Meeting Sacha Guitry at Hotel Monsieur in Paris

It's was a nice autumn day to go to Paris. For my surprise, Paris received me with a lot of sun that wiped away the feeling of the tragic events from the last week. So, I walked confident as Paris filled my heart with its charm with every step I took.

From Madeleine area, I took the Malesherbes Boulevard onto Mathurins Street where Monsieur waited for me. Monsieur Hotel, of course! And it was all as I've expected : theatrical, cosy and vaudeville style with a sense of contemporary touch.

Waiting for Sacha Guitry to perform ... or not?!

The new hotel just opened its doors in September inspired by the theatrical neighbourhood and the dramaturg, Sacha Guitry who played on the theatre Mathurins on the same street as the hotel.  With all this in mind, the decorator Vincent Bastie kept the flag high. Everything is created to give you the feeling that you are entering a theatre hall, where Sacha Guitry is about to perform. This was the feeling that kept me the entire stay at the hotel.

For some of you who do not know Sacha Guitry very well, he was a French stage actor, film actor, screenwriter, director, expressing his talent in historical dramas but also contemporary comedies. Among his works of art it can be mentioned: Le Veilleur de nuit (1911), Un Beau mariage (1912), Le Prise de Berg-op-Zoom (1912), La Pèlerine écossaise (1912), and Les Deux converts (1914) or L'Amour Masqué who composed it for Printemps, one of his wives.

From this artistic feel, the hotel took its charm. It is theatrical with a modern touch in all its ways, at the same time. Red velvet sofas reminding us of the theatre chairs, red velvet curtains reminding us of the theatre debuts and closings, images on the wall with scenes from theatrical acts, Art Deco elements as from the backstage - all worked their magic to create the ambiance.

Sleeping under the magic of a theatre loge ambiance 

All 29 rooms and two suits maintain the elegant chic vibe while the major suite with a private terrace is the heart of the hotel. Each room keeps its theatrical line but in a slightly different manner. I liked very much « Coup de Theatre » room from the fifth floor where the mix of grey colours with scene elements brought me back to the Guitry era. The trompe l'œil technique of the scene is very vivid. The graphics created like in a sort of 3D dimension are just an optical illusion that creates a perspective vision into the room. The entire space is manly dominant. It has a genttleman side and a sort of perfume that is specific to a certain type of man: the artist! It is a sort of Scottish Gun Club Check kind of style and everything is, in fact, like the replica of a costume from a character on the scene.

I was prepared for the Premieres Loges ...

My universe where I plunged into was that of the Premieres Loges. That was the name of my room. As I entered the room, I could feel the curtains rising and the applauses singing. It was the soft touch of the red intimate notion of a scene act to evolve. The red was predominant, the velvet created the soft touch and the energy of a theatre loge. And I felt like I was part of the scene. This created the magic and made me took notes on the office table sitting on the Napoleon III Sif chair. Writing a line from the scene? I guess Sascha Guitry inspired me!

At night I would sit only with the Astrolighting lampadar on with the red Laura Ashley abat jour and enjoy the silence just like before the starting of a theatrical scene.

From profound red I took a step into a simple tones room like Paradise where light and white fills the entire space with very little decoration elements. Then, on the opposite, there are also rooms like Avant Scene where the sense of detail is strongly worked. On the thread of Sacha Guitry's style, I discover the room wearing the name of one of his five wives, Yvonne Printemps, whom he married between 1919 and 1932: boudoir with a chic retro mood giving onto a large private terrace keeping that feeling of stepping into a far well-known epoch. And, of course, there is also Sacha Guitry opal coloured suite that penetrates the luxury gent codes and gives off a sort of a Parisian manly chic feel.  

Sur les toits de Paris

And, if you want to plunge into one of those powerful Parisian symbols, in this hotel you can stay on the roof top room and enjoy the view from. On a tiny but charming balcony, you feel that sur les tois de Paris vibe. One of the rooms with this view is Suite Vaudeville composed of two rooms, two bathrooms in the two colours of the hotel: grey and red, feminine and masculine, yin and yang.

From all that theatrical energy, you can get more down to earth and get you into shape so you can get out and feel Parisian. And, to be Parisian means to be fit ... and slim .. and chic. So, you would probably need also to do some hammam, too. Or, if not ... just enjoy the lobby with a tea, coffee or some pastry at your will.

Magic Paris ...

The neighbourhood was enchanting so I had to get to know it better. The hotel is very well placed under the quietness of the city and the big commercial streets: shops starting from Madeleine up to the Royal Palace, Opera which I rediscovered as strongly beautiful as always with the pleasure of taking a sneak peak at the repetition hall, the Haussman boulevard, Printemps mall with a big clock decoration...  You have everything on the corner just taking Parisian walks on the charming streets. Pay a visit to one of the most creative fashion designers, Giambatista Valli, just on the Madeleine area, go to see Dior on the Vendome Place or the newly opened stores of Tory Burch or Alexander McQueen on St Honore Street. Every boutique started the Christmas preparations with Christmas trees aligned all over the streets: it was magic!

Hotel Monsieur, 62 rue des Mathurins 75008 Paris 

Editor Andra Oprea