Veuve Clicquot and Hotel du Marc

While we're on the subject of champagne, let's talk Veuve Clicquot. I'm partial to Veuve because it's what my family has always served during the holidays and on special occasions. While flipping through the Dec/Jan 2012 issue of French AD, I found these striking photos of Hotel du Marc, a private hotel owned by Veuve Clicquot. Located in Reims, France, the estate, once the residence of Madame Clicquot herself, was recently renovated and updated by noted architect Bruno Moinard.

Unfortunately, the hotel is not open to the public, serving instead as private guest quarters for those invited by the champagne house. The good news, though, is that we can get a taste of the interiors thanks to the AD article.


























All photos from AD, Dec/Jan 2012, Mai-Linh photographer.

Hotel Inspiration

Over the last few years, much has written about how hotels have influenced the way in which people decorate their homes. You know the look. A home's entryway that's made to look like a hotel lobby thanks to the circular center table holding an oversized floral arrangement. Or the bedroom that looks straight out of a mid-range hotel. It's generic and, I hate to say it, boring too.

I think that if you want to make your home feel like a hotel, you should replicate (to an extent) the look of a hotel that has real style. There have been a few hotels that have influenced my aesthetic: The Carlyle in New York; The Stafford in London; and The Hotel Gritti Palace in Venice. My stay at The Gritti Palace occurred eleven years ago, but I haven't forgotten its elegance. I recently read that the hotel is currently closed for a renovation, something that had me worried until I learned that Chuck Chewning of Donghia was overseeing it. Knowing Chuck, he will be respectful of the hotel's history and will update it in an appropriate and yet stylish way. When it reopens in 2013, I really should try to travel to Venice to see the refreshed hotel for myself.

While we wait for the Gritti Palace to reopen, we should take a look at another Venetian hotel for design inspiration: Bauer Il Palazzo. I found these photos in a December 2001 issue of French AD, so I'm not sure if all of the interiors seen here look the same today. Regardless, these are some beautiful photos of some beautiful rooms. And I for one would not mind if my own home resembled Il Palazzo.





























All photos from French AD, Noelle Hoppe photographer.

Château de la Barre

You might remember Arnaud Chevalier. He is the talented artist and designer about whom I wrote last year. (Click here to read it.) Arnaud recently told me about Château de la Barre, a château hotel that he said was one of the loveliest in France. Located in the Loire Valley, the château has been the home of the de Vanssay family for over 600 years. In fact, the current Comte de Vanssay (who oversees the château and hotel with his wife) is the 20th generation of his family to live in the château.

You must visit the website to see all of the gorgeous photos because believe me, after seeing them, you will want to take a trip to Château de la Barre pronto. (Make that immédiatement.) I'm showing a few photos here. Don't you think the interiors look charming?

To get a better look at the photos below, make sure to click on them to enlarge.




Grand Salon




Vestibule




Pièce à feu




Salon Rose




Grande Salle à Manger





Chambre Marin de Vanssay





Chambre aux Fleurs (looks like it's been "Draperized"...as in Dorothy.)




Chambre Esprit de Jouy





Chambre Jaune




The Château Garden


All images courtesy of Château de la Barre

The Regent Grand Hotel Bordeaux

I can't figure out why I've got such a bad case of wanderlust. Too much work, perhaps? Let's see, in the past month I've written about cooking school in England, a palace in India, and today, we're talking about Bordeaux...the Regent Grand Hotel Bordeaux, that is. I am so taken with the Jacques Garcia designed interiors, especially the rich colors, the abundant use of velvet, and the guest rooms' quirky headboards. It's a heady yet refined kind of maximalism of which Garcia is the master. It might seem odd to be thinking of decadent decorating during the dog days of summer, but if you ask me, there is no off-season for opulence.




It's the combination of colors in this suite that I'm taken with. That and the aubergine velvet sofa.




The perfect place to crash after drinking all of that amazing wine that you're sure to have.



The headboard has such an interesting shape.




This room has accents of black.




The trompe l'oeil wallpaper reminds me of that by Mauny.




Moss green velvet and bullion fringe in l'orangerie.





The lobby with...more velvet.

Umaid Bhawan Palace

The Million Dollar Decorators (that would be Mary, Nathan, Martyn, Jeffrey, and Kathryn) came to ADAC this month, and I have never seen such a turnout at ADAC before! I think that almost everybody in the Atlanta design community was there, and the consensus is that all five of the designers cum reality stars came across as the witty and vivacious people that they are.

During the panel discussion (which was led, by the way, by Veranda editor-in-chief Dara Caponigro), the designers were asked about what inspires them, and the topic of travel came up. I for one am quite envious because they all seem to be jetting hither and yon to all kinds of exotic places- and often. Mary McDonald mentioned a hotel in India that she found particularly inspiring because of its Art Deco interiors that were in pristine condition. It sounded like she called it the Umaid Bhawan, but I can't be sure because I didn't write it down.

Over the weekend, I was reading Architectural Digest Chateaux and Villas, a book that was loaned to me by my friend Will Merrill. In it, there was a chapter on the Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, one of the last great palaces of the maharajas. Built in the 1930s by Maharaja Sir Umaid Singh, the vast palace boasts a hybrid design of both Eastern and Western architecture of which the British architectural firm Lanchester and Lodge was responsible. What caught my eye more than the impressive size of the palace, though, are the Art Deco and Streamline Moderne interiors. And the murals by Polish designer Stefan Norblin just add to the appeal.

Unfortunately, a finished palace never completely came to fruition as World War II hindered the completion of the palace's interiors. Today, the palace is a hotel run by the Taj group, although the current Maharaja still retains residence in another part of the palace. In addition to the AD photos, I also found a few intriguing ones from the hotel's website. I don't know if this is the hotel that Mary spoke so highly of, but even if it isn't, I'm going to add it to my list of places that I want to visit- hopefully someday soon.

(By the way, I have to congratulate Will Merrill. One of his designs for Currey & Co.- a small drinks table that is so charming- made the cover of the new Charlotte Moss book. Yay, Will!)




The Central Hall is a circular wonder.




The oval grand staircase adjoins the Central Hall. Look closely to the left of the staircase and you'll see some type of tented curtain.




A Guest Suite was inspired by the great luxury ocean liners. The mural was painted by Stefan Norblin, as were the murals in the photo below.




The Throne Room.





A Guest Bath sheathed in onyx and marble. According to the book, the wall sconces were a "recent innovation at that time."




A Guest Room featured a chrome-banded bed on a platform. The acid-etched black glass panel above the bed was executed by Norblin.




I found this photo of a Deco room on the hotel's website.




And, ending the post with a splash, the hotel's photo of the Zodiac Pool. Again, the murals were by Norblin. Is this pool amazing or what?


All photos with the exception of the last two from Architectural Digest Chateaux and Villas; bottom two courtesy of the Umaid Bhawan website.