There are beautiful hotels – and then there are hotels with beautiful design, where exceptional attention to interiors and architecture elevates the entire experience for their guests. In this edition of our series of hotels for design lovers, we visit Hôtel Madame Rêve in Paris
When it comes to stylish new hotels, Paris is abuzz right now. The name on everyone’s lips, however, is Madame Rêve. Having opened at the tail end of 2021, it occupies around a third of one of Paris’ most recognisable architectural landmarks, the iconic 19th-century Louvre post office building, which was opened back in 1888 as France’s largest post office.
The brainchild of celebrated restauranteur and art director Laurent Taïeb, the hotel follows nine years of renovation work inside the post office by Dominique Perrault Architecture, and now boasts 82 design-led rooms including 19 suites, two destination restaurants and a 10,000-square-foot roof terrace.
I wanted to tell this story by drawing on unparalleled French know-how
Laurent Taïeb, restauranteur and art director
Marrying the hotel’s period architecture and characterful design with careful woodwork, oak flooring, velvet curtains and golden-brown hues reminiscent of the elegant brasseries of the Riviera, Madame Rêve’s interiors were influenced by a motto of late French designer Andrée Putman: “Life must be golden.”
Furniture has been either custom-designed or sensitively restored by Taïeb, while he also called on a collection of Parisian designers to create or contribute pieces for the hotel. Notable projects include Henryot & Cie’s distinctive chairs and Pierre Frey fabrics.
“I wanted to tell this story by drawing on unparalleled French know-how,” says Taïeb. “From the ground floor, it was necessary to express the language of volumes, to rediscover the creative breath of glassmaker Emilie Gallé and cabinetmaker Louis Majorelle. I also wanted to express my fascination with the Viennese Secession by drawing inspiration from Josef Hoffmann for the creation of the chandeliers, that are truly reminiscent of the grandeur of historic places.”
Elsewhere, artworks commissioned by French artists come scattered around several of the hotel’s main spaces, plus an Olivier Masmonteil painted mural in the grand café. As for the bedrooms, a private collector donated eight hundred works of Mail Art, and guests will find portraits by Inès Longevial, among others, lining the walls. Dressed warmly in wood, with walnut panelling and velvet curtains that frame the Parisian skyline, plus a contemporary aesthetic that continues across the bathrooms thanks to pink mosaic tiles that creating a unique speckled effect, Madame Rêve is in a class of its own.
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