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WATCH: Global architecture and design highlights, including the Saint-André des Arts Hotel in Paris by Studio Chloé Nègre.

Named after the street it occupies, the Saint-André des Arts Hotel in Paris lies directly in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, a short stroll from the historic Procope restaurant. Once the favoured haunt of brooding artists and musicians, especially during the swinging sixties, the completely rejuvenated hotel is the latest gem in the Hôtels Paris Rive Gauche collection, ready and awaiting a new generation of movers and shakers.

Stepping off the street and passing through the hotel’s original solid-oak entrance doors, guests arrive in a lobby area seemingly preserved through time. Tunes from another era fill the space, resonating from a small record player in the corner. But an emerald-coloured lacquered rattan reception desk offers a glimpse of what’s to come – a daring arrangement of 1960s and ’70s-inspired furniture and fittings, sourced and imagined for the hotel by French designer Chloé Nègre.

Inside the Saint-André des Arts Hotel in Paris by Studio Chloé Nègre.

Saint-André des Arts Hotel by Studio Chloé Nègre

From there on in, the interiors of Saint-André are a playground for cheerful curves, bold colour and enchanting patterns. Flower-shaped mirrors and table-stands join carefully sculpted timber detailing. Vibrant swirling carpets are illuminated by bulbous lamps decorated with lace-like fabrics. And the bedheads upstairs make a statement in a confident mix of colour gradients and materials.

Here and there, vintage furniture pieces are combined with custom makes. And modern classics make an appearance, too. Including examples by iconic designers from the late 1960s, such as Verner Panton’s ‘Fun’ ceiling and wall lights; Vico Magistretti’s ‘Eclisse’ lamp by Artemide; Henry Massonet’s ‘Tam Tam’ stools; and Anna Castelli Ferrieri’s ‘Componibili’ bedside tables by Kartell, each finished with a burr walnut top.

On the ground floor, to the right of the reception, the intimate salon features retro burgundy and beige floor tiles that immediately set the tone. Four custom armchairs in citrus yellow fabric, a wall-seat in burgundy velvet and a psychedelic 1960s-style mirror immerses guests in the hotel’s new mood. An ambience which the hotel staff describe as feeling “a little pop, a little bohemian, slightly daring but totally timeless”.

To the left is the bar with its celadon green ceramic wall tiles, earmarked by the hotel staff as “the perfect place to relax, delicately hidden from the street by netting on the windows”. Green velvet and leather wall-seats provide the space with a visual accent. As do the bespoke timber chairs that are placed around walnut-topped tables with “flower power” feet – a signature flourish of Chloé’s Paris-based studio.

The centrepiece of the room is a round rattan table (another custom piece by Chloé) that allows guests to share a moment together, seated in the vintage wooden chairs that accompany it. The large yellow tabletop echoes the velvet of the armchairs in the room next door. “This is the perfect place to enjoy breakfast,” the team insist. Towards the back of the room, the granite bar adds elegance to the space, which feels bright yet intimate during the day. In the evening, it offers the ideal hideaway for sipping a pre-dinner cocktail or a nightcap nearer to midnight.

The elevator, decorated with fabric representing artist Jean Cocteau’s work Le Dormeur, is responsible for transporting guests to the hotel’s 28 rooms, spread over four floors. A mezzanine wing offers two additional rooms bringing the total to 30 rooms. Several of these have an extra sofa bed, others interconnect, but “both [types] are perfect for family stays,” the hotel staff say. Room sizes range from a petite 14 square metres to about 29 square metres in the Prestige suites, costing from €179 (A$280) to €710 ($A1115) per night.

While each room at Saint-André has a unique layout (“this is a venerable building with a very Parisian feel,” the team say), each floor offers a different chromatic interpretation of the 1960s and ’70s. The curtains are the surprise stars of the rooms, featuring dreamy colours and alluring patterns that create an overall feeling of harmony. On the third floor, for example, Jim Thompson’s Melusine landscape (on fabric from Pierre Frey) sets the bar high for a joyful material palette to follow.

“You’ll love the original vaulted stone ceilings and zesty colours that give the space its energy,” the hotel team tell their guests. And whether your room has a view of the street and the rooftops of Paris or is one of those nestled under the eaves, both of which are part of the hotel’s resolutely Parisian charm, the team insist that each room is a “new encounter between colour and light, the present and the past”.

From the in-house spa to the charming lodgings, “everything at Saint-André has been designed to revitalise guests, far from the effervescence of the city,” the team say of the hotel’s foundations, now poised to witness a new chapter. A future backdropped by iconic design, glorious colour and the inimitable stylings of Chloé which the hotel staff predict will come with a few surprises. “Expect classics with a twist, touches of humour, arty objects… and a little craziness.”

chloenegre.com; saintandredesarts.com

Once the favoured haunt of brooding artists and musicians, especially during the swinging sixties, the completely rejuvenated hotel is the latest gem in the Hôtels Paris Rive Gauche collection.

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Occupying a discrete history-rich building in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, halfway between Gare du Nord and Gare de l’Est, the new Hotel Les Deux Gares is poised mischievously, ready to treat visitors to a wild and wonderful joyride. The once abandoned bourgeois edifice is now frocked up in the signature stylings of its art director Luke Edward Hall, and offers a bar, restaurant, fitness room and sauna. Not to mention the 40 petite rooms where guests are warmly invited into the eccentric universe of the British tastemaker.

Luke Edward Hall pictured in the sitting room at Hotel Les Deux Gares.

This is the first hotel that Luke has lent his inimitable finesse. And the rebellious designer-artist has embraced the opportunity with fervour, choosing to adorn every nook and cranny of the former railway station hotel with a combination of English chic and French soul amid mind-boggling colour and Art Deco flair. Antique furniture from various decades, French wallpapers and English carpets, mid-century lighting pieces and sumptuous fabrics combine – sometimes conform, sometimes collide – to establish a ravishing place of respite for travellers to the City of Lights.

Immersed in the 1960s-70s cinematic charms of the hotel’s lobby, it’s easy to understand why the designer queried whether this is “a hotel or the home of a bohemian Parisian collector?” throughout the design process, of which he oversaw every intricate detail. The tales imagined by such a question were an ongoing creative influence at Les Deux Gares, says Luke, and the terminus a quo of the hotel’s concept.

The pea green walls of the ground floor lobby set the tantalising tone for the rest of the hotel and serve as an “electric” backdrop to an effervescent mix of furniture: a 19th-century gilt wood table, a pair of mid-century Spanish pink ceramic table lamps and a mirror designed and decorated by Luke himself, inspired by the Palladian masterpieces of William Kent.

Peer into the toile de jouy wallpaper of the lobby’s sitting room and expect to drift-off into a whole other magnificent world. Depictions of villagers, cherubs and an exotic menagerie return the gaze, arranged among romantic garlands of scrolling foliage. The coffee table is in the style of Jean Royère and the duo of armchairs are from the workshop of Italian architect and designer Paolo Buffa.

Venture upstairs and one of the world’s most fabulous lucky-dips continues. The rooms at Les Deux Gares are divided into three cheerful schemes, offering ebonised and gilt furnishings informed by the style of French Empire antiques, woven geometric carpets that nod to the 1970s and velvet-fringed armchairs in myriad colourways. On each side of the striped bedheads, the lampshades of the wall lights are emblazoned with Luke’s illustrations, some of which are frequently shared by the designer on Instagram.

Drawing upon 1920s sophistication, the bathrooms are a bold spin on Art Deco style, spotlighting a joyous mismatch of pastel-coloured fixtures and fittings sourced by Luke, including pillar wall lights, yolk-yellow wall tiles and border tiles with Greek-key motifs. Guests can opt for breakfast in bed – an absolute indulgence – though a journey to the nearby Café Les Deux Gares is worthy of donning one’s Sunday best.

I love listening to stories from the past and feeling as though I’m entering another, more elegant era.

Luke Edward Hall Designer

The interior of Café Les Deux Gares is also the work of protean wild-child Luke and continues the hotel’s colourful story. Cherry red and pale blue mix with the conventions set by old-world Parisian cafe culture: cement floor tiles, Thonet bentwood chairs from the Paris flea market (“luckily we came across a really good seat of sixty,” says Luke), an upholstered banquette and charming bistro tables.

A number of offbeat touches speak to the playfulness of the designer’s decorative approach. The ceiling is finished in a tortoiseshell motif by painter Pauline Leravaud and the pale pink and red exterior awnings are adorned with martini glasses hand-drawn by Luke. The wall lights, made in London, recall the devotion to Art Deco style. “I love listening to stories from the past and feeling as though I’m entering another, more elegant era,” says Luke.

Vintage Paris exhibition posters nod to a time when the primary mission of the local cafes was to be places of social and cultural exchange. Then there is the finely crafted bar by metalworker Frédéric Lesire. Behind the bar, expect libations from the boss, Frederic Lesire. In the kitchen, delectable dishes are prepared by chef Jonathan Schweizer, supported by Frédérico Suarez, who promise to serve up simple yet exacting cuisine.

And while a trip to the gymnasium is unlikely to rank high on a traveller’s ‘when in Paris’ to-do list, a pre-checkout sweat session at Les Deux Gares’ fitness room and sauna is a must. Even if it’s just for the eye candy. On the walls, of course.

hoteldeuxgares.com; lukeedwardhall.com