Hotel Ballu

The lobby and bar-restaurant have something of the feel of a 1960s–70s apparatchik’s hunting lodge. Time has moved on, power has changed hands, but the décor has (deliberately) remained: fir-green walls, heavy red velvet curtains, geometric patterns and a glass-block feature wall made with Czech glass… Passionate about the aesthetics of Eastern Europe and the Balkans, architect Thomas Vidalenc has created an atmosphere that is at once singular, timeless and elegant. Vintage and reissued pieces from the former Eastern Bloc (including the 366 armchair by Polish designer Józef Chierowski) sit alongside furniture and chandeliers of his own design. “My husband took me to the Balkans on our first big trip together,” recalls Julia Vidalenc. Their first hotel was therefore always going to have a distinctly reimagined flavour of this faraway world. In the bedrooms, muted, matte colours set the tone for sweet dreams: Prussian blue, garnet red, emerald green… A subtle backdrop for paintings by artist Tauba Sarnaka, discovered at the Saint-Ouen flea market. Downstairs, an eight-by-two-metre swimming lane and a sauna, which can be booked for private use for 45 minutes, are styled to evoke traditional Russian bathhouses. The latest addition? The EÏA Spa is now also open to non-resident guests. And then there is the terrace, a hidden urban oasis open all year round. Such discretion, it seems, appeals to more than just yesterday’s apparatchiks.