Dorothée Meilichzon is still in her early 30s and already has six hotel designs to her credit. Five are in Paris, where Meilichzon runs her own firm, Chzon, and one is in London; we’d gladly check in to any of them (scroll to the end for a sampling).
Meilichzon is a designer who never repeats herself, but her work has certain things in common: She loves to pick a historic period and riff on it, treats building materials as playthings, has a weakness for potent colors, and always styles beds with derring-do. Her latest project is the Experimental Group’s newly opened Hotel des Grands Boulevards in an 18th-century building in Paris’s Second Arrondissement (closest Métro stop: Poissonnière). The structure went up on the grounds of a garden just before the French revolution, so here Meilichzon took the opportunity to tip her hat to Louis XVI style. Allons y.
Photography by Karel Balas, courtesy of Chzon.
![set back from the street, the hotel—formerly used as an office building& 17](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/hotel-des-grands-boulevards-paris-15-733x489.jpg)
![the courtyard\2\17;s herringbone brick is continued in the interior parq 18](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/hotel-des-grands-boulevards-paris-20-733x1100.jpg)
![chef giovanni passerini\2\17;s french italian grand restaurant is on the 19](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/grands-boulevards-hotel-paris-lounge-733x489.jpg)
![the hallway carpeting mimics the old brickwork on the exterior of the building. 20](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/hotel-des-grands-boulevards-paris-27-733x1100.jpg)
![each of the 50 guest rooms has lime plaster walls and custom dyed linen draperi 21](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/hotel-des-grands-boulevards-paris-3-733x489.jpg)
The lime plaster appears in three custom-mixed period colors: dark blue, light gray-blue, and off-white/pale pink. (Read about lime plaster in Remodeling 101: Modern Plaster Walls, Six Ways. And for a simpler alternative, see DIY: Limewashed Walls for Modern Times.)
![the wool velvet headboards and cascading canopies are a play on classic french 22](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/hotel-des-grands-boulevards-paris-5-733x489.jpg)
![a nod to marie antoinette\2\17;s fantasy farm at versailles: rustic stoo 23](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/hotel-des-grands-boulevards-paris-2-733x1099.jpg)
![meilichzon chose a rough linen for the canopies—\2\2\1;so it look 24](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/hotel-des-grands-boulevards-paris-4-733x489.jpg)
![a compact room is fitted with a curtained backdrop. to make the tight space wor 25](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/hotel-des-grands-boulevards-paris-18-733x489.jpg)
![a scalloped console table holds the vintage looking princess telephone, radio, 26](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/hotel-des-grands-boulevards-paris-6-733x489.jpg)
![in most cases, meilichzon matched the headboard and curtain color. 27](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/hotel-des-grands-boulevards-paris-7-733x489.jpg)
![marbre corail, a red marble synonymous with louis xvi (and sourced from spain), 28](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/hotel-des-grands-boulevards-paris-12-733x489.jpg)
![a small scalloped shelf is the perfect place for the room key. the cast iron po 29](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/hotel-des-grands-boulevards-paris-13-733x1100.jpg)
![the bathroom\2\17;s fanciful tiles were handmade for the hotel by c 30](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/hotel-des-grands-boulevards-paris-8-733x1100.jpg)
![meilichzon alternated the colors used in the basket weave pattern on the floor 31](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/hotel-des-grands-boulevards-paris-9b-733x1100.jpg)
![a meilichzon designed banquette in one of the large guest rooms. 32](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/hotel-des-grands-boulevards-paris-11-733x1100.jpg)
![the designer in a rare moment of repose. go to hotel des grands boulevards for 33](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/designer-dorothee-melichzon-hotel-des-grands-boulevards-733x1099.jpg)
Heading to Paris or London? Or looking for an inventive headboard design? Take a look at more of Meilichzon’s work:
- Hotel Panache: The Power of Jolie Laide Style
- The Henrietta, a London Hotel with a Sense of Joie de Vivre
- Moody Blues: The Hotel Bachaumont in Paris
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