WE LOVE Hotel

Les Deux Gares

NESTLED between two stations and tucked down a narrow alley in Paris’ 10th arrondissement, you’ll see what the owners describe as a bourgeois edifice – a railway station hotel once abandoned and forgotten by time. Luckily, thanks to a little imagination and the vibrant stylings of English designer Luke Edward Hall, the new hotel is welcoming guests into its colourful surroundings. Stepping in from the street, you’ll be greeted by vibrant emerald walls, black-and-white chevron marble floors, oversized mirrors and decorative exhibition posters in a style that borrows ideas from multiple eras and just occasionally flirts with bad taste. Head upstairs to one of the 40 rooms and you’ll find mismatched rugs, fringed chairs, sumptuous velvet and bold stripes alongside 1970s-inspired light fixtures and Luke’s own artistic flourishes drawn out as wall art or on lampshades. Downstairs in the basement is the chic fitness room, where Svenskt Tenn wallpaper and a red-and-white chequerboard floor form the backdrop for your workout. Across the street, the hotel’s cafe will entice you in with natural wines and a selection of fermented and pickled dishes. If colour lifts the spirits, then a little time spent in this hotel’s exuberant surroundings will be good for the soul.

NEED TO KNOW Rooms from €120 hoteldeuxgares.com