Paris: Hotel Sezz

During my quick stay in Paris last weekend, I got to check out Hotel Sezz, the new hotel “experience”, designed by Christopher Pillet, who cut his teeth working under Phillipe Starck. The idea behind the hotel is in regards to how most peoples first impression of a hotel is during checking in– most of the time it can feel a lot like standing in line at a post office, read: quite uncomfortable. When I arrived at the hotel, there was no front desk, simply a low lying lobby with comfortable couches. I was greeted by the hotel manager, and immediately offered a drink– my bags were taken away and placed upstairs in one of the 27 rooms. The idea behind the ‘no front’ desk, was that hotel guests are greeted by a ‘personal assistant’, who would remain my main contact to the hotel throughout the stay.

If I wanted to go shopping, he took me, if I needed theatre tickets, he would get them, and so on. Unfortunately, there were a few drawbacks to the hotels model– some kinks they haven’t quite worked out. Before I get into them, let me say this: The hotel was clean, comfortable, and I had a fun time there. Unfortunately, I never heard from my personal assistant during my stay– not even once to check in, but I’m pretty self sufficient so this wasn’t a huge issue. The WiFi was down the first night in the rooms, and the famed basement jacuzzi was out of order the entire time. Other than that? Hotel Sezz was a quiet, warm hotel with a solid attention to details, tucked away on 6 Avenue Frémiet– and it was an escape from the usual tourist infested Paris.