This Wild and Wonderful Paris Hotel Is the Perfect Excuse to Stretch Out the Summer Season
Words by Olivia Lidbury
Photography by Jérôme Galland; Design by Martin Brudnizki
If you’re seeking an excuse to head to the City of Light this fall, La Fantaisie—in all its verdant glory—is it.
Martin Brudnizki, the Expert behind the revered interiors at Annabel’s private members club in London (and countless hotels and restaurants in New York, Miami, and beyond) has done it again. On Rue Cadet, in Paris’ bustling South Pigalle district, La Fantaisie is a lush and beguiling oasis, 365 days of the year.
Photography by Jérôme Galland; Design by Martin Brudnizki
Photography by Jérôme Galland; Design by Martin Brudnizki
Inspiration strikes in the unlikeliest of places. In the case of this property, it’s the street’s moniker that sparked an idea. The luxury boutique hotel (the studio’s first in the French capital) takes its design cue from brothers Jean and Jacques Cadet, 16th-century master gardeners who provided France’s royal court with fruit and vegetables.
Martin, who is known for his fanciful and colorful style, celebrates the heritage of gardening and the beauty of nature through immersive touches. For example, the walls and ceilings are lined with fabric: “It feels like you’re walking through a garden with the dappled trees above you,” he explains, adding: “we also employed the use of mosaic tiles in the spa area, which have been designed to replicate growing flowers.”
Photography by Jérôme Galland; Design by Martin Brudnizki
Even those without the gift of green fingers won’t fail to be awed by this ode to the living world. Each public area is a discovery of a new season or garden: the ground floor café is a sun-drenched orchard with hand-painted wallpaper lined with nectarine trees framed in wooden planters and a verdigris bar front. Martin details: “the bountiful restaurant is painted ochre to strengthen the eternal summer required for the botanical and vegetable sketches on the wall.”
Photography by Jérôme Galland; Design by Martin Brudnizki
Photography by Jérôme Galland; Design by Martin Brudnizki
And then there are the blooming bedrooms (63 of them, plus 10 suites), which provide a soothing retreat from the urban hustle and bustle. Many boast a sun-bleached, pastel palette, while others are punctuated with gold and burnt orange, and XL headboards. So if you’re not quite ready to bid summer farewell just yet, this is the urban retreat for you.
