Saint James Paris has undergone a complete renovation of its interiors and gardens with newly designed rooms and suites, a new indoor swimming pool and expanded spa, and new restaurant concepts. Situated just off the boutiques and restaurants of Victor Hugo avenue, in the 16th arrondissement, the Relais & Chateaux property is a few minutes’ walk from the Champs Elysees. It has been fully updated by French interior designer Laura Gonzalez and landscape architect Xavier de Chirac, with a new restaurant helmed by Chef Julien Dumas.
Each of the 50 rooms and suites—including some duplex and two, ground-floor suites with a terrace—are unique. All have remarkable volumes and ceiling height as well as a medley of art deco spirit and contemporary details. For the interiors, Gonzalez took inspiration from the garden setting and the building’s 1892 Neoclassical architecture. Her ambition was to enhance the building’s Neoclassic architecture, adding light and eliminating surplus to spotlight the moldings and ornamental details. Highlights, such as the tiling on the ground floor, were left untouched, while she brightened the atmosphere by using light, soft tones.
Outside, in the 50,000-square-foot gardens, de Chirac created a classical garden that flowers in every season highlighted by a pergola-shaded outdoor bar and patio for warm-weather dining.
Bellefeuille, the new restaurant helmed by Chef Dumas (formerly of the Michelin-starred Parisian restaurant Lucas Carton), is nature-inspired, from the floral IKSEL wallpaper to the tasting menu of responsibly harvested ingredients.
The hotel’s Guerlain spa—one of only two in Paris, outside of the Guerlain Institute—was completely transformed. The spa, fitness and lounge areas now stretch over more than 4,000 square feet on two floors of the hotel, with three treatment booths (including one double), a fitness room, a hammam, a sauna, a whirlpool and a 50-foot swimming pool bathed in natural light pouring in through a glass ceiling.
The Saint James Paris’ Neoclassical building was originally commissioned by the widow of the former French President, Adolphe Thiers, to house students awarded scholarships from the Thiers Foundation. It later became the home of the Saint James Club, modeled after the private clubs of London, and since 1991 it has been a hotel and club.
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