Hotel du Continent | Christian Lacroix

A historic 3-star establishment situated in the heart of the very chic 1st arondissement of Paris for almost two centuries, the Hôtel du Continent is on Rue du Mont Thabor, within walking distance of the Place Vendôme, the famous Rue Royale and Rue Saint-Honoré and the verdant Jardin des Tuileries.

Driven by the desire to evoke the poetry of the place while paying homage to its rich identity developed over the centuries, Christian Lacroix insisted on keeping the hotel’s original name.

«It seemed obvious, logical and coherent for this honourable establishment to keep its name. The Hôtel du Continent has been around for generations and its name is carved above the entrance porch; it is elegant, classic, ambitious, just like the nineteenth century and the neighbourhood that surrounds it,” he explains. By combining the history of these walls with his boundless creativity, Christian Lacroix has created an ethnic, utopic and designer universe, reinventing World Art through time and the different eras. It is a unique hotel, offering its guests a voyage around the world in the heart of Paris.

«Today, the Hotel du Continent not only encompasses the continent of Europe, it also includes all the others. One on each floor? But there are six floors and five continents! We could have considered splitting the Americas into North and South... However, we chose instead to invent a
sixth continent, the North and South poles – Arctic and Antarctic. Naturally, all six continents were designed without any attempt to provide a faithful ethnic or anthropological portrait, but rather with the whimsical distance of yesterday’s travellers, who brought back not just scientific
information, but also countless fables and fantasies, plying the Parisians of the time with as many legends and utopic folklore as genuine facts,” explains Christian Lacroix

Upon entering the hotel, the lobby, breakfast room and the entire ground floor depict the six continents simultaneously in a colourful and exotic harmony of tapestries, furniture, prints, postcards and fabrics with patterns and embroidery drawn from the four corners of the earth.

The journey continues on the stairs and along the landings and corridors of each floor in shades of blue, pink, purple, green, grey and ochre, identifying the destination to be explored from among the various continents of Europa, Antarctica, Oceania, Asia, Africa and America.

The exploration continues in the rooms which, although different in size, layout and decor, all have a cross-leg writing desk and a wooden headboard with large velvet upholstered headrests, finished in different materials and colours corresponding to the continent they represent. These decorative elements complement the wall murals adorned with old maps and old symbols, in keeping with the proposed port of call.

AROUND THE WORLD IN 25 ROOMS BY CHRISTIAN LACROIX

Europe

«The Old Continent is evoked with eighteenth century softness contrasted with a very graphic repertoire. The walls are covered with nostalgic wallpaper depicting flowers and birds in pastel colours alternating with a large seventeenth century sepia drawing, complementing the damask silk curtains in jade and golden brown. The floor is adorned with a carpet of trompe l’oeil antique tiles that enhance the «anise» and «tobacco» colours of the velvet headboard and the Louis XIII chair beside the contemporary desk made of leather and metal. The wall separating the bathroom from the bedroom has large contrasting black and white horizontal stripes and the bathroom is classical, Parisian, covered with various checkerboard patterns in shades of grey.”

Antartica

«For the journey to the Poles, the atmosphere is naturally off-white but at the same time warm and cosy, thanks to the thick natural wool carpet. On the walls hang two ancient maps, like curtains, framed in damask metal. The bathrooms are tiled with the same white ceramic tiles from floor to ceiling for a pure and bright visual sensation. The armchair, with very clean lines, is covered with immaculate fake fur and the headboard is upholstered in khaki velvet.”

Oceania

«The exploration of Oceania is expressed in an atmosphere of a colonial terrace with paper cutouts in the style of Matisse and large painted palm trees in 1940’s style and bamboo trellises. The curtains are printed with giant vivid green foliage that caresses the mahogany parquet floor. In front of the bright yellow desk sits a folding bamboo chair upholstered with exotic tapestry, facing the mango coloured velvet headboard. The bathroom evokes the beauty of nature with «pineapple» or «South Seas» pebbles on the floor, fossilized wood sink and cement tiles in shades of “melon” or “sky” on the walls.”

Asia

«Our arrival in Asia reveals a colourful décor that combines all the influences of the Orient. The walls and curtains are decorated with Chinese screens, old paper depicting Japanese night scenes reminiscent of “Madame Butterfly” and Indian and Persian motifs in hues of red, lacquer and yellow. The floor covering is reminiscent of a dark tatami mat and the chair, in a classical design, is upholstered with highly coloured Uzbek fabric. The headboards are in fuchsia or lichen coloured velvet. The bathrooms contain sinks of petrified wood and the walls are covered with cement tiles in purple hues.”

Africa

“The Africa floor is probably the most richly coloured of all. The decor on the walls alternates between precious fabrics and kitsch paper, Tangier grid patterns, trees with clusters of flowers and traditional embroidery. All of these interpretations of art and African legends are divided into different multi-coloured harmonies: red, blue and black – fuchsia, orange and yellow ochre – yellow ochre, grey and blue – on a background of the mahogany parquet floor. The floor of the bathroom is of anthracite stones and the lava stone sink is lined with zellige tilework in shades of grey. Finally, the simple yet stylish chair is covered with zebra patterned velvet and the headboards are upholstered in dark velvet.”

America

“With only two rooms/suites, the Americas stopover is the simplest, the purest. The walls and curtains have the same decor with giant motifs – a design reminiscent of the 1960s and 70s, in a blue/white and red/white combination for one and black/white and yellow/ white for the other. The floor is covered with an exclusive carpet with a geometric pattern inspired by Memphis, contrasting with the purple velvet upholstered headboard and the nineteenth century bamboo armchair covered in “Panther” fabric. The bathrooms rectilinear black earthenware elements are and are tiled with anthracite marble.”