Royal Review: A Stay in Paris’s Extravagant Cour Des Vosges

A hotel like no other, Cour des Vosges immerses guests in the 17th-century residence of a noble French family whose love of art extended to collecting sculptures, ceramics, tapestries and furniture. Opened to visitors in 2019, the property was carefully handled by designers Yann Le Coadic and Alessandro Scotto, who saw their role as archaeologists, bringing back the structure’s beauty and strength. Blending historic splendor with 1970s flair, the 12 rooms and suites, arrayed across four stories, feature restored wooden ceilings and antique mirrors, as well as furnishings upholstered in blue and pink fabric. This is the only hotel with a view of the Place des Vosges, the city’s oldest planned square, boasting stunning vistas of the Louis XIII garden and surrounding pavilions crowned with slate roofs.

Cour des Vosges / Photo: Courtesy of Guillaume de Laubier

One of four hotels operating under the Evok banner, Cour des Vosges houses a collection of artworks curated by Amélie du Chalard. A connoisseur of contemporary art, she left a career in finance to found Maison d’Art, a gallery where she designs residential-type spaces that showcase a revolving assortment of pieces. She teamed with Le Coadic and Scotto to create this fantasy in the elegant Marais district.

When guests arrive they must ring a bell, and if that doesn’t work, they must bang hard on a grandiose and heavy wooden door. An attentive concierge will then appear. While taking me to my suite, he asked if I wanted something to eat. Minutes later, I was delighted by a stunningly plated dish of fine Petrossian smoked salmon with a bit of caviar, crème fraîche, and delicious toasted brioche. After a flute of champagne, I was ready to dive into the luxurious bed. A firm mattress enrobed in silky sheets of fine cotton and a huge feather duvet sits inside a four-poster bed reimagined as a canopy that can be closed off for complete privacy, enabling anyone to enjoy a deep dream in pure darkness.

Spa on the lower ground floor / Photo: Courtesy of Guillaume de Laubier

In the morning, breakfast at Brach Pâtisserie brought a selection of dazzling pastries created by chef Yann Brys, who has been named Best Craftsman of France. Finally, a Roman bath situated on the hotel’s lower ground floor offers Orveda spa treatments in rooms that are redolent of France’s royal past.