"Set the scene: On a quiet backstreet of Paris’s bustling Little India, where the sweet scent of curries simmering in restaurant kitchens hangs in the air, is a six-story limestone corner building that glints in the stark white daylight. Trains rumble past below street level and pull into the Gare de l’Est, one of the city’s oldest train stations (the Gare du Nord is just around the corner, hence the name). This is the first hotel designed by Luke Edward Hall, after the opening was delayed due to Covid; check in at the reception desk tucked behind a perspex screen before scurrying off to snap the bold-hued rooms for Insta Reels. The hotel has Hall’s playful optimism splashed all over, putting the dismal weather outside, and the pandemic, on hold—at least for the night. What’s the story? When hotelier Adrien Gloaguen visited this faded station hotel, he saw the potential in the simple Haussmannian-style corner building overlooking the railway right away. With three other popular hotel locations in the city already (Panache, Beaurepaire, and Bienvenue), Gloaguen was quick to snag one of the hottest designers of the moment, cleverly commissioning his first hotel project. Hall effortlessly flits between styles and patterns to create a color-splashed world that’s theatrical and yet welcoming. Here, he aimed to create intrigue through a Brit-meets-French atmosphere: “I wanted it to feel like the home of an eccentric Parisian bohemian who, over the years, has amassed a collection of furniture and art from his travels, from various periods and countries,” he says. “I wanted the interiors to feel full of joy, with a nod to the past.” And it works wonderfully well throughout. For instance, in the lobby he pairs leopard-print and electric-blue sofas with toile de Jouy wallpaper and candy-stripe curtains, tied together with vintage posters for the walls and other decorative items he’s sourced from auctioneers and flea markets. What can we expect in our room? While a handful of the 40 rooms are more generous in size, most are on the small side (quite common for boutique hotels in Paris). Guests are here, though, for a taste of Hall’s flair for mixing prints and colors you never thought possible. You won’t find a single muted tone in the place—in fact, you’d be hard pushed to find a white surface. Even the ceilings are painted in bold shades such as yellow or pink. Candy-stripe headboards sit with velvet mid-century French-style armchairs and ottomans. The bathrooms have to be our favorite feature, with their loud colors and snazzy vintage ceramic sinks ordered from the Bold Bathroom Company. Rooms on the fifth floor all have balconies from which to admire the unconventional views of Gare de l’Est’s train tracks, open skies (a rare sight in Europe’s second-most densely populated city) and Haussmannian buildings that line the adjacent street. If you look hard enough, you might even catch a curious local or two peeking from behind the curtains, intrigued by their new neighbor. How about the food and drink? Craft coffee and buttery croissants are served each morning in the breakfast nook at the back of the lobby. The real showstopper, though, is the Café Les Deux Gares across the street, which has a centuries-old feel, even if it was entirely gutted and redesigned by Hall. Previously a drab bar made to look like the interior of an old French train carriage, it has transformed into an attractive bistro that draws a crowd of locals who work in the area and food journalists who have made it their new go-to. The result is a light and airy space with discrete Art Deco touches such as the lighting fixtures, and marble-topped tables and wooden chairs, finished with a moody trompe l’oeil tortoiseshell ceiling by artist Pauline Leyravaud, who was enlisted by Hall. There’s a kind of joy here and it’s because of the atmosphere but also the food. Driven by quality produce, chefs Jonathan Schweizer and Federico Suárez create seasonal menus of homely classics, which change daily. Even the simplest of dishes, such as egg mayonnaise topped with crunchy samphire and mains of succulent pork loin with juicy whole beetroot, is worth ordering. The best part is that the lunch menu, at only $28 for three courses, is reason enough to keep you in the area past lunchtime, with a good selection of natural wines to linger over. Anything to say about the service? The staff are laid-back but approachable, which gives guests the freedom to make the place their own without their every move being scrutinized. What sort of person stays here? A design-savvy crowd who know when they’re onto a good thing, and curious travelers who shun list-ticking in favor of a more authentic experience; an offbeat location in this case, which works to expand your knowledge of a city, regardless of how many times you’ve visited. What’s the neighborhood scene like? The hotel’s street, with its a clutch of Indian sweet shops, is quiet, but that’s not the case for the rest of the neighborhood, which is packed with South Indian restaurants, supermarkets, and sari shops—a perfect starting point to get to know multicultural Paris. Once you’ve sampled lip-smacking good dosa and idli with spicy coconut chutney, stroll 10 minutes south to the Poissonnière area or east to Canal Saint-Martin for a change of scene. Trade Indian restaurants for trendy boutiques selling the latest apparel, and Insta-worthy bars and restaurants such as the bustling Comptoir Général and its African desert-lodge style, or the Verre Volé wine bar where you can sample natural wines from the south. Alternatively, in the warmer months, pack a bottle of wine, cheese and a crusty baguette to enjoy canalside like the locals do (Covid-allowing, of course). Anything you’d change? We’d add plantlife to the fifth-floor balconies, but according to the staff it’s already in the pipeline. Anything we missed? The sauna and gym with its red and white checkerboard floor and eye-popping lilac and lime green Svenskt Tenn floral wallpaper. Is it worth it? Why? Rates are a bargain by Paris standards, where a room with the slightest design flair will usually set you back double the price at least. The same also applies to the wonderful Café Les Deux Gares. The Little India location puts a more local spin on Paris while being within a 10-minute walk to the city’s trendiest areas." - Rooksana Hossenally
