INTERVIEW - CAMILLE DUBOIS, PROJECT MANAGER FOR L'APPARTEMENT AT THE PARK HYATT PARIS VENDÔME: "A NEW SPACE WITH ITS OWN IDENTITY" (France)
The manager takes us on a tour of this new discreet jewel, a flat dedicated to guests looking for independence, while enjoying the privileges of a stay in a Parisian palace. |
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INTERVIEW - CAMILLE DUBOIS, PROJECT MANAGER FOR L'APPARTEMENT AT THE PARK HYATT PARIS VENDÔME: "A NEW SPACE WITH ITS OWN IDENTITY" (France)
The manager takes us on a tour of this new discreet jewel, a flat dedicated to guests looking for independence, while enjoying the privileges of a stay in a Parisian palace. |
Category: Europe - France - Industry economy
- Interviews and portraits
vRenovation / Addition - Interviews
Interview made by Vanessa Guerrier-Buisine on 2024-03-14
A beacon of contemporary elegance, the Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme already enjoyed a resolutely modern image. An image reinforced by a desire to constantly innovate, while remaining aligned with the criteria of excellence expected in a luxury hotel. This was the backdrop to the opening of L'Appartement in autumn 2023. A flat, created in place of the owners' former residence, which we were able to visit and which combines luxury and intimacy in the City of Light.
Nestled on the sixth and top floor of the palace, this private residential space offers tailor-made service. Above all, it stands out for its surprising play of light, encouraged by mirrors cleverly placed throughout the space, which even allow the Eiffel Tower to appear as a backdrop from one of L'Appartement's two bedrooms.
Here, attention to detail is at its pinnacle, and the use of skilled craftsmen has helped to perfect this exceptional new space. Every attention has been paid to the furniture, household linen and equipment, such as the kitchen, inspired by works by Pierre Soulages. The accessories, amenities, and entertainment have also been designed to offer the ultimate experience.
L'Appartement combines the comforts that guests already enjoy in their homes with the exclusive services of a luxury hotel. Camille Dubois, Project Manager at the Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme, tells us all about it.
Journal des Palaces : Why did you create L'Appartement? Was it a request from your guests or a desire to be one step ahead?
Camille Dubois: We already have several types of suites at the hotel for all types of guest, including three beautiful signature suites, so we would rather not create another one. On the other hand, we wanted to differentiate ourselves in Paris by creating a new product with a new type of service.
We say 'new', but there's nothing new about long-stay hotels; it's more a trend that has gradually disappeared, but one for which we see potential because there is demand. In particular, it was the stay of a famous American actor for several months and his request for a space that resembled a personal luxury flat that confirmed our choice and our desire.
What's more, the space had already been used as a flat by the hotel's first general manager, so we were confident that it would evolve into a beautiful private luxury flat that would appeal to our guests.
Finally, one of the hotel's greatest values and a quality sought after by all our guests is the residential and familiar feel that we have managed to establish within the Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme. So it made sense in terms of our brand image too.
How do L'Appartement and the adjoining rooms lend themselves to enhanced security for VIPs and their security services?
L'Appartement and its connecting suite are located on the top floor of the hotel and together make up an entire wing of the floor. When both spaces are booked, guests have the whole wing to themselves, with no other guests passing through the access corridor.
Another advantage of renting L'Appartement over any other luxury flat in Paris is that, because it is located within the Park Hyatt, the Apartment benefits from the hotel's 24-hour security service and the hotel's two discreet entrances on rue de la Paix and rue Volney.
As mentioned, the 180m² flat can be rented on its own or with an adjoining 75m² suite. This arrangement offers great flexibility to our guests, who often wish to house their security service in the immediate vicinity, while retaining their privacy.
What additional services can be added to the rental of L'Appartement to ensure the excellent service of your palace?
Guests can request anything they like, and we will do our best to arrange it for them. Of course, they benefit from all the hotel's services, such as concierge, room cleaning, dry cleaning, etc., but they can also call on the services of a personal shopper, a dog walker, a nanny, a sports coach or a nutritionist.
What also makes the Apartment particularly unique is its fully equipped kitchen, which allows guests to call on one of our chefs for made-to-order meals prepared by our chefs right in the privacy of their own home. They can therefore have a private chef for as many meals as they wish.
What experiences have you already tried out in L’Appartement?
We have already organised private meals in L’Appartement prepared by our Michelin-starred chef Jean-François Rouquette, various photo shoots and celebrity interviews, private tours of L’Appartement, etc.
What are the first reactions of people who have visited, or even booked, L'Appartement? What do they particularly like?
Guests and visitors to L'Appartement are immediately impressed by the titanic high ceilings. This ceiling height is even more surprising on the top floor of a Haussmann building, which is well-known for its mansard roofs.
The second thing that impressed our guests was the attention to detail that has gone into every corner of L’Appartement. From the choice of books and vinyl to the board games, crockery, and works of art, there isn't a space that hasn't been thought through, optimised, and thought through to surprise our guests and make them feel at home.
What were the specifications for creating L'Appartement? How long did it take to achieve?
The key word for the design of L'Appartement was 'residential'. This is one of the values of the Park Hyatt brand, and we wanted to do it justice, especially as we weren't just creating a suite but a real Parisian living space.
So, we obviously took our inspiration from the hotel codes designed by Ed Tuttle in the 2000s, working with the same materials (mahogany, Paris stone, mirrors, gilding, etc.), but adding a touch of modernity and daring. For example, we introduced colour by adding green accents to the decor, raised the ceiling to give an impression of grandeur, and replaced the gilding in some places with Paris stone to make the space a resolutely contemporary flat.
The challenge was to blend the hotel's historic identity with this new space, which nonetheless had to have its own personality. In all, the project will have taken three years to complete, since it was first conceived in 2021, but has evolved throughout this time as new players have taken part in the project and contributed their ideas.
What challenges did you face in transforming this space?
As mentioned earlier, combining the aesthetic codes of the hotel and the values of the Park Hyatt brand with the creation of a new space with its own identity was a challenge throughout the project, but we also had to deal with some technical challenges.
The first was to make the space brighter, because the old flat was very dark, and we wanted to make it warmer and brighter.
We also discovered a technical duct during the work, which prevented us from raising the ceiling as high as we wanted, but with each challenge, we managed to find a creative solution to move forward and make the space even more attractive than we had initially thought.
Which craftsmen did you use to create L'Appartement?
Wherever possible, we tried to work with French companies, with workshops and production facilities as close as possible. Hyatt attaches great importance to the CSR dimension of its stakeholders and tries to surround itself wherever possible with companies and people whose values are close to our own.
For example, we were keen to work with Atelier Camuset for the decorative painting of L’Appartement. This is a family-run business based in the 7th arrondissement, employing only journeymen.
This commitment was also reflected in the choice of details for L’Appartement: the kitchen was largely equipped with Le Creuset products, the quintessential French cooking brand, the board games were created by Paris-based Hector Saxe, and the napkin rings were made by Elodie Souillard, an independent Parisian designer and founder of Un Chat dans ma Botte.
Could you name a few suppliers who were also involved, particularly for the taps, furniture, home automation, etc.?
The taps were supplied by Atelier du Vimeu, most of the furniture was designed by Ed Tuttle during his lifetime or by Nokal Atelier and was produced by Laval.
The sound system was supplied by Vismes and installed by Otomis using the Lutron home automation system.
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