Hotel Sezz - Paris, France

About this Chic Retreat

Hotel Sezz is the hottest hotel in Paris and only a few minutes from the Eiffel Tower

Why is it that your first experience at any hotel, no matter how fancy, makes you feel like you're waiting in line at a post office? You've probably never asked yourself this question, but fortunately for you, the owner Shahé Kalaidjian has. Which is why there is no check-in desk at the new luxury Hotel Sezz at 6 Avenue Frémiet in Paris. Instead, there's this marvellous person who meets you when you arrive, and says hello in a friendly, thoroughly un-stiff kind of way that you're not used to in a town that can be, let's face it, a little uptight.
You sit down together in the boutique hotel's elegant, low-key lobby. Would you like a drink coffee, tea, something with a little more kick? Of course you would. Who wouldn't? And while you unwind, the two of you start chatting about what you prefer when you travel and what you are looking for during your stay in Paris. You find yourself thinking, I like this Sezz person, so helpful and yet so unpushy . You find yourself wishing they would stick around to give you a hand during your stay making sure things run smoothly, getting you theatre tickets, going shopping with you to show you places not on every tourist map. Wish granted. This is your personal assistant who will be just a phone call away for the length of your stay at the Sezz.
Everything at this boutique hotel is unique. The lighting fixtures in the lobby, for instance, were specially created for the Sezz in the legendary glass workshops of Murano , outside Venice. Vanity tops in the bathrooms are crafted by Boffi, and the taps are signed Dorn Bracht. Driade made the chairs, and Artelano made the sofas and beds. You may not know these names, but they're the modern equivalents of the great unsung artisans who stocked the grand palais and hôtels particuliers of Paris in bygone eras.
But really, the look of luxury is about a lot more than buying nice lamps and chairs; The concierge-less lobby is the first view of this unconventional space. Two salons flank the entrance, done in muted shades of red and brown that set off the khaki-grey stone from the town of Cascais in Portugal that appears throughout the small luxury hotel. Around the back, you find the Grande Dame bar , named for Veuve Clicquot´s most prized champagne cuvée. The bar is a partnership with Veuve Clicquot - the first time the renowned champagne maker has allowed its name to be used by an outsider. In the bar area, the designer Christopher Pillet has designed a pair of striking seating nooks that let you slip away from the public gaze, if that's what you want.