fashion changes, style never does…"

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The makers of the atmosphere: Jacques Garcia and Jeff Leatham

We spent longer on two people who had a hand in the beautiful atmosphere of these hotels, the decorator Jacques Garcia and the florist Jeff Leatham. They are two of the most interesting creators around, each deserving a post of his own, and I will certainly write about them in more detail in future articles.

To commission an interior design project and get an exact price, write to me or call: the contact details are here. For what the work on a project involves, read the article about the interior design project service.

More on other styles: American classic, contemporary style, contemporary classic, French classic, colonial style, art deco, eclecticism, fusion, minimalism.