volante: france

Paris: inns en route

Outside dining area at Pershing Hall

Hôtel Molière
This property’s optimal location at the epicentre of culture and commerce near the Palais Royal is a great plus. But more than a hint of the seventeenth century world of theatre can be found at the entertaining establishment, which under any other circumstances (if Disney was in charge, for example) might have been called a ‘concept hotel’.
   As it is, the ambience of a stage set or parlour drama invigorates the décor, with interesting doorways and woodwork, classical details, televisions tucked away in stage trunks, ornate draped fabrics and old etchings of the Comedie Française everywhere. Tartuffe could walk in the door at any moment. M. Moliere’s image presides in many forms, painted in the elevator, staring down at you from the marble bust behind the reception desk, and in other incarnations. Pay attention.
   If you hunger for dramatic settings, this mid-range three-star (€170–250) may be just the ticket you desire. The hotel’s 75 per cent occupancy rate is split 50–50 business to tourism.
   While furnishings are largely old and in the antique revival style, there are a number of new white marble baths, of which the most interesting may be room 24, where a vintage déco mosaic from an earlier renovation has been preserved above the tile bathtub. Rooms 35, 25 and 16 overlook a quiet courtyard. Be warned that room 16 has an atypically low ceiling, only a drawback if you play professional basketball.
   The hotel does have real élan and originality, and enjoys much repeat business. An airy breakfast room seating 16 looks out on the courtyard passage. Breakfast €16, or included in some packages. A welcoming lounge and bar just off the lobby performs perfectly as the setting for your own entr’acte, followed by an exit stage left out the front door to the next scene of your Parisian adventure: at the north end of the rue Molière you’ll discover a beautiful Beaux Arts monument to France’s greatest dramatist, whose spirit and wit live on in this diverting small hotel.

Pershing Hall
This ultra-luxury four-star property opened in 2001 and immediately established itself as an instant Paris classic. If the stratospheric price of €390–1,000 doesn’t make you dizzy, read on, for this is a truly spectacular hotel experience preferred by couture, media, entertainment and those who love to live well.
   In the years since its flash-popping launch, Pershing Hall has secured a well-earned reputation as a super-chic hideaway in the tiny 8e arrondissement, near métro Franklin Roosevelt, west of the Champs Élysées, down the block from the métro Georges V, and in the thick of stores where one could easily part with the price of a chalet in Verbiers in the course of an hour. The building itself has a history, originally the HQ of General Pershing during WWI, later the palatial home of the American Legion.
   Pershing Hall’s trendy renovation focuses around a centrepiece courtyard open to the sky in warmer months, with an astounding 30 m high flowering wall of foliage that blazes with colour in the spring. One has the choice of standard room, junior suite or deluxe suite, with every imaginable extra. This means two-line phone, super Bang & Olufsen DVD–CD–radio unit, complimentary mini-bar, free wifi and a regal package of amenities. There’s something seductively inviting about the billowy duvets and pillows in stark relief against dark wood finish headboards, slate floors and luxurious bath configurations rich in thick towels and terry robes.
   With a two-to-one staff to guest ratio you can rest assured that any request will be honoured.
   The public areas have much to recommend them as well. Facing the courtyard on the first floor a vaulted bar called the Lounge is done up in a posh, clubby atmosphere where a DJ spins platters in the evenings and very fashionable people gather in clusters of beautiful leather chairs to enjoy their aromatic Cubanos. Down on the ground level the Pershing Restaurant, a culinary Mecca presided over by a chef formerly from Nobu, is open for all meals, not to mention 24-hour room service. There’s also a Sunday brunch for €39, which has come to be a favourite of locals. If you don’t want to sit in the courtyard, the dining room itself is a showplace rich in leather seating and soft banquettes, decorated with rows of red Murano glass in an elegant presentation of subtle light and draped fabric. An opulent and classical meeting room upstairs seats 120, ideal for your product launch event, press conference, or banquet. With only 26 rooms, the hotel has a spacious, uncrowded feel, which promotes a sense of the exclusive and insulated, with service and comfort at the core of the offering.
   At Pershing Hall, repeat business is defined as ‘guests who come back at least once a month,’ of which there are many. There is no greater evidence of a property’s success than a credential like that. Highly recommended.

Hôtel des Tuileries

Hôtel des Tuileries is one of those rare, wonderful small inns which combine location, comfort and history at a very reasonable price (€125–250). Appealing equally to the leisure and business traveller, the hotel maintains a solid 90 per cent occupancy rate and a loyal clientèle. Optimally situated in the 1e, only a block off the Faubourg St Honoré, near to the Louvre and Seine, the hotel is quite unusual in the rich and rounded experience it provides.
   M. Vidal, a third generation hotelier (‘I was born in the kitchen,’ he says) can often be found at the front desk. Walk in the door and you may first receive an agreeable welcome from Cachou, the mellow hotel pooch, who presides from a chair in the lobby lounge (above). (Kids get a free Cachou toy as a souvenir of their stay.) This is actually quite a nice touch, and delivers a sense of the property’s ambience, what M. Vidal characterizes as ‘a hotel with a heart.’
   While the public areas are casual and informal, the rooms have just the right amount of distinction, 18th century oil paintings, revival style furniture, fine marble bathrooms with Compagnie de Provence amenities, lots of towels, terry robes, slippers, essentially four-star bathrooms in a three-star property. This aspect will be especially appealing to road warriors. The hotel has many luxurious touches where they matter, not in flash and show, but in details like room 1, which has a trouser press, iron, and ironing board, a real bonus for the business traveller.
   The €13 breakfast also looks like a good deal—there’s more variety than other hotels offer, including a very nice fruit compote bowl. The intimate, skylit breakfast room is an easy option to in-room service, and it is elevator-accessible.
   The classic décor featured in the accommodations mirrors the building’s fascinating history, originally one of the hôtels particuliers of Mme de Pompadour. Hôtel des Tuileries next became a headquarters for the Sans Cuolottes during the Revolution. It’s an architecturally protected structure with a classic façade, a tall set of historic entry doors that belong in a museum, and a gorgeous staircase worth a look for its example of chef d’œuvre craftsmanship which cannot be replicated today. During the excavation for the breakfast room, workmen unearthed Louis XIV era coins and other period artefacts.
   Staff-to-guest ratio of one-to-two; the newest employee was hired three years ago, the oldest hired 20 years ago, a tribute to a harmonious workplace. Wifi throughout, charged on the sliding hourly system €10 per hour to €24 for 24 hours. Cellphones don’t work on the ground floor (too many buildings in the way) but get fine reception on the upper floors. There’s a dresser drawer in the lobby filled with every possible plug converter and cellphone charger, available on loan.
   The hotel entrance is actually on the corner of a parallel street two blocks west of rue St Roch, despite what some maps may indicate. Lots of good eating spots in the vicinity favoured by locals, many only a block away. M. Vidal knows them and you can trust his counsel. He truly enjoys meeting people and has a wealth of insider information. He won’t recommend a place he doesn’t know or like. His directions are precise. What a benefit to have this included in the package. There’s a lot of hidden value in this property, and you will certainly want to come back.

Villa Kerasy

Villa Kerasy, one of those exceptional small properties in an out-of-the-way location, permits you to live a luxurious fantasy at a very attractive price (€92–320), surrounded by a splendour of remarkable attractions. It’s the antithesis of EuroDisney, a haven of authenticity and living history well worth experiencing first-hand.
   The setting is Brittany, specifically the Gulf of Morbihan, where civilization dates from prehistoric times, where mediæval dukes built baronial castles, and where in the 17th and 18th centuries the East India Company launched fleets of galleons which brought back the riches of Asia to the capitals of Europe. It is the ports of call that those traders visited which inspire Villa Kerasy, a four-star property unique in its class. The actual structure dates from only a century ago, originally a lingerie factory built in 1914.
   The innkeepers have overseen a renovation into a spacious 12-room auberge with each room reflecting a different trading post along the Spice Route. This means furnishings were collected all over the east, and assembled here into tasteful rooms where comfort and eclectic detail prevail. Every first-class amenity is present: extra pillows, percale duvets, cordless telephone, room safe, elegant and modern marble baths, robes, thick towels, and even a thoughtful international electrical outlet by the desk with USA, UK and continental plugs. There are always fresh flowers, a full complement of Roger Gallet amenities, and a graceful turndown service with world class chocolates in an elegant mesh pouch placed on your pillow at sunset—wow!
   Your culinary odyssey begins daily with a marvellous breakfast served on palm-patterned Limoges, accompanied by home-made preserves (plum-coconut or apricot-ginger during my stay; it always changes according to chef’s whim). An afternoon tea features home-made scones and Mariage Frères infusions. Later, you may simply enjoy a cocktail and book in the warmth of the sitting room.
   The city of Vannes boasts a number of fine restaurants, all walking distance, and the hotel will recommend and reserve the best for whatever suits your taste. Or, there is always the supreme indulgence: book the hotel’s Indian Suite, with its attached four-seat private dining room, order the incredibly reasonable en suite dinner (€14, fish or meat) and a bottle of local wine and dine overlooking the hotel’s zen garden, home to a pond full of contented koi.
   Perhaps the greatest dilemma in Vannes is choosing what to do, since there is so much on your doorstep. The hotel has packages appealing to every possible interest from hot air ballooning to yachting to degustation to archæological sites. If I had only two days I would make sure to explore the mediæval quarter (10 minutes on foot from the hotel) and study the typical exposed timber architecture (some façades dating back to 1200), then wander the open air market which occurs on Thursday and Saturday mornings. I’d drive out to the megalithic site at Carnac (about 30 minutes away) and on the same itinerary allow a couple hours to visit the nearby castle at Suscinio. I’d also try and sandwich in between my opulent gastronomic meals the must-see Museum of the East India Company in the citadel of Port Louis. And if time permitted I would ask Villa Kerasy to create a custom muscadet and oyster lunch.
   This is primarily a tourist hotel, and those travelling by car will appreciate the secure parking at night behind a locked gate. Management appear to have anticipated every need. The area is mobbed in festival season from May through mid-October, so travel just before or after could mean a calmer holiday. Another plus is the TGV, which runs directly from Charles de Gaulle Airport to Vannes. The hotel can be found literally across the street from the train station, thus a car is not really a necessity. In the warmer months breakfast can be taken on Villa Kerasy’s terrace, facing the zen garden, under the watchful gaze of a placid Balinese Buddha, who peers out at you, framed by lush azaleas and rhododendrons. •

Stanley Moss is travel editor of Lucire and CEO of the Medinge Group.

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Hôtel Molière and its details, including its window handle, a tile mosaic in the bathroom and its TV cabinet




Pershing Hall and its lounge, suite and ornamentation





Hôtel des Tuileries, with its staircase, door detail and bathroom amenities



The koi at Villa Kerasy, and its chambre l’Orient

M. Vidal, a third generation hotelier (‘I was born in the kitchen,’ he says) can often be found at the front desk of the Hôtel des Tuileries. Walk in the door and you may first receive an agreeable welcome from Cachou, the mellow hotel pooch, who presides from a chair in the lobby lounge