A Very Good Night
The Presidential Suite at La Réserve in Paris is one of the truly great hotel rooms. In fact, it’s a series of three rooms that look out onto the delightful Elysée gardens. I’ve wandered into some ambitious suites before—usually whisked through on PR tours—but this felt different and more personal.
For one thing there was a brown velvet couch along the wall (which was also brown velvet). The brown velvet couch, a fairly idiosyncratic object, is a new obsession of mine. When I come across one I know something interesting is going on. And something interesting is going on: La Réserve is designed by the amazing Jacques Garcia. And he was encouraged to express himself.
The library (photo below) and salon are discreetly decadent (a new and uncontradictory category). The suite itself is more restrained than most self-consciously luxurious rooms. The art is actually interesting, small prints and drawings with real character. The bar is well-appointed, but fairly hidden, a good solution. The television is just a mirror on the wall, you might miss it, just how televisions should be.
Yes the bathroom is entirely marble, nobody’s idea of understatement. Yes that’s a bottle of champagne waiting for you with a thin citron tart. But you’re in Paris, living the life. Sitting on the terrace you feel a sense of elegance and very good luck. If you’re celebrating something then by all means this is a place to celebrate with the right amount of high style.
What makes a good hotel room? A view, a good place to sit, a sense of where you are. But there’s usually more to the equation.