The latest addition to the Small Luxury Hotel of the World, the Hotel Norman defines a connoisseur of design and aesthetics of the fifties and sixties, inspired by the American painter, graphic designer and publisher of fine books, Norman Ives.
Norman was a major figure in mid-20th century American modernism, a professor of graphic design at Yale University and deeply influenced by the Bauhaus.
All these aspects are on display in this small luxury 5-star hotel near the Etoile and around the corner from the Champs Elysees, with just 29 rooms and 8 suites.
An American design haven in Paris, but also a perfect hotel for the summer, as most rooms have a terrace overlooking the typical Parisian architectural facades of Rue Balzac and Rue de Châteaubriand.
The hotel feels like a private home, with a lounge bar and fireplace the first thing you see when you enter the hotel.
The reception is tucked away around the corner and the polite receptionist is more like a private butler than a hotel receptionist.
Books, objets trouvés, bouquets of flowers in individual vases, sculptures and modernist lambs with detailed fabrics and trimmings make this place an oasis for any lover of modernist design. The mix of the finest materials such as rosewood headboards by the bed, natural wool curtains and geometric patterned carpets on solid parquet floors add effortless elegance to each room.
The architect, Thomas Vidalenc, wanted to create an intimate club, far from the typical Parisian style, but with the feeling of being in Paris, if only in the home of an American artist, the apartment of Norman Ives.
The stay at Hotel Norman is courtesy of Small Luxury Hotel of the World.