Press releases. Funny things they are. Some are big, bolshy and corporate, quoting facts and figures and making you feel all insignificant because you haven’t achieved nearly as much as the subject. Others are badly written, lackadaisical and limp, and many are copied and pasted all around the blogosphere by lazy writers looking for quick hits. Hotel La Maison‘s is quite something, reading like a movie script it clocks in at 21 pages and is full of talk of sophistication, poetic decor and littered with quotes such as “For us, luxury has more to do with generosity”.
It is of course bordering on the edge of pomposity, but then this is Paris and having commissioned ultradiscreet fashion house Maison Martin Margiela to take on a large part of the hotel’s design we think they’re downright entitled to a little bit of pomposity. Operating with a strictly monochrome simplicity, Maison Martin Margiela have bucked the trend of overly-opulent fashion hotels – think Missioni or Armani – and followed their ethos of understated and offbeat, employing style and humor over lavish statements.
It’s actually a masterclass in effortless style, with the Belgian designer wearing the shoes of an interiors expert so comfortably you’d think he’d been born in them. Hotel La Maison, Champs Elysées has ‘Paris’ stamped all over it and, quite frankly, couldn’t befit this bewitching city any more. If you’re looking for sophistication with a healthy dose of pomposity then you’ve found your hotel.
