Step across a welcome carpet, the name Adele & Jules hotel woven on it, and you enter a quiet world on a gated street removed from Parisian traffic on the Right Bank’s Grands Boulevards district.
The first clue as to the chic decor that awaits you inside is a container with vivid red umbrellas standing upright in it, a framed portrait of a man’s face his head garlanded with flowers on one wall and what looks like an evocative sunrise or twilight on the other and a multifaceted mirror design featuring 36 concave mirrors.
The entrance hallway leading to a marble-topped reception desk of this owner-run boutique hotel in the 9th arrondissement is a collage of charming decor including a water fountain, a leather armchair, a glass case with ten miniature teddy bears inside, two white panama hats, a scented candle, spray bottles of cologne and a gift-wrapped collection of postcards.
Beyond the reception desk is a cosy relaxing lounge with a cushioned sofa and soft armchairs and even more visual niceties including a light fixture designed as a Scottish terrier sitting beside a grey speckled marble fireplace enhanced by a network of sparkling illuminations.
French interior-design maven Stéphane Poux is responsible for the chocolate-box-pretty patterns and prints, these eclectic artworks, many being flea-market finds. Here retro elements are mixed with elegant furniture and textiles.
Three sturdy shelves of books present a broad breadth of reading choices, from ‘John F. Kennedy – An Unfinished Life’ by Robert Dallek to David Baldacci’s ‘Dream Town’ and ‘De Gaulle et Churchill’ by Francois Kersaudy.
There’s also boxes of assorted games including chess and checkers, backgammon and one I’d not heard of, ‘Five Of A Kind’ described as ‘a game of strategy and chance.’ Copies of Le Figaro and The New York Times lay on coffee tables creatively designed as artists’ palettes.
Designed by architect Artefak – Bastie & Behzadi, the two names, Adèle & Jules, refer to side-by-side, six-floor renovated 19th-century townhouses in which the hotel is housed, each comprising 30 rooms. Located near the Opéra Garnier, the Grévin Museums and the Louvre, the four-star Adèle & Jules was opened 2017, one in a group of three Parisian hotels, the others being Hotel Therese near Palais Royal and Hôtel Récamier in the Saint-Germain des Pres district. The owners are Nicolas de Lattre and his mother Sylvie de Lattre, a former property developer.
Our room, 22, described as a pied-à-terre, translated as ‘foot to the ground’ meaning ‘home away from home,’ was cosy and comfortable with a balcony overlooking a quiet cul-de-sac and two chairs for ease of people-watching.
I particularly liked the vintage shiny black and white tiling design in my bathroom and the towels, so large I could wrap them around me like a sarong. They were especially inviting as my companion and I had been staying in previous hotels where towels were on the skimpy side. Toiletries here were Pomelo Paradise by Atelier Cologne.
I was particularly impressed with the abundance of organic products at breakfast next morning, a partnership with the Cafe Joyeux chain, and the generous spread of Viennese pastries, bread, pancakes, cheeses, smoked salmon, fruits and a hot corner with eggs, bacon and the like.
The hotel’s environment-friendly policies is also commendable including its abandonment of non-recyclable plastic, cleaning with ozonated water without chemicals, low consumption lighting and donations to local community associations of surplus food, beverages and hospitality products.
While lunch and dinner aren't offered at the hotel, they do offer daily complimentary tea from 4-6pm with a selection of cakes, hot drinks and juices.
The hotel also has a designated space for business meetings or family and friend gatherings and a fitness room for the more energetic.
Staff was courteous and efficient, from the moment we arrived and were greeted at the reception desk by friendly Amadou to the excellent service we enjoyed throughout our short stay.
